A few days ago I was sitting across from my friend Audrey Gelman on a sleepy day in the tiny upstate New York town of Rosendale. She was two days away from opening her eleven-room hotel, The Six Bells Countryside Inn, and I was enjoying my duck confit and grilling her with questions about what the next few days would bring. I was there to create photos and videos of the hotel’s opening, and I could tell I was in for a scene straight out of Gilmore Girls.

I was first introduced to The Six Bells brand before I befriended Gelman. I likely saw the home goods brand, with its Brooklyn brick-and-mortar and online shop filled with country goods reminiscent of grandma style meets cottagecore in the pages of Country Living, or in an Instagram post sent to me by a fellow country style loving friend. The Six Bells brand has created an ethos that feels like stepping into your grandmother’s house filled with gingham, Longaberger baskets, and plenty of wood tones. Maintaining a very tight style with all they’ve done in the years since their launch meant the bar was high with this soon-to-open inn.

With less than 48 hours before the Inn’s opening, Gelman gave me a tour of the hotel, all 11 guest rooms, the restaurant, the retail space, the back patio, and the kitchens. (I later gave myself a tour of the basement, but that isn’t something she needs to know.) I said it to her face, I said it in text to Adam Greco, the New York-based designer Gelman and her team partnered with for the hotel design, and I’ll say it here again…these New York natives nailed country style. This Kentuckian was looking for missteps ˗ with nearly every issue of Country Living on shelves in my house, I know country style ˗ but boy, did they nail it. But more on the design later.

I’m oftentimes the friend my friends will call and say, we’re opening a shop, we’re hosting an event, we’re taking a trip, we want you to join with your camera to document the experience. This was one of those sorts of experiences. I would get to watch The Six Bells team bring the final details of the hotel and the restaurant to life and welcome the first guests. My job was to create photographs and videos that could be shared on social media. In my mind I assigned everyone roles as if we were in a Gilmore Girls episode. In my mind Lorelai and Snooky were opening the Dragonfly Inn. The color palette was even the same. The first guests would be a handful of folks, some from North Carolina, some from Georgia, and some friends of Gelman’s, who would all come together with the team running the inn, to experience the first day and night at the inn, and I would be there in the mix. These photos are from that day.

At dinner, three hours after the guests had arrived, the deviled eggs were served, as was a selection of very well-made bread, and banter ensued. At one point in the evening Gelman (38), our friend Anthony (38), and I (35) introduced a 28-year-old guest at the hotel to the legacy and heritage of the Longaberger basket brand, a fitting conversation to have in The Six Bells world.

This upstate inn is for anyone who has a heart for nostalgia, a love of the country, and wants to escape to a small town for an authentic experience. The inn is far from hokey, even if the driving narrative behind its room names, future murder mystery events, and welcome newspaper all carry the narrative of a made-up town and characters that Gelman and her friends created to populate the fictional world of Barrow’s Green.

BEN’S FAVORITES:

This is a bit biased, but these are my favorites from my visit to The Six Bells Countryside Inn:

1. If you skipped the deviled eggs, you’re deeply disappointing this Southern boy. They’re the best I’ve ever had.

2. Shop the shop. I am a Six Bells fan and have pieces from the brand in my home. I love the Vermont Country Store meets Brooklyn meets Cotswolds vibe. Skip the candles, go for the spongeware dishes and the coffee.

3. Grab a coffee from the bar; the team knows how to make just about anything you request. The latte is damn good.

4. Stay at the Inn, but explore the area. My favorite antique store in the US, yes, the whole US, is just a few miles away up in Stone Ridge. Maplelawn 1843 is a must-visit. Kingston is just 15 minutes away from the Inn. Grab a sunset boat tour with Kingston Boat Co., a 1934 passenger boat offering nightly cruises of the Hudson. Stop in at Clove and Creek, y’all know my love of them. Grab a coffee, a drink, and/or a book at Rough Draft and wander the streets of Kingston, one of New York’s oldest towns. Back in Rosendale visit Clubhouse Vintage.

5. Study the rooms before you book and pick your favorite. Each room has a story and a unique design. All of the rooms feel cozy and nostalgic, but read up on the inspiration and characters behind each. Envelop yourself in the world of Barrow’s Green.

6. Do not skip the restaurant at the Inn - the Feathers Tavern is not to be missed. Their team has taken country food to the next level. Creating elevated favorites that do not feel pretentious is a thin line to walk and the team nails it. Start with a breadbasket and a salad, do an entree, but do not skip that chocolate cake, just don’t.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

I’m a country kid, I live in a town of 300, I have a degree in rural development, and I photograph projects almost exclusively in small towns, so I have watched this project come to life with complete and total fascination. I, like many of you, have long followed the NYC “it-girl” story of Gelman—long before she and I became friends, and I was fascinated to see how she would bring The Six Bells brand to a truly small town in the Hudson Valley. I can say after watching the year-long process and the opening week at the Inn that Audrey, with her “Let’s Go Mets” tattoo and all, clearly has small town in her blood regardless of how New York City she might be. In a small town the mentality of “we’re all in this together” is an unavoidable way of life, as is “rising tides rise all ships” and it has been refreshing to see The Six Bells team continually incorporate local talent into the design and into the team, to constantly spotlight the local community, and to eagerly seek to be a part of the local landscape of Ulster County, New York.

The Six Bells Countryside Inn is real-deal country living at its best. Go for a visit, won’t you?