The White Hart: Venerable, innovative

This is the concluding article in a three-part series on Salisbury inns and hotels that are popular with leaf-peeping visitors. The first articles, on the Interlaken Inn and the Wake Robin, may be found online at tcextra.com.

SALISBURY — The night is dark, the wind is howling, and the moors are a dangerous place to be. The rider’s horse stumbles and comes up short. Up ahead, through the fog and lashing rain, a warm glowing light is spotted, a beacon in the wild sea of this unknown land. An inn is at hand, and joy washes over the exhausted traveler. He is safe at last!

Inside, he’ll find hot food, a soft bed and the company of friendly strangers. His horse will be fed sweet hay and grain, stabled in a warm, dry barn. “God’s in his heaven, all’s right with the world,†as the poet Robert Browning said.

Inns in Europe and across Great Britain came into being somewhere in the 12th century or so. People didn’t travel much and when they did, accommodations were few and far between.

When monasteries began to develop as religious fervor grew, many inns were built by the monasteries themselves, in areas of religious pilgrimage. Many times they were not much more than a shack with a roof, offering a floor “bed†and a scratch meal of some kind.

But, they were a sanctuary when the only other option was sleeping rough in the weather which was often cold and wet. Inns became more accommodating than a typical alehouse, which might be an ordinary home that served ale or beer. When highways started to be built and coaching grew as a way to travel, more and more inns sprang up.

Public houses, inns and hotels became grander and more numerous by the 19th century in Great Britain.

One interesting note: Inns and public houses in the 14th century would often hang pictured advertisements outside their businesses. Reason? Few people could read. But, the tradition of hanging pictured signs outside inns and alehouses continues today.

New England is home to many inns, which are often fashioned after their European cousins. The White Hart Inn in Salisbury is no exception. It was built in 1800 as a public house, and has graced the town ever since.

The inn has changed hands many times. At one time, it was owned by Edsel Ford, when his son was a student at The Hotchkiss School; Edsel couldn’t find a place to stay when he visited the area. The Edsel Ford Suite is available for any interested guest. Scott Bok has owned the inn since 1998 — and recently oversaw extensive renovations to adapt the inn to the needs of a new generation of guests.

“In recent times, inns have seemed to be disappearing. They don’t always appeal to the regular traveler,†Bok said. “Inns often required the traveler to share a bathroom, or exchange comfort for a piece of history.â€

The White Hart, which is situated in the center of the village of Salisbury, also suffered from the increase of automotive traffic through town, and the noise that traffic brought.

New windows and insulation were installed to get rid of the noise problem. But the renovation didn’t end there. The inn is “new†from top to bottom.

 â€œA large renovation was done in 1989,†Bok said of the recent work, “and it seemed that 20 years was about the right time to rethink our direction. It felt to me like there was a pent-up need for change.â€

Designer Matthew Patrick Smyth (of Sharon and Manhattan) oversaw the creation of the inn’s new look. It combines “the old†(such as the reclaimed barn wood used for some of the floors) and the new (each room has a flat-screen television). Fifteen guest rooms are in the main building; in the 1815 Gideon Smith House next door are four king-sized rooms, and there is also the Garden Court.

The bed linens and bath towels are Frette, the furniture is contemporary and antique reproduction.

 Chef David Miller, formerly of Clearwater, Florida, offers a creative and interesting menu, full of local produce ideas, and choice meats. The waitwervice is trained to be friendly, easy-going and professional.

“We have downsized from the past 26 rooms to 15 suites,†manager Tamara Hengen explained. “We try to be open to the local population, as well as hikers, travelers passing through and everyone who is connected to the private schools and race track, ski areas and other businesses in the area. The schools and race track are vital to the economy of the area, to us, and to the other inns in the area. We all try to work together for the good of all.â€

Bok agreed and said,“We try to serve an incredibly wide range of people, from locals to tourists, to private school parents and race car drivers. We can’t be all things to all people, but we try.

“A modern hotel is just a place to sleep in most instances,†he said. “We want to be more than that. We have tried to combine tradition and history with comfort and all the modern conveniences.â€

“I think we have finally created more of what we’ve always wanted the inn to be,†Bok said with evident pride. “My wife and I love this area, live in the area, our son goes to school here, and we’re fully invested in this place as our home.â€

For more information, go online to whitehartinn.com or call 860-435-0030. The inn is open for three meals a day, seven days a week, with an a la carte brunch served on  weekends.