About a 15-minute drive away is the Lost Fox Inn, which opened last summer and comprises a main inn of 10 guest rooms, a restaurant housed in a 1745 building that has long been a fixture of the community, and a former schoolhouse-turned-private cottage. Lost Fox comes from the owners of Foxfire Mountain House, in Upstate New York’s Mount Temper, and is filled with a moody romanticism that’s part-New England cottage, part-French country home—but doesn’t skimp on modern luxuries.
Come spring, another Upstate mainstay will introduce a sibling property in Litchfield: Belden House & Mews, from the owners of the Hudson Valley estate hotel Troutbeck, is getting the finishing touches that will transform a 1988 colonial revival Queen Anne Victorian mansion, completely reimagined by Champalimaud Design. Architect Anthony Champalimaud, who has spent time in Litchfield County since he was a child—his mother, celebrated architect Alexandra Champalimaud, is a resident—has in the last ten years made it his full-time home. “The thing that’s so beguiling about Litchfield is that there’s a cosmopolitan sensibility to this bucolic environment… a wonderful tension of revering history and loving reinvention and creativity.”
It’s exactly that juxtaposition that visitors flock to Litchfield for. A weekend here could include everything from hiking through coniferous woodlands to shopping for artisanal wares and swimming in pristine lakes.
“The thing about Litchfield is that its natural landscape is just incredibly beautiful, and yet it’s not so rural that you can’t step out for a delicious cup of coffee,” says Kyra Hartnett. “So it kind of has become a place where you can get it all.”
Where to stay
The courtroom drama may be a thing of the past, but the courthouse’s antiquity is well-preserved at The Abner as a contemporary, art-filled boutique hotel. Fans of Mount Temper’s Foxfire Mountain House will love the part-bohemian, part-luxe Lost Fox Mountain Inn (the restaurant is a big draw locally, too; highlights on the winter menu include fire-roasted mussels, whole rainbow trout, and sticky toffee pudding); and come March, Hudson Valley favorite Troutbeck will unveil sibling property Belden House & Mews in a Colonial Revival estate. These fresh stays join nearby stalwarts like the Mayflower Inn & Spa, Auberge Resorts Collection—the ultimate bucolic New England getaway with its beloved spa and sun-drenched Garden Room restaurant (whatever you do, don’t skip the caesar salad) and Relais & Châteaux’s Winvian Farm that sits pretty on a 113-acre estate.
Where to shop
While you could make a weekend of wandering through Litchfield town—pop into Milton Market to browse the best of local designers like wooden utensil carver Troy Brook Studio and sculptor and gilder Carol Leskanic, and browse through Jeffrey Tillou‘s inventory of 18th- and 19th century furniture and fine arts—you’ll do well to venture further out into the county. Don’t miss Dumais Made, a ceramics and lighting studio in nearby Bantam; spot his bespoke lighting collection for Belden House when it opens. In New Preston, temptations lie by way of Eleish Van Breems, a new design store with mid-century treasures like Bruno Matthson loungers; Plain Goods’ curated mix of homeware, clothing, and art; and Pergola, a home and garden store with eyewatering Japanese ceramics. Further out in Falls Village, Marché features antiques sourced from France and local craft, is a big draw.
Things to do in Litchfield, CT
No visit to Lichfield is complete without a visit to The White Memorial Conservation Center, and in particular, the Little Pond Boardwalk, an elevated walkway that allows visitors to experience the wetland environment—delightful, per Dumais, in every season. Fit in a jaunt to Topsmead State Forest where you can tramp about the extensive grounds surrounding the former summer residence of Edith Morton Chase. Check for tours of her Tudor Revival home and the English-style garden filled with holly, lilac and juniper.
