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One of the best bed and breakfasts in Clinton (Bayfield/Goderich) Ontario,
as recommended by Janette Higgins.
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Bannock Burn Bed and Breakfast
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Sabine Muehlethaler
39341 Vanastra Road
Bluewater, ON
Canada, N0M 1L0
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| Phone: 519-233-3295 |
| No doilies or frilly country here. A European sensibility pervades this truly unique century stone house. |
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Click
Mapquest
for
Clinton (Bayfield/Goderich), Ontario map
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Review by Janette Higgins
author of The Best Places to B&B in Ontario: A Selective Guide
Six editions of the book were published to critical and popular acclaim. Janette now publishes her B&B
reviews and holiday reports online.
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Note 1 to reader: Every Ontario bed and breakfast receives my consideration. I travel incognito, pay where I stay and write reviews of the top 5%. Here is a bed and breakfast near Bayfield and Goderich which I recommend. Janette Higgins
Though she grew up in urban Switzerland, Bannock Burn Bed and Breakfast host Sabine Muehlethaler has always been drawn to life in the country. She appreciates its simplicity and people’s acceptance of others for who they are. This passionate interest lead to a B. Sc. in Agronomy (to do with soils and crops) and Sabine subsequently moved to Canada to this area around Bayfield to farm with her then husband and raise three children. Now, with children launched, Sabine has embarked on the next phase, which brings me to her bed and breakfast, a special experience indeed.
Sure, you’re a bit of a drive from Bayfield. It took me 12 minutes. And the last stretch of road is washboard gravel. But, as it turns out, that country approach is absolutely fitting. It forces you to slow down and marvel at the Renoir-worthy views before being gobsmacked by this beautiful 1878-built stone house surrounded by Sabine’s European-styled gardens. I have not seen a stone house like this, an artful blend of chiselled limestone and various granites ranging from black to salmon. Undaunted by the disrepair in which she found this old Georgian-styled house Sabine set out to restore, renovate, and set up her bed and breakfast.
It’s all so elegantly simple. No doilies or frilly country here. Rather, there’s space and light and a collection of art with local or family significance. Her ancestor’s antiques were shipped from France and Switzerland. The coffee table in the guest living room is actually her father’s old travel trunk. The typewriter on the hall table upstairs belonged to her letter-writing mother. One of the airy guest bedrooms has a queen bed and en suite bath. That’s where I stayed. Sabine had arranged teasel, grasses and black-eyed-Susans in a weighty, crystal vase and placed it in the deep window well. The other two rooms, one with a queen and the other with twin beds, share a large bathroom with a shower in the tub. Their décor is equally appealing.
Next morning my breakfast was grapes with pineapple, a raisin and cranberry scone and scrambled eggs with tomato. There was also homemade multigrain bread and croissants on offer. Over breakfast I questioned Sabine about the cows I’d seen in the adjacent fenced field – one had even called out a greeting when I came back from dinner. Turns out a local farmer uses Sabine’s property to pasture four cows and a few sheep for the summer. To observe the animals and have a full appreciation of the spirit here make sure you set a spell on the larger-than-usual back verandah. It’s based on an old design, and was constructed by acquaintances of Sabine; local old-order Amish. Quite fitting; in so many ways.
Note 2 to reader: I appreciate your support of the continuation of my research by letting the hosts know you read my review of their bed and breakfast on this bbontario website. Many thanks! Janette Higgins, Travel Writer
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Bannock Burn Bed and Breakfast, Clinton (Bayfield/Goderich), Ontario
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| Tell your hosts Janette Higgins sent you! |
| E-mail: |
Click Here |
| Website: |
http://bannockburnbb.com |
| Best to call: |
After Noon |
| Languages: |
English, German, French, some Italian |
| Season: |
mid-April through mid-December |
| CDN $ Rates: |
S $70-105, D $80-115 No taxes
2-night minimum for Celtic Festival in Goderich |
Currency converter
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| Cards: |
Cash, cheque, VISA, MC, AMEX |
| Restrictions: |
Enquire about children; no guests' pets; smoking outside only |
| Facilities: |
1 room with queen bed and en suite bath with shower stall; 2 rooms with shared bath (shower in tub), 1 queen and 1 with two twin beds; central air; wireless internet |
| Parking: |
ample |
| Breakfast: |
full |
| In Residence: |
There are no pets in the house. |
| Location: |
Near Bayfield, Goderich and Clinton. Now known as Bluewater. East of Hwy 21. West of Highway 4. South of Bayfield Road (County Road 13). |
| Directions: |
obtain when booking |
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