The Inn at Hancock is Proudly Rakish
The 15-room, 18th-century inn reopens after a European-inspired renovation.
Each of the Inn at Hancock’s 15 guest rooms is distinct. Chinoiserie dresses up this room’s vintage furniture.
A lime green secretary desk and pink armchair amplify vibrant tones from the wallpaper.
True or not, “George Washington slept here” is a familiar tagline for historic properties across New England. At The Inn at Hancock, a boutique hotel in the state’s Monadnock Region, Washington himself did not spend the night, but President Franklin Pierce did, and so did Ralph Waldo Emerson, Mark Twain, and much more recently, Chevy Chase. Restoring the 15-room, 18th-century inn to its former glory without skimping on modern comforts presented a challenge.
The hotel, originally opened in 1789 and recognized as the oldest continuously operating inn in New Hampshire, reopened this May following a three-year renovation, which was the brainchild of creative director Kerri Landry’s design studio, Heston Woodcock. At first, says Landry, some in the community expressed concern about the viability of transforming and modernizing the property while respecting its past. But, the renovated inn indeed pays homage to its historic roots — with a spin.
“We were inspired by a typical English country house hotel,” Landry says. “Given that we are in New England and this has been an institution since 1789, we wanted to merge the two and blend art, fashion and global influences. We wanted it to feel like relaxed elegance, really fun, whimsical and a little rakish.”
Modern finishes and a simple palette ensure comfort and ease in this bathroom.
Partnering with Boston-based interior designer Jeffrey Delvy, Landry preserved the inn’s New England essence while bringing in quaint English and French charm, all with an unmistakable whimsy and swagger. The team enlisted support to preserve an 1810 Rufus Porter mural, which had been painted over in a previous redesign and endured water damage. The library lacked windows, so Landry and Delvy created a view with bookshelves, textural rugs, cowhide behind the ceiling lattice and an inviting fireplace with recreated 18th-century coping.
Not original, but newly iconic, the front door painted Nancy’s Blushes, a true pink by Farrow & Ball, was subject to review by the Hancock Historical Society. The community has a love-hate relationship with the attention-getting color. Though the interior did not fall under the same historic scrutiny, Landry and Delvy took pains to preserve the hotel’s interior charms, too.
“We had this idea that ours is not the last iteration,” says Delvy. “Our hope is that whatever was here before us will be here after us.”
Pink’s Lounge is a bold setting for a cocktail.
Upon entering the hotel, a visitor might step inside the Hunt Bar & Scullery, which the team restored reflecting its past as a historic gathering area, relocating hotel check-in to the second floor. A lounge across the way houses a piano and offers live jazz on Friday nights. Pink’s Lounge is a lively, casual grill, and come summer it opens onto the back patio. The main restaurant spills across three dining rooms — a formal Georgian dining room, also painted in the cheeky Farrow & Ball pink, a reading room and a garden room, dressed up in abundant florals for a serene breakfast.
The team has already received positive feedback about the inn’s bold new chapter that evocatively reaches back in time. One day, a visitor who hadn’t been to the inn since the renovation approached Delvy with a surprising observation.
The inn’s cheeky, pink front doors are a precursor to the fanciful flair that lies within.
“They walked into the Hunt Bar, and their first comment was, ‘Thank God, they saved the wallpaper,’” Delvy says. “In fact, the wallpaper is new, so I thought we did our job.”
PROJECT TEAM
Heston Woodcock Studio
603-876-9339
hestonwoodcock.com
Jeffrey Delvy Design and Decoration
617-504-6627
jeffreydelvy.com
For more information, visit innathancock.com.
