Farmhouse Inn, Sonoma County, California Resort Overview

I crammed the large soaking tub and tipped in a ramekin of lavender-scented bathtub salts, then slipped into the steaming water. It was 6:30 a.m. on the Farmhouse Inn in Forestville, California.

The day earlier than, I had picked out bathtub accoutrements from the foyer’s lovely marble cart with physique scrubs and brightly coloured soaps. Now was my probability to make use of them whereas my son and husband had been sleeping. I grabbed the herb-scented bar of yellow-and-beige striped cleaning soap — made with mustard seeds for exfoliation — and scrubbed up. Then, I leaned again to soak beneath tall tub-to-ceiling home windows that regarded out onto my huge personal second-floor deck. By the point my husband and son woke, espresso and breakfast had arrived, and I used to be wrapped in a gown, consuming tacky scrambled eggs in entrance of our double-sided hearth.

Of the seven Napa and Sonoma accommodations I’ve reported on, Farmhouse Inn stands out because the one which feels quintessentially Sonoma. There are wine lists hanging in every of the 25 rooms. Each afternoon at 4:30 p.m., a neighborhood winemaker hosts a complimentary wine tasting by the firepits. After I went, I tasted Croix Property’s Ruxton Sands rosé subsequent to a few who had come down of their robes and slippers. 

The resort is based and managed by locals, who reworked a dilapidated bed-and-breakfast right into a six-acre luxurious resort in 2001. The spa serves post-treatment tea sourced from herbs grown on the resort. The principle restaurant, although it now not has a Michelin star, is well-known for its decadent seven-course meals. There’s a hen coop within the again backyard, which my six-month-old son liked, probably as a result of it lastly contextualized Previous MacDonald and his cluck-cluck-clucking brood. 

Past the quintessential Sonoma really feel — luxurious, however in an unfussy, Blundstone-and-Carhartt type of approach — Farmhouse provides guests entry to wineries that few different accommodations supply. Certain, Sonoma has a semi-crunchy, unpretentious high quality, however it’s nonetheless probably the most coveted wine areas on the planet. You may’t present up right here with out tasting room reservations — and with 19 American Viticultural Areas (or AVAs) in Sonoma County alone, selecting simply a few wineries is a tall order. The resort has 25 vineyard companions, all of which provide complimentary tastings to resort company and may accommodate last-minute guests who’re staying at Farmhouse. After I arrived, I requested to go to a accomplice vineyard — and 24 hours later, my husband, son, and I pulled as much as Chalk Hill Vineyards and Vineyard, the place our server, Raj, greeted us with a Chalk Hill AVA property chardonnay and a promise that Farmhouse company had been amongst his favourite guests.

Right here, my full overview of Farmhouse Inn in Forestville, California.

The Rooms

Farmhouse Inn has 25 rooms, together with cozy 200-square-foot rooms, standalone cottage suites towards the entrance of the property, and the bigger barn suites, which stand up to 850 sq. toes. I stayed within the one-bedroom barn suite with a see-through wood-burning hearth, a separate hallway, an enormous lavatory with a soaking tub and marble bathe, and an expansive balcony. The barn is on the very again of the property, which made our suite really feel personal and out of the way in which. It was greater than sufficient area for 2 adults and a child — and eating within the room didn’t really feel in any respect crowded.

The one draw back to the barn suites, which really feel like a world of their very own within the coronary heart of wine nation, is that they’re up a steep set of stairs, which meant my husband and I functioned as a human escalator for our son’s stroller.

Meals and Drink

The principle eating room serves each day breakfast — fresh-squeezed orange juice by the roaring hearth was a spotlight for me. It doubles because the property’s nice eating restaurant. Transparently, I didn’t have dinner on the major restaurant as a result of youngsters aren’t allowed within the night. Nonetheless, I attempted the tasting menu in 2021 and nonetheless bear in mind the meal fondly. Most locals I do know are huge followers of the restaurant, the place the resort usually hosts wine dinners with accomplice wineries that promote out.

My husband and I loved an abridged tasting menu on our first evening, although — in our bathrobes, no much less. Farmhouse serves an outstanding in-room three-course dinner, which company can pre-order and have delivered (coursed out) at no matter time fits their schedule. I stumbled in from a wine occasion simply in time to affix my husband for our son’s bedtime routine. Then, with our son snoozing in his pack-and-play, we cracked a Banshee Wines brut and began in on a fragile pasta with mushrooms and radicchio, adopted by black cod in a sweet-and-sour sauce (or, aigre-douce, if we need to get French about it) and lamb chops. For dessert in mattress, we shared a matcha and chamomile tart as our hearth warmed the room.

One other on-site eating choice, which serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, is the informal Farmstand. It has a wood-fired oven and a fantastic outside patio with warmth lamps and a fire. My son, husband, and I dined right here twice; it’s a really serviceable menu, with burgers, sandwiches, salad, and a very good potato and leek soup.

Experiences and Facilities

The accomplice vineyard program at Farmhouse Inn is an excellent motive to ebook a keep. The resort grants company entry to non-public complimentary tastings at 25 Sonoma vineyards. Farmhouse additionally hosts each day wine tastings — at 4:30 p.m. on the fireplace pits — adopted by nightly s’mores at 6 p.m. with marshmallows made by the restaurant’s pastry chef.

The resort has a big major pool and a steaming sizzling tub, pretty lawns the place company can put their toes up and luxuriate in a glass of wine, a gurgling fountain, and, after all, a hen coop. Amongst my favourite facilities had been the bathtub cart — the place I restocked twice on fragrant bubble bathtub, lavender bathtub salts, and brown sugar scrub — and the chocolate chip cookies dropped off each evening at turndown.

The Spa

Farmhouse Inn has a beautiful wellness barn with a roaring fireplace and a cart the place any visitor could make a crystal–infused oil to take house. On supply: massages, facials, personal yoga, and natural baths. After a 90-minute therapeutic massage the place my therapist, Lindsey, kneaded my again into submission, I curled up below a fleece blanket in a wicker chair by the hearth and sipped tea — an anti-inflammatory mixture of lavender, chamomile, lemon grass, and calendula — blended by the in-house pastry chef.

Household-friendly Choices

Sonoma isn’t your traditional bring-the-kids vacation spot, however with its abundance of out of doors actions, it needs to be. Farmhouse Inn is a few 15-minute drive from Armstrong Redwoods State Pure Reserve, which is a good place to hike and see Colonel Armstong, a towering redwood that’s greater than 1,400 years previous. It’s additionally near the Russian River — the Farmhouse concierge will help households arrange actions like kayaking and stand-up paddle boarding — and downtown Healdsburg, which has loads of family-friendly eating places. One night, we popped into Roof 106, which is above The Matheson, for pizza and cocktails. 

The resort was very welcoming to my son, and there have been different (well-behaved) youngsters visiting throughout our keep. The resort offered a pack-and-play, and one in every of our servers burst out in tune for my son at breakfast one morning, which made my weekend.

The Location

Farmhouse Inn is a 10-minute drive from Charles M. Schulz – Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa, or an hour-and-a-half drive from San Francisco Worldwide Airport. You’ll want a automobile to get round; Farmhouse lets company use their home Volvos when accessible, although many company select to lease their very own automobiles. 

The resort is a 20-minute drive from Healdsburg: go to my favourite Northern California tasting room, Flowers Vineyard & Vineyards, should you’re a fan of coastal chardonnay and pinot noir; J Vineyards & Vineyard for winemaker Nicole Hitchcock’s phenomenal slate of glowing wines; Little Saint for vegan fare crafted by a Noma alum; The Matheson, the newest idea from celebrated native chef Dustin Valette, who additionally owns fine-dining spot Valette; Dry Creek Kitchen on your Charlie Palmer steakhouse repair; Michelin three-starred SingleThread, which actually doesn’t want an introduction; and Aperture Cellars for luxurious, Bordeaux-style reds.

Downtown Sonoma is farther away – about an hour’s drive — however price a go to for the meals and tasting rooms on supply. Strive Enclos, which simply opened in December 2024; chef Brian Limoges’ 10-course tasting menu, with elements sourced from Sonoma County’s Stone Edge Farm, is one of the best meal I’ve had in years. 

Guerneville, additionally a 15-minute drive, is true alongside the Russian River and residential to Armstrong Redwoods State Pure Reserve and an enthralling downtown.

Accessibility and Sustainability

Farmhouse Inn has one ADA-compliant room. Past the anticipated sustainability options — restricted single-use plastics, recycling, composting, EV chargers on supply — the resort companions with Sonoma County Open House Conservation. The founding companions of the resort donated a grove of native oak bushes in downtown Forestville “to be held untouched in perpetuity, by no means to be developed,” in accordance with a resort spokesperson. Additional, the waste produced from the kitchen goes to the flock of 80 hens who lay eggs for Farmhouse Inn. The culinary workforce makes use of elements farmed on property and sources primarily from native, sustainable farms.

The best way to Get the Most of Worth Out of Your Keep

Farmhouse Inn will not be a part of a resort loyalty program, however it’s within the American Specific Fantastic Motels and Resorts portfolio. Vacationers who ebook with their Amex Platinum card get assured 4 p.m. checkout, complimentary each day breakfast for 2, and a $100 credit score to make use of on the resort.

Nightly charges on the Farmhouse Inn begin from $919, and you may ebook your keep at farmhouseinn.com.