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Honor Thy Body

Following an Angel’s Tip to a Heavenly Retreat: 
The Honor Mansion

By Patricia Kutza 

You’ve worked long and hard and you say, you deserve it:  a vacation where you are pampered, protected and just all-around pleased.

Now many places that offer these benefits come to mind. I know quite a few folks who think that a stay in Sausalito fills that bill.  There are plenty of gorgeous views, cozy bread and breakfasts inns and luxurious spas to choose from.  But there’s also traffic and the congestion of others who have ‘worked so long and hard’ and want to be pampered, protected and just-all-around pleased. 

I had my car wheels pointed for Sausalito when an angel intercepted me.  Becky Green wasn’t wearing wings that day so I am particularly grateful that I still paid attention.  I occasionally meet Becky in the tripe section of our local food mart.  We compare notes about our progress in conquering the challenges of preparing tripe.  On this fateful day Becky’s attention seemed compromised.  She said she couldn’t wait to try a dish she had eaten at the Honor Mansion.

“You had tripe at a bed and breakfast?”  I didn’t mask my incredulity.

“No, not tripe but the most incredibly delicious eggs benedict breakfast…”

Becky’s hushed voice trailed off and her face reflected a radiance usually produced by a  60-minute massage.  My deluge of questions jackhammered Becky back to the present:  Where is this place?  What happened that could have transformed you so?  

“Oh, it sounds like you have never been to Healdsburg”, she said, adding a soft laugh for emphasis.  (Just so you know, this is sometimes how guardian angels talk)   The rest was for me to find out.  I started by doing what a growing legion of ‘in-the-know’ travelers    do:  I booked a visit to the Honor Mansion, located in Healdsburg, a small and very sophisticated city nestled in Northern California’s Sonoma County.

Through the years, I have stayed at quite a number of bed and breakfast inns.

Many times I have picked them on the strength of their advertising, words that promise that I will be pampered, protected and just-all-around pleased.  And it’s quite a let-down when their reality falls short of my hype-fed expectations.  This time I decided to take an angel’s tip. I was not to be disappointed.

What Honor Mansion proprietors’ Cathy and Steve Fowler do so very well is to declare,  from the get-go, that their mansion is a luxury inn.  Then they spend most of their efforts proving it.  Plain and simple.

The Honor Mansion is based on the notion that the essence of luxury is not just defined by serving fine wines and gourmet food.  It means giving guests the permission as well as the opportunity to be as social or as private as they want or need to be. The Fowlers provide this service by offering two types of accommodations:  rooms inside the main mansion and suites and cottages located just outside the mansion, but in close proximity to all its amenities.

Rooms in the main house (ranging from $180 - $280 per night) are richly appointed in antiques and other decorative accessories.  Guests can relax in the privacy of their rooms or mingle with other Mansion guests in the nearby Parlor.  Dogwood Room occupants, for instance, can enjoy soaking in a large claw-foot bath, lulled by the soothing sounds of the nearby Koi pond waterfall.

The Magnolia Room's   plush covers offer  silent invitations to luxuriate within its folds covering the  hand carved four-poster queen-sized bed.  All the rooms feature large shower areas and reflect an attention to detail that is often lacking in many five-star accommodations.   One such embellishment can be found in the Angel Oak Room.  Here the Fowlers commissioned Santa-Rosa based muralist. Lauren Fuller, to celebrate this space with cherubs.

When the weather turns nasty, The Rose Room’s fireplace provides a cozy respite for indoor fun.  When kinder temperatures prevail, guests can enjoy the deck area or venture just a few more steps to use the Mansion’s inviting pool.

Suites and cottages (ranging from #270 - $450 per night) provide guests with an extra level of privacy.  Completely separate from the Mansion, these accommodations also feature private porches and driveways.    I booked the Squire’s Cottage; a space located just a few yards from the Mansion yet located far enough away to feel secluded.  I was surrounded by antiques, a fireplace, a generous living space and the knowledge that a phone call- request  to the front desk could bring me everything from a gift basket  and flowers to excellent spirits (wine and champagne).

One morning during my visit,  Becky’s much-heralded eggs benedict dish arrived piping hot on my breakfast plate.  Savoring every tasty morsel, I connected with her radiant description..  Cathy Fowler’s cooking can indeed transport mere mortals to heavenly bliss.  Cathy performs such miracles at least twice a day when guests eagerly queue up for her legendary happy-hour hors-de-oeuvres. 

With an abundance of award-winning wineries, interesting shops and outdoor activities to choose from, the only tension I felt was deciding how much activity I could pack in to a three-day stay.  Not a bad trade for the hustle and bustle of Sausalito.  Not a bad trade indeed for  being  pampered, protected and just all-around pleased.

Browsing the Honor Mansion Website is a great way to introduce you to its joys.

Here you will find vivid descriptions of all its accommodations, ground amenities, its interesting history as well as the Mansion policy.  The Honor Mansion cookbook, featuring Cathy Fowler’s signature recipes, is also available for purchase at the Website and in the Mansion’s gift shop.

Contact Information:

Honor Mansion
14891 Grove Street
Healdsburg, California 95448
(800) 554-4667 (voice)
(707) 433-4277 (voice)
(707) 431-7173 (fax)
innkeeper@honormansion.com (email)
http://www.honormansion.com

While in the Healdsburg area, consider visiting:

Working Gardener
330 Healdsburg Ave
Healdsburg, CA.
(707) 473-9045 (voice)

JIMTOWN Store
6706 State HWY. 128
Healdsburg, CA.  95448
(707) 433-1212
www.jimtown.com

ALDERBROOK Vineyards & Winery
2306 Magnolia Dr.
Healdsburg, CA 95448
(707) 433-9154
www.alderbrook.com

Images by Patricia Kutza and courtesy of the Honor Mansion

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