I love waterfalls, and I love small Bed & Breakfast inns, so staying at the Inn at Brandywine Falls turned out to be the perfect way for us to spend a long Easter weekend.
The spectacular 60-plus-foot bridal-veil Brandywine Falls is just few steps from the inn, a historic 1848-vintage home with six guest rooms that innkeepers George and Katie Hoy lovingly decorated with period furnishings and antiques from the area.
We picked a relatively quiet weekend in early spring to stay at the inn, but quickly found ourselves part of a large extended family as George and Katie’s adult children and their families gathered at the inn for the holiday weekend. The spacious James Wallace Parlour room where we stayed during the weekend offered us a quiet and private retreat, but Easter morning brunch was an especially festive occasion as the extended Hoy family gathered for a meal. The gregarious group readily included us as family-for-the-weekend and made sure the Easter rabbit delivered a couple of extra chocolate bunnies for their guests from Michigan.
The Inn at Brandywine Falls feels particularly homey because the innkeepers live on-site and the home offers plenty of common areas to visit with the Hoys and their other guests, get a little work done (the inn offers free Wi-Fi), relax or borrow a book from the inn’s library to read during your stay.
Settlers who came to the area in the early 1800s saw Brandywine Falls as a ready source of power. The Village of Brandywine became one of the earliest settlements in the Cuyahoga Valley with numerous saw, grist and woolen mills relying on the falls for power and driving the development of the area starting around 1814. Brandywine Village eventually faded into history, with the exception of the James Wallace house built by the son of one of the area’s first settlers and now serving as home to the Inn at Brandywine Falls.
The inn is part of the 33,000-acre Cuyahoga Valley National Park and is on the National Register of Historic Places, although a special arrangement allows George and Katie to continue operating and living at the inn for their lifetime.
We loved being able to step out of the house and walk over to Brandywine Falls via the 1.5-mile Brandywine Gorge Trail. The trail’s boardwalk follows along the gorge’s edge and a series of fairly steep steps takes hikers to the lower Brandywine Creek level for a closer look at the waterfalls.
Brandywine Falls seems to top most lists of favorite park attractions, and we spent much of our weekend taking photos of the falls. There are also several smaller waterfalls in the park and surrounding area worth seeking out if you have a couple of days to visit the area.
Read more about our visit to the rest of the park in History and nature trace a path through Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
We have some great National Parks in the Midwest. Read about seven of these wonderful parks in my story, Seven sensational Great Lakes National Parks.
Also check out nearby Chagrin Falls, another one of our favorite small-town destinations in the Cleveland area in my story, Chagrin Falls conundrum.
© Dominique King 2009
The Inn looks gorgeous, as do the waterfalls. It's very cool that they included you in the family celebrations. I've never been to a B&B, must put that on my list.
Posted by: Becks Davis | May 14, 2009 at 09:56 AM
Becks-we really enjoy staying in B&Bs when we travel. It feels so nice to come "home" each evening after running around all day...and there's usually someone there to get you started in the morning with a good breakfast and good advice about things to do in the local area. Each place is unique, and a lot of the B&Bs have cool history associated with them.
Y'all should try staying at some B&Bs. I'll bet you both would really enjoy the experience.
Posted by: Dominique | May 17, 2009 at 12:00 PM
Wow, Ohio is pretty close to us. Our home base is Toronto. Beautiful waterfalls and we prefer B&B'S to hotels as well. Maybe we will have to plan a mountain biking trip there one day. Thanks. Deb and Dave
Posted by: Dave and Deb | May 17, 2009 at 06:41 PM
Dave and Deb-You'd enjoy the Brandywine Falls and Inn. We're always surprised to find so many nice waterfalls in northern Ohio because almost all of Michigan's falls are in the UP. The waterfalls in Ohio are much closer to us in Metro Detroit than our Michigan waterfalls.
Thanks for stopping by!
Posted by: Dominique | May 23, 2009 at 08:50 PM