The Finger Lakes Bed & Breakfast at Hutton Farm is a B&B owned by Maggie and Mike and is located in Penn Yan, New York. It is a 7000 sq. ft. building with 5 units to rent that sits on 5 acres of land. The B&B is relatively central to a number of attractions in the area, such as many wineries, lots of hiking, and the Finger Lakes themselves. Not only is the property a bed and breakfast, but it is also home to The Hutton Farm Bakery. Maggie bakes many different pastries, and all of her creations are family recipes that have been passed down from generation to generation.
The Finger Lakes Bed & Breakfast at Hutton Farm sits on 5 acres of land in Penn Yan, New York. The house has multiple common areas in the form of two different parlors and a dining room. There are 5 rooms available to rent in the building. Every room is different from the others, though they do have some things in common. Each unit has its own private bathroom and a split unit for heat.
One notable room is The Library. The Library is the only room that guests can rent on the first floor. It has a king-size bed and can house up to two people. The room has a built-in reading nook and even includes books that are as old as the early 1800's. Guests can donate books that were published earlier than the 1930s to help preserve these historical books. The owner's favorite room is the Oscelia Rose room. The room gets its name from Oscelia Hutton, the youngest daughter of some of the older owners of the property, and from the many roses that reside on the grounds. Two people can stay in the unit, considering its queen-sized bed. Its bathroom has heated tile floors as well as a stand-up shower.
The Finger Lakes Bed & Breakfast is also home to The Hutton Farm Bakery. At the bakery, everything is made to order from scratch for the customers, and they only use ingredients fresh from the farm when possible. The Hutton Farm Bakery offers many different things, including cinnamon rolls, muffins, cookies, and pies. The recipes used by Maggie, one of the owners, are all family recipes. Some of these recipes go as far back as five generations in the past.
Breakfast is served every day at The Finger Lakes Bed & Breakfast. Breakfast is always a three-course meal and consists of a baked item, fresh local fruit from partnered farms, and a hot dish. The hot dish can be food like quiche or French toast and is homemade. Coffee is put out at 7:30 AM, breakfast is served at 9:00 AM, and the owners are willing to make accommodations for those with dietary needs.
The B&B itself is about 7000 square feet—making it one of the biggest in Penn Yan—and sits on 5 acres. It has a veranda wrapping around the outside of the building that is eight and a half feet deep. There is a sun porch that guests can sit outside while eating breakfast. About an acre and a half of the property is made up of woods, with the rest being more open ground. The driveway is lined with maple oak and walnut trees. Some of the plants here are a piece of the property's history. One of the rosebushes is almost 200 years old, as well as the concord grapes.
The property used to have a barn where they kept their smaller animals and items related to their care. It has been flattened out and now offers a space that visitors can spend time hanging out. The flattened area overlooks the whole property. Another place that people can spend time is on the porch, which also overlooks the property.
The city in which The Finger Lakes Bed & Breakfast at Hutton Farm resides, Penn Yan, isn't a very big city. It only has about 5,000 people. The name Penn Yan is a derivative of Pennsylvania and New York. There are many lakes in Penn Yan that come from glaciers, as well as the Keuka Lake wine trail. The B&B is about 2 miles from the wine trail and a half-mile from stepping into the lake.
The owners, Mike and Maggie, run the inn on their own and want people to feel like family when staying with them. If guests need anything or want to talk, they can find the innkeepers on the property throughout the day. Mike and Maggie enjoy the time they get to spend interacting with guests. The people are their favorite part of running a B&B. Guests can show up, and often they are shy. However, according to Maggie, guests usually open up and get more comfortable throughout their stay. Maggie enjoys watching the process as they become more talkative with her.
Speaking of the property and the hosts, one guest said, "Maggie and Mike were amazing hosts. Very thoughtful, will give you space if you want but are always willing to talk and tell you about the history of the amazing property. Every detail of our stay was amazing. They were able to use real time pieces for furniture and decor without giving the place a stuffy feel."
Check-in time for guests is from 4 PM to 7 PM. However, if guests aren't able to arrive at this time, they can call the innkeepers and work it out. Check-out is at 11 AM. The B&B is open year-round, though it is usually busiest from June through October. It has only been operating with its current management for a little over a year, but the owners have already seen repeat guests. The inn is run by Mike and Maggie alone.
The Finger Lakes B&B at Hutton Farm has its own beer and wine licenses, so they can serve alcohol. Every third Thursday, the inn hosts a complimentary wine tasting for its guests. They offer local spirits, such as beer and wine, in these tastings. In addition to these wine tastings, the property offers afternoon tea as an event that people can schedule for their different celebrations, such as birthdays and showers. The event includes a variety of homemade desserts and sandwiches, tea or coffee, and scones. There are other events for the guests that are hosted on the property throughout the year, such as the 4th of July and Oktoberfest.
The Finger Lakes Bed & Breakfast at Hutton Farm acts as a sort of one-stop-shop for weddings. Since Maggie is a baker, she can bake a wedding cake. In addition, Maggie is a marriage officiate, so she is able to wed people on her property legally. On top of all that, the B&B offers a place for guests to stay when they come for the wedding.
There are a good number of places to dine in the area. A favorite restaurant of the owners is Ports Café in Geneva. Another restaurant they recommend in Geneva was Belhurst Castle. Finally, they have two more favorites in Penn Yan, the Union Block Italian Bistro and the 18th Amendment.
Guests can find many attractions to keep themselves entertained in the area. There is the first obvious choice from which the B&B derives its name, the Finger Lakes. However, one of the biggest attractions in the area is the number of wineries to be found. According to Maggie, somewhere around 85% of their guests are in the region to visit the wineries. The area also contains a good amount of hiking, and multiple trails showcase waterfalls for hikers to see.
The Finger Lakes Bed & Breakfast is an ancient piece of property. No one knows exactly when the house was built, but there are records showing that the property was functioning as farmland back in 1819 and perhaps even earlier. Then, the farm was bought by Anson and Lucy Hall in 1835 for the price of $3,050. This was a large amount of money back then, so the owners have inferred that multiple buildings, including a barn and dwelling, were likely already present on the property at this time. Historians in the area place the construction of the house in the late 1830s or early 1840s due to its architecture being of an Italianate design.
John and Sarah Hutton and their family, composed of 4 children and Sarah's mother, bought the property for $8,000. They continued for 66 years in working the farmland. The farm produced food such as potatoes, corn, butter, and wheat. Eventually, the Hutton's expanded the place to include additional resources, including peach and apple orchards, sheep, poultry, and wine. John ran the farm until 1888, which was the year he died. Fayette, one of John's sons, and Sarah Hutton took up the mantle after his death. They also worked the land until they passed away in the mid-1890s.
Arthur and Alice Bailey bought the property during the summer of 1924. They made additions to the house, making it the size it is today. In the following year, they moved into the house. They had eight children, but only five moved in with them. The family proceeded to live on the grounds for 38 years.
The current owners of The Finger Lakes Bed & Breakfast at Hutton Farm are Maggie and Mark. They bought it in 2018 and started on more extensive renovations in 2019. They had to throw a new coat of paint on the house, and the floors had to be redone. Every room in the house except the guest suite has been completely refurbished as well, and the innkeepers tried to stay true to the building's historical nature. It took the owners two and a half years to find every piece of antique furniture located within the home.
Mike has had to travel a lot for work in the past, so he and Maggie spent a fair amount of time at different bed & breakfasts. Each time they stayed at one, they were in the habit of thinking what that B&B could have done better. For Maggie's 40th birthday, they went to a seminar for those in the hospitality industry. In 2018, they finally decided to give being innkeepers a try.
128 South Avenue
Penn Yan, New York 14527
United States
Farmhouse
Maggie & Mike
