PRICE:
Frommer's Highly Recommended

Steve and Marie Nygren have created a retreat on 284 acres of farmland, 32 miles southwest of Atlanta -- amid rolling meadows, horse pastures, verdant woodlands, and fields of sage. They offer warm Southern hospitality to visitors seeking a romantic getaway, a place to kick back and relax, or a family vacation that offers close encounters with farm animals. Visiting children are invited to play in a treehouse, pet the baby animals, feed the chickens, and otherwise participate in farm chores. Other activities include croquet, occasional hayrides, marshmallow roasts around a bonfire, fishing from a well-stocked lake, hiking along trails dotted with streams and waterfalls, moonlit canoe rides, and antiquing in the nearby town of Newnan. In the 94-year-old house, a rustic recreation room with a working stone fireplace is comfortably furnished and equipped with games, books, puzzles, a TV, and videos. There are also many patios, porches, and gazebos where guests can gather or enjoy some privacy. In the dining room, which has lovely views of the surrounding countryside, you'll enjoy a hearty breakfast -- perhaps cheese grits, baked ham, fresh eggs, fried green tomatoes, and biscuits. The rooms -- all with private bathrooms, one with a Jacuzzi tub -- are charming and unpretentious, with unique features such as knotty-pine floors strewn with rag rugs, antique furnishings, a bed piled high with decorative pillows, and lace-curtained windows. One room has been modified for guests with disabilities. The cottage has its own full kitchen, living room, front porch, and screened dining porch. The lake house has four bedrooms with private entrances and private bathrooms. All share a huge common screened porch. The Nygrens are Atlanta restaurant royalty: Steve, now retired, was the founder of the successful Peasant group -- which runs Mick's, City Grill, and others -- while Marie is the daughter of Margaret Lupo, who established Mary Mac's Tearoom, a local institution. Facilities: Swimming pool w/adjoining Jacuzzi; exercise room; free bicycles; fax and dataport available; conference room w/multimedia equipment; massage; babysitting; communal kitchen and barbecue grill; unstocked fridge; complimentary laundry facilities.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Atlanta, 11th Edition, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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