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A cottage of one's own

If you like privacy and want to treat yourself, consider these spots.

It’s not every inn that makes a guest feel like a Rockefeller.

But when my husband and I walked into the Wilson Schoolhouse Inn, we figured we’d really risen in the world.

“Hey, for once I feel like a millionaire,’’ Torsten said, bounding around the restored Prairie-style school. “This is unbelievably cool.’’

Between 1917 and 1965, country children learned their ABCs in this brick one-room country schoolhouse, now on the outskirts of La Crosse. Then it sat, deteriorating, until Lisbeth and Richard Reynertson decided to save it, though both were busy with careers.

Over 14 years, they turned its classroom into an airy living room, lined with 9-foot windows on two sides, black-and-white art photographs on a third and a spectacular kitchen on the fourth. In the lower-level gymnasium, they put two beautifully furnished bedrooms and a living area.

Then they opened the schoolhouse to overnight guests, stocking the shelves with CDs and videos, the kitchen counters with snacks and the tabletops with fresh flowers.

Why? Because they loved the schoolhouse and wanted to share it.

“It’s been a real joy,’’ said Lisbeth Reynertson. “There’s a need for places like this, where people can come together.’’

I like to stay in cottages whenever I can. I become an honored guest, rather than a faceless tourist. I meet interesting people and hear interesting stories. And not only do the cottages have loads of personality, but they often are a much better value.

One October, we went hawk-watching in Duluth, where rooms in B&Bs and Canal Park hotels were renting for $200 and up. But we stayed at the Hillside Cottage, which has four bedrooms, three baths, a view of the harbor and decor that was both whimsical and opulent.

We didn't meet the owners, but their home felt welcoming and obviously was well-loved. Oakdale residents Carelle and Ted Stein, built it as a retreat and future retirement home, on almost exactly the same spot in Duluth’s Little Italy neighborhood where Carelle grew up.

Now, it’s like a doll house for grown-ups, with carefully chosen folk-art tables and chairs, floral blue-washed stairs, filmy white curtains, chandeliers, satin-and-velvet quilts and scented soaps wrapped in patterned tissue paper. There’s a gas fireplace in a little sitting room, a kitchen stocked with lots of teas and a sunny room with a double whirlpool, which we used to warm our bones after we’d stood in the cold for four hours on Hawk Ridge.

For children, there’s a cheerful nook stocked with books, videos and toys. Children definitely are welcome, Stein says; in fact, she and Ted hope families will come for the same kind of quality time she and Ted got with their three sons five years ago, when they went to London for their first big vacation and rented a three-bedroom rowhouse from a warm Italian family.

“We felt so perfect there, so that was our main inspiration,’’ she said. “They shared that with us, and we had the best vacation of our life. We thought, ‘Gee, this is better than any hotel we could have stayed in.’ ’’

It will be a while before the Steins retire. Meanwhile, they’re hoping people enjoy their cottage as much as they do.

“When we get up there, the first thing we do is run for the guest book and see if people had a good time,’’ Carelle Stein says.

About the same time Stein was growing up in a struggling family with nine kids, Adrienne Cahoon was growing up in a family of 12 children near Brainerd. Their house didn’t have indoor plumbing, and her mother had to use a wood stove and wringer washer.

“So when I was first married, I wanted brand-new everything,’’ Cahoon said. “Brand-new house, brand-new furniture. Then I got wiser. I began to see the character in old things. A few years of that, and I began to collect antiques.’’

Cahoon and her husband, Dick, lived in California, then Florida. Now, they run Whiteley Creek Homestead on 35 acres of woods and wetlands outside Brainerd.

It’s a tribute to a simpler time, outfitted with homespun treasures. We stayed at the “out my kitchen window’’ cottage, reached through a vegetable garden overflowing with zucchini. Its first floor had a gas fireplace and two wicker chairs in one corner and an antique washing room in the other, with aprons on a line, linens on a rack, an ironing board and wringer washer.

Upstairs, rugs covered rough plank floors, dried boughs hung over the balcony door and fresh flowers sat in a vase beside the quilt-covered bed.

In the evening, before she and Dick left for a Sunday drive in their 1941 Ford convertible, Cahoon left us with butterscotch bars to eat on the inn’s screened wraparound porch, which features twig furniture and a gigantic fieldstone fireplace built around the bed of an old dump truck.

In the morning, she served us a breakfast of sausage gravy over biscuits, grapes and cinnamon coffeecake in an 1890 rail car decorated with mobiles of old kitchen implements.

“You begin to realize that what you had is where it’s at,’’ Cahoon said. “A lot of things here are reminders of my childhood. Plain is good.’’

Men often prefer cottages to B&Bs because they don’t have to talk to strangers over breakfast or feel as if they’re living in someone else’s house.

Cottages also can work well for families; when we were staying at the Othala Valley Inn, an organic farm outside Mount Horeb, Wis., we talked to an Illinois couple who’d brought their two young children to stay in the inn’s cabin, which has a wood-burning stove, games and books. They like staying in B&Bs, they said, but don’t want to seem inconsiderate of other guests.

“You know how kids can get into everything,’’ said Eric Canafax. “It can be just a little uncomfortable, but here it was great.’’

“I always look for a separate space,’’ said his wife, Eileen Canafax.

Those of us who have found the really great cottages are completely spoiled. Below are some of my favorites:

Wilson Schoolhouse Inn, La Crosse, Wis.: The kitchen in this two-bedroom cottage is fantastic and outfitted with every appliance, implement and linen conceivable. The owners leave juice, soda, cereal, coffee beans and cereal bars. It has a queen, two twins and two pull-out sofas, $120-$150 for two, $25-$30 each additional person. 608-787-1982.

Hillside Cottage, Duluth: This sweet, comfortable cottage with a view of the harbor is walking distance from downtown and, with five beds, three baths and a kitchen, would make a great place for a girlfriends’ getaway. Bring your own breakfast. It's $225 weekdays, $250 weekends, with a two-night minimum. 651-770-4151.

Whiteley Creek Homestead, Brainerd, Minn.: This inn and its owners are lots of fun; it would be a perfect base for an antique-hunting trip to nearby Crosby. There’s a canoe for use on the little creek. Three comfortable cottages, one behind an old-time general store, are $115, including a hot breakfast. It's open mid-May through October. 218-829-0654.

Maple Wood Lodge, Mineral Point, Wis.: I stayed here one fall with three girlfriends, and it was a real treat. Maple Wood is a handsome three-bedroom, two-bath post-and-beam lodge on 26 rolling acres outside Mineral Point. There's a stone fireplace, double whirlpool, extensive CD and DVD collections, a sunny dining area and large kitchen.

In the winter, there's snowshoeing on two miles of trails through woods. In fall, look for giant mushrooms. The gracious hosts, John Fetters and Coleman, live nearby. Children are welcome. It's $195 for two, $18 each additional adult up to a total of six. 608-987-2324.

Hawks View Cottages & Lodges, Fountain City, Wis.: This isn’t a B&B, but the owners leave a bottle of wine and breakfast fixings. Five cottages sit on a steep hillside above town, each with two stories, a double whirlpool, a full kitchen, one or two decks and a pull-out sofa on the first floor; one cottage is wheelchair-accessible. $135-$155 weekdays for two, $160-$185 weekends or $295-$340 for both Friday and Saturday nights.

Each additional person over age 7 is $25. Two lodges are $175-$265 per night. 651-293-0803 or 866-293-0803.

Miners' and Springside cottages, Mineral Point, Wis.: The Brewery Creek Inn rents the 1836 stone Miners' Cottage and two suites in the 1843 stone Springside Cottage, built by Cornish immigrants and renovated by local legend Bob Neal, who with Edgar Hellum restored Pendarvis, the historical complex across the street. Breakfast fixings are included in the rate, $159-$169. Check the web site for off-season specials, 608-987-3298.

Dorset Ridge Guesthouse, Wilton, Wis.: This tidy, comfortable three-bedroom house is a wonderful place to take children, who can gather eggs for breakfast at Betty and Dennis Boeder’s farm next-door. It’s in Amish country, near the Elroy-Sparta State Trail. $100 for two, less for more than one night; additional people are $15 each. 608-463-7375.

Trillium, La Farge, Wis.: The rustic Grandma’s Cottage and newer Hill Cottage are on a farm deep in beautiful coulee country, with lots of kittens and farm animals for children to pet; Amish families farm on the nearby ridge.

Eggs, cheese, butter, milk and cereal are provided, and owner Rosanne Boyett brings freshly baked breads and homemade jams in the morning. $110 for two, $95 for more than one night, with additional discounts for winter stays and guests who arrive in hybrid vehicles. Additional guests age 12 and older pay $35. 608-625-4492.

Great River B&B, Stockholm, Wis.: This 1869 stone cottage on the shores of Lake Pepin was built by Jacob Peterson, one of the first settlers of Stockholm, to resemble the childhood home of his wife, Sara, who had become homesick for Sweden. It's got original honey-maple floors, tall paned windows and two gas fireplaces. Owner Leland Krebs returns to prepare breakfast in the morning. $175 for two only. 715-442-5656, 800-657-4756.

Below are cottages at B&Bs I’ve toured, but haven’t stayed at:

Silo, gazebo and cabins, Ambrosia Inn, Hazel Green, Wis.: In Hazel Green, Wis., not far from Galena, the adults-only Ambrosia Inn includes a 50-foot silo, taken from a nearby farm and fitted with a new top, paned windows and a red door, plus double whirlpool and gas fireplace, $150-$185. It also has an octagonal gazebo, with Palladian windows and cupola, $165-$195, and four log cabins, constructed with chinked timbers from old barns, $150-$185. 800-666-2006.

Othala Valley cabin, Mount Horeb, Wis.: The nearby house no longer is run as a B&B, but new owners Janelle and Scott Holmstrom rent the cabin, which has two queen beds, a pull-out futon couch and a kitchen, and there’s lots of room for children to run around outdoors.  608-437-1073.

Peterson Log House, Campbellsport, Wis.: This two-story 19th-century Norwegian cabin is on a kettle lake in the Northern Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest, off the Ice Age National Scenic Trail west of Sheboygan. It has two bedrooms and two baths, and the summer rate is $160, $15 per night for pets. Toni Jacobson.

Justin Trails, Sparta, Wis.: This complex in farmland has three attractive cottages, each with gas fireplace, VCR and double whirlpool, $195-$250 weekdays, $225-$325 weekends for two, $25 each additional adult. Children are allowed, as are pets at $15 per stay.

In the winter, guests can ski on the resort’s trails if there’s enough snow. If guests bring their dog, the owners may give them a free skijoring lesson. 800-488-4521.

John’s Cottage, Spicer Castle Inn, Spicer, Minn.: This cottage on the shores of Green Lake has a fireplace, a double whirlpool and 15 windows, $165-$185, including a full breakfast. Raymond’s Cabin is more rustic, $115-$135. 800-821-6675.

How to find other cottages: Guests can search the B&B association web sites for inns with cottages. For more, see How to find a bed-and-breakfast.

There are also many cottages and cabins that operate independently and can be very good values. Find them in regional or local visitors guides or web sites, or from brochures found at local businesses. For more, see Renting a vacation house.

A quote: "I had rather be shut up in a very modest cottage with my books, my family and a few old friends . . . than to occupy the most splendid post, which any human power can give.''  — Thomas Jefferson

Last updated on November 27, 2009