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This Jewel-box Hotel in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Transformed a 200-year-old Tavern Into a 6-room Inn With an Incredible Restaurant

The new Carversville Inn is about an hour outside Philadelphia.

Regan Stephens
The Carversville Inn in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.Credit: Juan Vidal/Carversville Inn
The Carversville Inn in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.<br>Credit: Juan Vidal/Carversville Inn

Carversville Inn

  • The design is bold and unexpected, with jewel-toned wallpaper, artwork collected from travels, and cheeky, mid-century Italian monkey wall sconces.

  • A dimly lit, buzzy restaurant draws stylish locals and turns out a menu of perfectly executed French classics.

  •  The location, in the heart of Pennsylvania's bucolic Bucks County, is minutes from downtown New Hope, and world-class antique markets, art galleries, and cycling trails along the Delaware River.

  • Luxury candle brand D.S. Phantom & Co. created a custom house scent—a warm blend of amber, leather, vetiver, clove, and tobacco—that drifts through the spaces.

On a crisp, spring Saturday morning, I sat next to my husband on the wraparound porch off our second-floor bedroom at Carversville Inn , sipping coffee to the tune of ambient birdsong.

It felt like the perfect time to visit, though I quickly realized it would be just as beautiful in fall, when the leaves turn across the rolling hills of this rural countryside . Or in summer, when you can pick cherries at nearby Solebury Orchards or float down the Delaware River on an inner tube. And even in winter, when you can get cozy beside the inn's massive fireplace with a cocktail from the bar just a few steps away. At Carversville Inn, it seems, every season feels like the right one.

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Set just outside New Hope in bucolic Bucks County, Pennsylvania—one of Philadelphia’s four collar counties—this six-room boutique hotel and restaurant occupies a 1813 Federal-style building. Over the past two centuries, the structure has served as a tavern, a general store, an ice cream parlor, and a gas station. Then, in August 2020, Milan Lint and Mitch Berlin purchased the property, which had most recently been operating as a restaurant, with a vision that had been years in the making.

Outdoor seating on the porch.Credit: Juan Vidal/Carversville Inn
Outdoor seating on the porch.<br>Credit: Juan Vidal/Carversville Inn

“We traveled a lot, particularly throughout Europe, and loved staying in little boutique hotels and picking out the things that made a hotel special—the sight, the sound, the smell, all that,” Berlin says. “It was always a dream of ours to own a little boutique inn or hotel where we pick and choose all the things that we really love, and bring them together in one place.”

The couple, who relocated from New York City to Bucks County over two decades ago, undertook a sweeping renovation to bring that vision to life. They stripped out nearly everything and reconfigured the old layout. After two-plus years navigating red tape and another two overseeing construction, Carversville Inn opened in May 2025 with a 65-seat restaurant, a full bar, and six guest rooms.

From the outside, the three-story building fits seamlessly into its quintessential Bucks County surroundings, with deep wraparound porches, a stone-and-stucco facade, and brick walkways. Step inside, though, and it's a different world entirely. Lint and Berlin didn't hire a designer. Instead, the stylish couple spent the construction years combing through vintage markets, building a concept that’s classic, but singular and a little subversive.

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"This place—it's old, small, it's like a jewel box—but it's a fun jewel box," Berlin says. "Here's this old building in Pennsylvania. The last thing you expect is this little Parisian boutique jewel box."

I got my first clue when I arrived on a Friday evening: just beside the front door, the inn's sign features a logo of a monkey sipping a martini. Inside, the design comes to life with jewel tones, plush furnishings, bold wallpaper, layered textures, and dynamic art. It’s a bold backdrop for the warm, personal welcome and a glass of bubbles I was handed just as I passed over the threshold.

Below, my full review of Carversville Inn.

The Rooms

The Inn's six suites are spread across the building’s second and third floors. While all rooms look a little different—with varying splashy wall coverings and vintage furniture with custom reupholstery—each has a king-size bed, a desk, and a sitting area. The second-floor suites have doors that open directly onto private outdoor seating areas, with views of the quiet, green surroundings.

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Our room was papered with a charming House of Hackney print featuring a sloth smoking a hookah, a badger sipping a tropical cocktail, and an otter fanning itself. A chaise longue that Berlin had reupholstered, trimmed in matching fabric, sat nearby. The bed, dressed in Frette linens and stacked with feather pillows, was among the most comfortable I've ever slept in.

Bathrooms are spacious, clad in black-and-white tile, and outfitted with soaking tubs (in all rooms except the ADA-compliant suite) and separate walk-in showers. Each is stocked with Etro bath products, Frette robes, and Dyson hair dryers.

The rooms are full of thoughtful details: analog bedside clocks, soft nightlights, a brass pineapple ice bucket on the desk, and a complimentary selection of snacks and bottled water. There's no mini fridge or in-room coffee setup, and that's intentional—Lint and Berlin want the room to feel like your own private bedroom. But you can wander downstairs in the morning and pour yourself a cup.

Food and Drink

Two bites into my first course—thinly sliced Bayonne ham paired with French triple-cream cheese and honeycomb from a Lancaster County farm—I started wondering how Lint and Berlin found such a talented chef. Her name is Dara Tesser, a veteran of lauded New York City restaurants, including Gramercy Tavern and Prune, who relocated to Bucks County with her family. Serendipitous timing for everyone.

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The menu is a collection of perfectly executed, updated classics, shaped by Tesser with some input from Lint and Berlin, who came in with a few staples: steak frites , a burger, French onion soup. (The couple embarked on a self-guided tasting tour in Manhattan to nail down their exact preferences to inspire their own version, with veal broth, Gruyère, and Comté.) Other highlights include trout amandine , bouillabaisse, and a herbes de Provence-scented rotisserie chicken. For dessert, my husband and I shared a sundae made with Pennsylvania's own Bassett's ice cream and housemade peanut brittle.

The full bar pours a considered selection of wines, local beers, and both signature and classic cocktails. When I mentioned I was looking for something non-alcoholic, the bartender improvised with a surprisingly complex cucumber-thyme-jalapeño concoction.

The atmosphere is intimate and polished, with crystal chandeliers, marble-topped tables, custom mohair banquettes, perfectly calibrated low lighting, and a striking contemporary work depicting Marie Antoinette that keeps the room from taking itself too seriously. On Saturday nights, a pianist plays. The chairs, notably, are genuinely comfortable—a deliberate choice from a couple more interested in guests lingering than turning tables.

"Our dream is that you come here for a drink and you stay until we close," Berlin says.

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A second room, anchored by the inn's original fireplace and the couple's collection of vintage artwork, doubles as the breakfast space. Each morning, guests help themselves to coffee, tea, fresh fruit, granola, and pastries; on weekends, the restaurant also serves a full brunch.

Accessibility

Despite occupying a 200-year-old historic building, Carversville Inn is fully ADA compliant. The hotel has an elevator, wide doorways throughout, and one fully accessible guest suite with an ADA-compliant bathroom. The first-floor restaurant and bar spaces are also fully accessible.

How to Book

A cozy fireplace warms the Back Room.Credit: Juan Vidal/Carversville Inn
A cozy fireplace warms the Back Room.<br>Credit: Juan Vidal/Carversville Inn

Carversville Inn is an independent property and is not part of any points-based loyalty program.

Nightly rates at Carversville Inn start from $400.

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Every T+L hotel review is written by an editor or reporter who has stayed at the property, and each hotel selected aligns with our core values .

Read the original article on Travel & Leisure

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