Get Outta Town: An All American Fall Escape at the Inn at Hastings Park
The Lexington property puts a contemporary spin on history, local foodways and New England craftsmanship.
The Inn at Hastings Park. Photos courtesy of the Inn at Hastings Park.
While the country continues to commemorate America’s 250th anniversary this year, Lexington, Massachusetts, has been there, done that. The town known as the “Birthplace of American Liberty” marked the semiquincentennial of the Battle of Lexington last year. But the Inn at Hastings Park, just steps from Lexington Battle Green where the “shot heard round the world” was fired, has long leaned into its historic sense of place.
Just an hour’s drive from Providence, the twenty-two-room luxury boutique inn, Greater Boston’s only Relais & Châteaux property, is made up of three buildings, each with its own distinct past, plus the Town Meeting Bistro, named as a nod to the era when town meetings were the cornerstone of communities throughout New England.
The bar at Town Meeting restaurant.
Owner Trisha Pérez Kennealy resurrected and restored the buildings over a nearly three-year period, which includes the Main House, built in 1888 and the family home to a descendant of one of Lexington’s first families who settled the town in the 1600s; the Isaac Mulliken House, built in 1841 and named for the spirited local carpenter and politician who lived there; and the Barn, which served as Mulliken’s original carpentry shop, and today, houses a trio of luxury suites.
Chairs in Town Meeting by O&G Studio, based in Warren.
When Kennealy bought the property in 2011, she was committed to creating design-forward spaces that also reflected the gravitas of the inn’s location, so she turned to New England-based craftsmen and women from across the region to create authentic pieces throughout. The restaurant’s hand-built modern Windsor chairs are from O&G Studio in Warren, Rhode Island, led by creative director and RISD professor Jonathan Glatt, and you’ll find twenty-six different types of hand-painted wallpaper throughout the property.
Open to the public, Town Meeting Bistro leans into its local identity too, with a menu defined by reinterpreted New England classic and seasonal ingredients using local produce from artisan growers, including nearby Codman Community Farms, a nonprofit in continuous operation for more than 150 years. The restaurant also regularly hosts special culinary events (open to the public), including an autumn harvest dinner on Oct. 13 with renowned Cakebread Cellars and nearby Wilson Farm, settled by Irish immigrants in 1884. For younger ones, there’s a Dia de los Muertos Tea with crafts, cookie decorating and seasonal fun on Oct. 24.
Hanger steak at Town Meeting restaurant.
Exploring Lexington from the inn will take you just down the street to the Hancock-Clarke House, where two leaders of the Sons of Liberty, John Hancock and Samuel Adams, were staying the night of Paul Revere’s famous Midnight Ride. Nearby Buckman Tavern, built in 1709, is worth a tour for a closer look at how historic events unfolded here and what life was like for residents, including the distinguished experiences of women and residents of color. Ye Olde Burying Ground, dating back to 1690, is around the corner and is peppered with well known names attached to American history. The town’s main thoroughfare, Massachusetts Avenue (locally called “Mass Ave.”), offers more modern comforts, including mom-and-pop ice cream shops, cafes and restaurants, boutiques and a century-old movie theater.
A King Suite at the Inn at Hastings Park.
At Minute Man National Historical Park, visitors can walk in the footsteps of history along the five-mile Battle Road Trail. The stretch extends to nearby Concord, where Little Women fans can visit Orchard House where Louisa May Alcott wrote the timeless classic. The Concord Museum, meanwhile, houses the world’s largest collection of Henry David Thoreau artifacts, including the desk where he wrote “Walden.”
With ample local orchards and farms ready for apple picking, hay rides, apple cider doughnuts and pumpkin spice delights, now is the time for a visit to close-to-home Lexington.
A fall view at the Inn at Hastings Park.
