'Hogs' and horses welcome at Falls Village bed-and-breakfast

FALLS VILLAGE —Horse Tale Farm, the Northwest Corner’s only specifically motorcycle- and horse-friendly bed-and-breakfast, is open for business.

Innkeeper Alisa Clickenger got the idea for the business after she left a high-powered job as operations manager for an IT firm.

"A friend suggested I open a bed-and-breakfast. ‘You like traveling, so why not have the travelers come to you?’"

Clickenger’s parents ran a bed-and-breakfast in Littleton, N.H., and she was taken by the idea of opening her own in the Northwest Corner.

"I love this area — it’s the last frontier of Connecticut," said Clickenger. "And I fell in love with the barn" when she saw the property, located on Route 7, between routes 63 and 126, in Falls Village.

Wonderful as the barn was, the property needed a lot of work. "When I bought the place in 2004, most of the windows had been shot out; people were using it for target practice."

Friends, including a set designer and an artist, helped decorate the restored house. The result is an eclectic, exceptionally comfortable and serene setting.

"I am very lucky they helped out," laughed Clickenger. "I have no artistic sense — at all."

There are two draft horses in residence, an amiable dog and the odd cat or two. The house is kept in apple-pie order, however, and a recent visitor detected no obvious feline presence — until one rubbed against his leg.

The mood is informal. Often guests chip in for supplies and the entire household shares an impromptu barbecue, with perhaps a few friends dropping in as well.

Clickenger, a tall, striking woman with a shock of pink hair —  she is also a freelance contributor to Road Bike magazine — works for BMW, demonstrating motorcycles, a job that takes her all over the country. (A friend manages the inn during her trips.)

She hopes that touring motorcyclists will discover Horse Tale Farm, as well as horse owners, fly fishermen, parents of students at boarding schools, people visiting residents at rehab facilities — and, of course, Lime Rock race fans and leaf peepers.

Asked if she was nervous starting such a venture during a period of economic upheaval, she conceded that things were a bit slow. "I expected to be full right now," she stated flatly. "It’s taking some time to build up the clientele."

But, she added, she has met (and will exceed) the goal of her business model, so she is relatively sanguine.

"I am very pleased and proud to be part of attracting people to our area."


Horse Tale Farm Bed-and-Breakfast, 61 North Route 7, Falls Village, horsetalefarm.com, 860-824-2490.

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