America’s First Inn, Reimagined

It’s a crisp day as I look out on the rolling hills of Nashoba Valley, 35 miles northwest of Boston. I’m on the deck of the newly renovated Groton Inn, which boasts the distinction of being the oldest inn in America, its original structure circa 1678. I imagine the setting of the inn’s early days … the turning wheels of stagecoaches arriving, the heavy hooves of horses, the local farmers touting their wares out front on Main St. Back then, the Groton Inn was a popular gathering spot not only because it served spirits, but also because the town was a strategic point in the early days of the Revolutionary War. It was at the Groton Inn where the Minutemen gathered, heeding the call to war. These local militias, including Paul Revere, were prepared to ride on a minute’s notice to warn surrounding villages that the British were coming.

Now, the gatherings at Groton Inn are of a different nature. The 60-room boutique hotel offers guests a calm overnight respite from the busy streets of nearby Boston and Cambridge. Spacious, high-ceilinged rooms blend contemporary design with hints of the inn’s colonial past, including period photographs that speak to that earlier time. Guests congregate by an outdoor fireplace in the courtyard as Black Angus cattle graze in the distant hills, and travelers relax in the fine Forge & Vine restaurant out back.

Modern Reincarnation

The Groton Inn, in fact, burned to the ground in 2011, causing an interruption in its distinction as the oldest, continuously operating inn in America. Following the fire, it was meticulously reimagined, resulting in its current reincarnation that echoes three centuries of its existence. Interior modifications were made, such as the architects reclaiming the former attic crawl space which added more height to the new third floor. The result is airy ceilings in those rooms and light-filled hallways courtesy of the former attic dormer windows. The exterior, however, is totally true to form with a local official exclaiming of the reinvented building, “You really nailed it; the old inn is back!”

And it is back – almost down to the last nail. The front of the original inn had an off-kilter column, perhaps due to human error or who knows, perhaps the carpenter was swizzling on the job. In the redesign, modern technology would have prevented a reoccurrence of that, but the architects chose to reconstruct the hotel with that same off-center column to mimic the historic facade Paul Revere saw when he galloped toward it.

Nearby Attractions

Surrounding the inn are two of the finest private boarding schools in the Northeast, drawing international students (and thus, their families as guests), and there are historic colonial buildings everywhere. Amusingly, I stopped a couple on Main Street to ask where a certain café might be, and it turned out they were visitors to Groton as well and searching for a restaurant they were told was in a white building. “The problem is,” said the man, “Every single building is white!” Colonial white certainly is the choice for all but a few of the buildings. It’s easy to take a short ride from Groton “up country,” as local tradesmen once called Boston and neighboring places like Cambridge. I took a diversion to the latter, 45 minutes away, and explored the endless dining and brewery options in this college town and visited a few museums on Harvard’s campus.

Fine Dining with New England Flair

I then head back to the inn and the draw of Forge & Vine for an elegant dinner. The site is architecturally exquisite, the design combining stone, wood and zinc, with a soaring ceiling, an eight-foot-long woodfired grill, and an oversized bar. The restaurant features modern New England cuisine and, for gastronomy enthusiasts, hosts six prime seats that allow diners to view the chef in action.

I’m more interested in a view over the undulating hills as the sun drops below the horizon. For a moment, I imagine seeing the flickering lights of the Minutemen’s lanterns in the distance and hearing their rallying cries. What really surrounds me, however, are twinkling stars, that cast a lingering glow over this pretty New England town with its rich and storied past.