Aurora, A Relaxing Movie Night “Inn” Update

This is an update to our Aurora, A Relaxing Movie Night “Inn” package. I have mad a visit to Aurora, NY as well as Buffalo where I saw some Frank Lloyd Wright houses and we stayed at The Roycroft Inn and I visited the Roycroft Campus. I also changed the bubbles that go with this package.

I heard about this pairing and was skeptical about it. Popcorn and Champagne? That's crazy! It really is a great pairing. Aurora, A Relaxing Movie Night “Inn” adds to that pairing with another classic, popcorn and a movie. The package is just $20.00 and is a great addition to your stay at The Craftsman B&B. A bottle of our Bin #06 Cristalino Brut Cava N.V. with a bowl of fresh made popcorn. You'll be sipping in 2 Keepsake Craftsman B&B Flutes while you enjoy snuggling and watching a DVD from our collection. Most people travel with a laptop computer and they can watch a movie, but if you left it all behind for a relaxing weekend, we have DVD players for you.

Cristalino comes in a 375ml bottle, perfect for a few glasses. This wine was rated #3 in wine.com's top 100 wines on 2007. Not the #3 bubbles, the #3 wine overall.

Aurora, more exact, East Aurora, New York is the home of Roycrofters. I mentioned them in the Asheville package as they furnished the Grove Park Inn. This guild of craftsmanship and philosophy lead to the rise of the Arts and Crafts movement in the United States. Elbert Hubbard was inspired by William Morris. Morris had his own press, Kelmscott Press. Hubbard's was called the "Roycroft Press" by latter-day collectors and print historians, the organization called itself "The Roycrofters" and "The Roycroft Shops."
The name comes from the printers, Samuel and Thomas Roycroft, who made books in London from about 1650-1690. And beyond this, the word roycroft had a special significance to Elbert Hubbard, meaning King's Craft.

Hubbard edited and published two magazines, The Philistine and The Fra. The Philistine was bound in brown butcher paper and full of satire and whimsy. The Roycrofters produced handsome, if sometimes eccentric, books printed on handmade paper, and operated a fine bindery. The guild also included a furniture shop, and shops producing modeled leather and hammered copper goods. They were a leading producer of Mission Style products.

A quotation from John Ruskin formed the Roycroft "creed": "A belief in working with the head, hand and heart and mixing enough play with the work so that every task is pleasurable and makes for health and happiness".

The Roycroft Campus, a National Historic Landmark and was placed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation on its 11 Most Endangered Places. The Roycroft Campus Corporation (RCC) was established to preserve and restore the Campus. They successfully rehabilitated The Roycroft Inn. The RCC now plans to embark on a $50 million acquisition and restoration of the remainder of the campus. Its ultimate goal is to preserve the unique architectural setting of the Campus, but moreover, to bring back to life the Roycroft community and ideals by re-introducing working artisans on the campus; developing comprehensive, compelling, and multi-faceted interpretative and educational programming; and encouraging the development of a center for creativity and innovation in the decorative arts, fine arts and literature.

In 1915 Hubbard and his wife, noted suffragette Alice Moore Hubbard, died in the sinking of RMS Lusitania.

So what did I learn after my visit? We'll the buildings of the Campus are all intact and being used. The city of East Aurora has their offices and police station in 2 of the buildings. One building is now a gallery for Roycroft craftsmen. Another building is used as an antique store and furniture repair shop. The RCC really needs some money to restore this place, think about that the next time your at a silent auction and are bidding on something you don't really need or want. Send a check to the RCC.

So the strangest thing I noticed at The Roycroft Inn was all the furniture was from Stickley. Now I'm not saying Stickley is wrong, but Roycrofters made furniture and have many furniture makers currently in the guild. I think as time went by, the Roycroft pieces were sold off and when they opened the Inn, they needed a commercially made line to fill all the rooms. Travel tip: Stay on the top floor at The Roycroft Inn, squeaky floors everywhere.

New Addition to the Family

What? It's not what you think. Here at The Craftsman B&B in Pacific City, Oregon, we are all about Craftsman style. Traditional, original, reproductions and modern interpretations of the style, ideas of the period and movement away from the frilly Victorian design. Our goal was to have our guests open the door to 1921, the year this house was built. While this piece wasn't around in 1921, it very well could have been. This is the latest member to the family, a Stickley Dining Room table.

Here is the pie sliced cherry veneer top. It also has 2 leaves so we can seat the whole house.

This table is not an original piece from the era, but an updated take. Made by Stickley, loved by us. We got a phone call from my human parents, the original Mike and Laura. They had a baby 2 years ago and as he is getting more mobile, they were afraid of him crashing his toys into the table and scratching, denting, you know, boy stuff. So they asked us if we wanted to have it in our house. We jumped at the idea and they drove it down just in time for the May Party. That was a good thing, as we had a lot of help getting it into the house and putting it back together. During the party the tables shared the Dining Room, the last event for the old table for years to come.
We have made our versions of Stickley furniture, purchased some too. Mike made the chairs, based on period details, fumed white oak and finished with a danish oil. Next coat will get a darker tint to blend better with the new table.

So for those of you that like our old table, original to the house and the finish on the top of the pedestal worn off from 80 years of feet rubbing on them, don't worry it's still part of the family, just not in the center of the Dinning Room.

So come and stay with us at the B&B to see our new addition. You may find me laying at the base of a table leg, there is an image, in the brushed nickle feet, of a very good looking dog.