W
e expected rustic lodging in the northeast corner of New York State. What we didn’t anticipate was rustic
elegance. That’s what awaits guests, though, at Point Au Roche Lodge, wedged between Adirondack Park and Lake Champlain and just seven miles north of Plattsburgh. The secluded eight-room retreat is next to a forested state park. Views of both Vermont’s Green Mountains in the distance and a bucolic meadow next door also provide rejuvenating encounters with Mother Nature – all while cossetted in refined Adirondack-style luxury.
We knew from the minute we walked inside we’d be well taken care of. The spectacular great room, with soaring walls of knotty pine logs and a large fieldstone fireplace, provides various seating areas for reading or playing board games. So, too, a gazebo, where it’s possible to dine al fresco on cuisine from one of the nearby restaurants.
Rooms are luxuriously appointed. Half boast Jacuzzis and fireplaces; the others have private baths. Décor is individualized in each room: there’s a nautical nod to Lake Champlain in one, south-of-the-border Mexican flair in another. My wife and I nestled happily in the Spinnaker room, with its four-poster queen-sized bed kitted out in a hand-woven colonial bedspread, white wicker furniture and Adirondack chairs on our private deck. A no-television policy is meant to stimulate conversation and rest, but Wi-Fi is available throughout the lodge, which was purpose-built as a bed and breakfast.
Innkeepers Karen and Creston Billings took over the business in 2004, after the original owner died just a year after launching his dream business. That the Billings are at the helm these days seems predestined. Karen grew up in the area, but lived around San Francisco for a quarter-century, working as an international analyst. But when she became the victim of corporate downsizing, she says, the couple faced a choice: stay in a difficult situation or make a change and work for themselves.
“I’d always been service oriented,” she says. “I was from a family of ten. You have to be a people person to survive that.” Husband Creston was a chef, trained at the Culinary Institute of America “in the days before the Food Network made everyone think they’d be the next Emeril Lagasse or Bobby Flay.” So a B&B seemed natural. They almost bought one in New Hampshire, but Karen’s sister learned the lodge closer to home was for sale and, says Karen, “We knew this was it. It’s so unique, compared to the traditional converted Victorian mansion.”
Creston is responsible for breakfast, where guests always have the choice of sweet or savoury fare. Our difficult options: waffles à la bananas Foster or a ham, onion and cream cheese omelet. In season, he uses the bounty of their own garden, from tomatoes to edible flowers.
Recently, the lodge has begun hosting occasional weekend yoga retreats led by an experienced instructor from Plattsburgh, and writers’ retreats as well. But there’s plenty else in the area to keep guests occupied – celebrated scenery, local wineries, museums, hiking, kayaking, even urban attractions (Montreal and Burlington, Vermont, are each about an hour away). And when it’s time to wrap up one’s outing, the charm and peace of Point Au Roche Lodge promise a pampered return.
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Pointe au Roche Lodge
Creston and Karen Billings, Owners- Innkeepers
463 Point Au Roche Road
Plattsburgh, NY 12901
518-563-8714
Web: www.pointaurochelodge.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Point-Au-Roche-Lodge-95992476988/
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Citrus French Toast
4 eggs
1 qt. heavy cream
1/4 c. sugar
1/8 t. vanilla extract
Zest of 1 navel orange, chopped
Juice of 1 orange
1 loaf of French bread (cut 1” thick on a bias)
Mix by hand sugar and eggs in a bowl. Add cream, zest, juice of orange and extract. Preheat griddle to 350 degrees. Dip French bread in batter (do not soak bread). Cook on griddle approximately 5 minutes on each side or until bread is crispy on each side.
AT POINT AU ROCHE LODGE
By Peter Johansen
Rustic Elegance
Rustic Elegance