Inn Of The Tartan Fox, Keene

Built in 1832, the Inn of the Tartan Fox was a large homestead in Swanzey New Hampshire. The original owners were Benjamin and Abbie Meade and the property came to be known as Meademere. Their daughter Annie married Perley Safford on Christmas day in 1905.

Today many activities are held there, including the annual flower show, home show, demolition derbies and the county fair. Their daughter Norma attended Syracuse University where she majored in Art. She taught two years in Johnstown NY before returning to Keene. She became Chairman of the Keene High School Art Department on 1950.

Each of the four guest rooms have a private bath with heated marble floors, two have a fireplace, all have TVs and air-conditioning and are decorated in a different Scottish tartan. A full breakfast featuring the “best scones ever”, fresh fruits and scrumptious entrees is served each morning and features local products whenever possible.

She was a prolific painter of florals and nature; often inspired by the natural beauty and dozens of varieties of unusual naturalized perennials, pines and ponds that surround the property. Her paintings have become an important part of the history of Cheshire County and are valued pieces of many area collections.

After that, she developed a fear of fire and had the fireplaces in the house closed off. Two fireplaces have been restored and are now in working order. The remains of one stone fenced barnyard can be seen next to the garage, which was a part of the main barn.

The Safford home has always been a place of natural beauty, with its bountiful flowers in naturalized settings, its pond lilies and many species of birds. In the past, swans have hatched their babies under the willow trees.