New Hampshire’s Pickering House Inn

The Cookes restored the original 1800s fence right down to the hand-carved balusters and terra-cotta post caps, which still retain the original stamp for South Boston’s H.A. Lewis.

The accent wall in the reception area was crafted from the building’s original doors, which were discovered in a loft in the barn. Groton, Massachusetts, artist Elaine Chamberlain was commissioned to create the painting on the wall.

Artifacts discovered during restoration, including sheet music signed by Daniel Pickering’s daughters, adorn the living room.

The inn’s meeting room was originally a sleeping porch; the table was crafted using wood from a 200-year-old maple tree that had to be removed from the property.

. Crown Point Cabinetry created the cabinets in the kitchen; Carlisle Wide Plank Floors laid flooring throughout the inn.

The Barn is used for tasting dinners and innkeeper suppers.

Some places just aren’t meant to be a discount store. At least that’s what Patty and Peter Cooke thought when they discovered that a historic 1813 home and barn in downtown Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, was in the process of being purchased by a discount chain. The local residents swooped in and purchased the yellow house and, in short order, decided to turn it into an inn. The couple took a crash course on hospitality (Peter was in finance and Patty owns design firm Wentworth Style) and opened Pickering House Inn in July 2018.

The property, which now boasts ten luxury rooms and an astounding ninety-three windows, had sat empty for four years and needed some major TLC before it could open to the public. Patty describes her style as “vernacular, rural, northern New England,” and admits that she isn’t a purist when it comes to the space, which was originally the home of Daniel Pickering, who opened the first bank in Wolfeboro. (Coincidentally, he also built a long-gone 240-room hotel across the street from his home.) You won’t find any floral wallpaper, but you will find bathrooms with heated floors, wainscoting crafted from boards found in the barn, floor coverings from Dash & Albert, a gathering kitchen where chefs cook breakfast each morning, and a library with original woodwork that has never been painted. There’s also a barn (complete with haylofts) where the inn hosts events including tasting dinners and innkeeper suppers. As for those aforementioned ninety-three windows? Eight are restored originals.

Pickering House Inn, Wolfeboro, N.H., pickeringhousewolfeboro.com