Local wildlife on our hand made doors.

It looks like it's going to be a beautiful week here in Nelson County Virginia.  The temperatures are in the upper 70's and 80's, and it's easy to imagine guests staying at the six rooms of the Fenton Inn, ready to begin a wonderful vacation. 

    Last week you all got a sneak peak at the "street" in front of the bakery.  You could barely see one of the copper doors at  the end of the shot.  Here is a closer look at the bear door.  I get a lot of questions on how it was made, but really getting the bear to stand still was most of the trouble.  We have had a few real bear prints around the project during construction, and if you hike in the woods, you can often see stones that have been flipped over as they look for ants.

 

The Blue Ridge Mountains are home to only one type of bear- the black bear. They occasionally leave foot prints in their search for ants and berries.

    Last year some friends came down to visit from New York City. They pitched a tent and listened to the owls at night.  The next morning they walked around and saw this new born fawn in the grass.  It was probably born that night.  Until they showed us the exact spot, we never would have seen it.  Sometimes when you live here, you don't look around as closely. 

                                       

    If you are a fan of bird watching, the area is a great place to whip out those binoculars and look for some of the large and small residents of the local tree tops.  At the inn we have had a few bald eagle sightings, as well as the occasional golden eagle.  This area has updrafts along the Blue Ridge Mountains that make it an easy migratory route for large birds.  Often they can soar for miles effortlessly.  Each spring a nesting pair of red tail hawks return to the sky over head and calls in the spring with a loud shreek.  Other birds, like the cardinals, barred owls and the awkward flying pileated woodpecker never leave the property. If you haven't seen one of these woodpeckers, you might be in for a surprise at how loud and large they are.  The average pileated woodpecker can grow to up to 19 inches in length, and fly more like some prehistoric bird with an over sized head.

   During the night you might hear the gentle hooting of an owl out of your window.There is an owl watching over the street from above.  

 

The first look at the new Fenton Inn

 
       There are a lot of projects still left to go, but there are enough beautiful and exciting things that we can start updating you on the progress as the weeks go by.  So, lets take a tour and get to know the Fenton Inn.


       The roof of the front porch has gotten its banner and is ready to greet guests.  All of the wood in the building is unstained so you can appreciate its natural beauty.  A lot of the unique wood was harvested from the building site, the more character the better.  There are a lot of areas where we utilized the raw edge of the wood as well, which you will see in some of the other rooms.

       As soon as you walk into the front door, you are greeted with a taste of the beautiful woodworking that permeates the rest of the inn.

         Most of the floors and doors are finished now, and we've moved on to finishing windows and installing the clock that will overlook the main street.  It has astrological symbols carved into the face and had to be hoisted up a ladder along with an equally large piece of glass. 

       Here is a sneak peak of of the street that separates the two sides of the Fenton Inn.

    

 Lilia Fenton just planted all of these lovely hibiscus along the road in gorgeous copper pots.  They really set off the little hand made copper shingles along the tops of the windows.  You can barely see it, but there are copper plates in the first door that have bear claw prints embossed in them.  Doesn't it make you feel like you've just stepped into an old European town? 

       Come back next week and we'll take a look at a few of the exterior doors. Maybe the rain will hold off and we'll be able to finish more of the street and work on a  winding bench that will curl around the back end of the street.