Much refreshed by his time there, Rochambeau was pleased to learn from his Indian guide that he was camped at a ritual healing ground of the Wyonokes tribe whose Chief Waramaug was known to frequent the pond to benefit his health.

This energy of nurturing made the site an ideal location for the founding of an esteemed private school, the Ridge School of Washington, Connecticut, where the youth of the region could look forward to cultivating their emergent skills in preparation of a long and productive life ahead.

So fond were students of their time at the Ridge School that in 1920 one of its alumni, Harry Van Sinderen, having graduated Yale and come into some family money decided to convert the school into an inn: the Mayflower Inn. Harry tended to the inn with great devotion and its reputation grew. So much so, that in 1933 the First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, drove up the driveway in her blue Buick Roadster for a brief stay. It is easy to imagine her comfortably enjoying the Mayflower, its private library and deep fireplaces, surroundings very much in keeping with those to which she was no doubt accustomed.

After Harry’s passing, the Inn passed from hand to hand, much like an heirloom jewel whose timeless setting did not appeal so much to a generation carried away with post-War modernity. Suffering from a variety of intentions and occasional neglect, the Mayflower Inn had reverted to a diamond in the rough when in 1992 the Mnuchins’ recognized its hidden value. Dedicating themselves to applying their considerable business acumen and artistic awareness to the resurrection of this once proud gem, they set about the restoration and reclamation of its great heritage of nurturing and comfort. And the rest…is history.