Imagine a homestead B&B quietly tucked away on 200 acres of lush farmland and forest in the coastal plain of North Carolina. Now add to that image: landscaped gardens, eighty-year-old pecan trees, a 3-acre lake, fruit orchards, vegetable and herb gardens, and a collection of rivers and streams meandering through cypress swamps and fertile grounds and you’ve got the fixins’ for Big Mill Bed & Breakfast…a lovely country inn located just outside Williamston, North Carolina.
Owned and operated by innkeeper Chloe Tuttle, Big Mill Bed & Breakfast is nestled on land that has been in Tuttle’s family since 1922 and includes the renovated arts and crafts frame home in which Tuttle was born, as well as many of the original outbuildings including: the smokehouse, chicken coop, tobacco barns, potato house and renovated pack house. The inn’s pack house, once home to mules, tobacco, corn and hay, now houses 2 of Big Mill’s 4 available rooms: the Pack House Suite and the Corn Crib—both with private baths, seating areas and kitchens.
As gorgeous as the property that surrounds this unique, Carolina bed and breakfast is, Big Mill’s abundant gardens and acres of lush grass and green foliage haven’t been the only attributes garnering attention and rave reviews. Owner Chloe Tuttle’s green efforts have also gained the inn some amazing accolades.
Recently voted as 1 of the 10 Best Eco-Friendly Inns by BedandBreakfast.com, as well as 1 of the 5 Best Inns of the South, Chloe Tuttle and her Big Mill Bed & Breakfast were eco-friendly long before going green was considered in fashion.
In her efforts to maintain the original integrity of the property, many of the outbuildings have been renovated as rooms of the inn. Additionally, Tuttle conserves energy by hanging the inn’s bedding on a clothesline to dry, cleans with vinegar to avoid harmful chemicals, keeps the inn fragrance and pesticide free, recycles, does her own composting and grows much of the produce that is featured in Big Mill’s tasty recipes.
“I have grown food all my life,” Tuttle tells Inn Cuisine, “so creating recipes [for use at Big Mill] is just natural. My mom was a 100% southern cook, just like Aunt Bee on the Andy Griffith Show. [Growing up] We had… (story continued after the jump)
…hog killings and cured our own hams here on the farm. Back then, it took 5 families to run the farm and we’d kill 20 hogs per year to feed everyone,” Tuttle said. “We raised chickens and cows too, but we never really ate much meat. And while Mother did all the cooking [in those days,] I set the table and picked the flowers. Happy valley, eh? It was a charmed life.”
While livestock is no longer raised on the Big Mill Bed & Breakfast property, the Tuttle land still happily produces fruits, herbs and vegetables, many of which provide Chloe and her country inn with a bumper crop year after year.
“I learned to can and preserve the farm bounty at an early age,” says Tuttle, “and when we have a bumper crop of anything, like blueberries, pecans, cucumber, peppers or even basil, then I start creating new recipes. The guests love this and so do I!”
Guests of the Big Mill Bed & Breakfast are welcome to enjoy a full, continental-style breakfast from the comforts of their rooms or from any of the dining tables around the inn. A Big Mill breakfast typically consists of: homemade sourdough or sweet breads (made with fruits and nuts grown on the farm,) juice, coffee, tea, cheese and fresh fruit (including grapes, plums, pears and blueberries picked from the orchard and served in season,) homemade yogurt and a guest favorite–crustless quiches made with sun-dried tomatoes from the cook’s garden.
Up next… Touring the recipes! Big Mill’s owner and innkeeper, Chloe Tuttle, shares the secrets to some of her most treasured, eco-friendly recipes with Inn Cuisine. Stay with us!
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
This looks like an inn I’d love to experience. Looking forward to their recipes.
I really enjoy reading about these B & B’s. This one in North carolina sounds like a real gem:D
This place sounds wonderful! What a place to unwind.
Lydia, Bellini Valli & Rebecca – You have no idea how hard (and wonderful) it is to write about these inns! Each bed and breakfast is unique and their respective owners/innkeepers are so warm and personable. Every time I contact a new inn and interview the owners, by the time I’m actually writing the profile, I desperately want to visit each one! If there were only more days in a year!! Glad you all are enjoying the tour(s). Thanks to each of you for visiting and leaving comments, I appreciate your thoughts!