The Toll House Inn was a perfect home-away-from-home: it was roomier, quainter, and better stocked than a normal home and also within a quick drive to lots of fun things. We rented all the rooms of the Toll House in early December 2016 for a weekend getaway with 11 friends. Using it as a home base starting Friday night, we ventured to hikes in old growth redwood forests, wine-tasting rooms, farmstands, and brewery tap rooms for the next couple days.
I think we were generally surprised by some of the perks that the house offered: gorgeous stargazing, a library of books about Anderson Valley, a location only a few minutes away from Booneville, well maintained trails on the property, relatively classy décor (steering away from other B&B’s tendency for extensive knickknack-based interiors), and the extensive kitchenware and the industrial size gas range. The kitchen did surprisingly well in holding all 11 people at times, but also during the evenings we spread out to the dining room and living room for card, board games, and generally idle lounging by fire places.
To acknowledge a few downsides: the convection oven was a bit temperamental, the house a bit creaky (didn’t take long for everyone to be up as soon as a few people started moving around), and the noise from logging trucks on the highway was quite audible.
Overall, everyone in our party thought it was a great place and there was much murmuring that we should do a reprise, partially because we didn’t get to spend enough time hanging out at the Toll House Inn and the grounds, but also because we didn’t get to finish enjoying the nearby attractions.
