Elijah’s son William inherited the house and farm and opened his home to boarders in 1846. Lake Waramaug was a popular destination for summer travelers from New York, this only increased when the Housatonic R.R. opened the Shepaug line and New Preston station in 1873. In 1895 William’s son George bought our house at 15 Hopkins Road from the Beeman family. George named his house “The Sachem”, (Sachem means chief of a small tribe) perhaps in honor of Chief Waramaug. Guests at The Sachem enjoyed all sorts of activities, there were steam ship rides, inter-hotel games, and regattas along with tennis and croquet matches. Our great aunt, Louise Hopkins Averill ran the Coamus Tea room on the shores of the lake at the Hopkins Beach, which was a popular spot for ice cream.

The Sachem remained open until 1960, the inn closed but the family farm has been continuously operated for over 220 years. In the Spring of 2007 we began restoration on The Sachem and are thrilled to welcome guests once again. As children we were entertained by stories of past Sachem guests from our grandmother, Ruth. Ruth moved to The Sachem as a young bride in 1935 and remained in our family homestead until December, 2006 when she passed away at 95. You’ll notice we’ve named our guest rooms to honor members of the family who lived and worked at The Sachem. We hope you’ll enjoy old these family pictures as much as we do. It was hard to choose just a few as we have volumes of old photographs from days past when The Sachem was bustling with summer guests. We know you’ll feel a very strong sense of this wonderful history during your stay at The Sachem Farmhouse B&B.