New York State Hospitality And Tourism Association's:
"STAR OF THE INDUSTRY-2006"

The Griffin House Bed & Breakfast of Jeffersonville, New York, is a featured and award winning, Victorian mansion in The Catskill Mountains/Upper Delaware River Valley. Fine Antiques, Romantic Getaways, Weddings, Business Retreats And Recreation, In The Heart Of Sullivan County. Just Fifteen Minutes From The New Bethelwoods Performing Arts Center!
Featured In: Romantic Weekends In And Around New York-by Irvina Lew/Bed & Breakfast in the Mid-Atlantic States-by Bernice Chesler/America's Wonderful Little Hotels And Inns-by Sandra Soule/The Non-Smoker's Guide ToBed & Breakfasts-by Julia M. Pitkin/American and Canadian Bed& Breakfasts- by Tracy Menges/Hotel Online-by Francine Silverman/  Tom and Diane's Favorite Country Inns.

Email

ACTIVITIES

ROOM  DESCRIPTIONS

GRIFFIN HOUSE PRODUCTIONS

History and Hospitality in Harmony

Approaching The Griffin House Bed and Breakfast, the appearance is of an impressive country home set alongside a meandering stream, with large pine and shade trees adorning its entrance. An 1890's Carriage House, and the original 1840's Settlement home compliment the two acre estate. As inviting as it is, the understated exterior of this modest mansion cannot prepare the visitor for the exquisitely crafted interior that awaits them. Finely carved American Chestnut, from a breed of tree that no longer exists on this continent, fills every niche in the home, from the ornate main staircase, to the elegant beaded wood archways and even the intricately honed quarter round at the baseboard. Floors of herring bone oak, fireplaces of molded brick, windows of stained glass and original gas light fixtures make the house a virtual museum for guests.

Featured & Award Winning

Architectural Excellence	Victorian Elegance

Then	Now

Rooms Tell a Tale at The Griffin House

While one of the four guest rooms at The Griffin House is devoted to the historic Scheidell family that built and lived in the house for three generations, the others tell a tale of the illustrious music careers that touched the lives and indeed were lived by Paul and Irene Griffin before their bed and breakfast venture. In the eastern corner of the second floor is the Griffin Room, named for Paul's father, Gordon "Chris" Griffin, also known as "Steel Lips," the man who played high trumpet for the theme of The Jackie Gleason Show. The elder Griffin also played with Benny Goodman for years, including the famed 1938 Carnegie Hall concert, or as Paul comments, "the first time that jazz was heard in those hallowed halls."  He can also be heard on recordings with Frank Sinatra and numerous television and radio shows such as: Milton Berle, Patti Page, Kate Smith, Gary Moore,Carol Burnett, Ed Sullivan, and many more.

News clippings on the walls, musical artifacts, and a plaque from the music hall of fame, attest to the great talent of Mr. Griffin. (Also mentioned in the biography's of Frank Sinatra, Mel Torme, and Harry James) To the south of the guest floor is the Waring Room, named for the famed Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians. Waring, along with making his mark on the music world with his touring concert orchestra, also made his mark in matchmaking when he paired his trumpeter/orchestrator, Paul Griffin, with a wonderful singer he'd discovered in England, Irene Stephens. And last is a room, the Lancastrian, devoted to the British heritage of Irene, who started singing as a girl of 15 in the cotton mills of industrialized Lancashire. Irene explains, "I sang in weaving rooms where none could hear." As it turns out, when the noise died down, there remained a voice that carried Irene out of local stints in the working man's clubs and onto the international stage.

Postage Stamp From Early 1900's	Maple Avenue Circa 1900

 Discography

"We'll say the house found us," says Irene, of the somewhat fated connection of the Griffins to the old mansion. A year before their purchase they had taken a random drive past the house and stopped for nearly ten minutes to admire it.  It hadn't even been for sale. Then, upon deciding to put their entertainment skills to use on house guests, they began to seek out small country inns as far away as Georgia, Virginia and the Carolinas. But, upon returning from a real estate hunting trip down south, they were caught up in the beauty of home.  "The Catskills just won our hearts back," says Paul. They began hunting down guest houses in Western Sullivan County.  After a long day in the Upper Delaware River Valley/Lower Catskills, they were directed toward a home in Jeffersonville as a last stop. "If he turns into that driveway, that's it," Paul  had said to himself. The mansion house was now for sale, and unbeknownst to the real estate agent, it had been sold on the spot. After a few months, Paul, Irene and The Griffin House entered the hospitality business together, when they opened the three-story mansion to guests as a bed and breakfast home. Although the owners for just seventeen short years, the Griffins are more like the adopted parents of a child prodigy, speaking of the house with a pride and enthusiasm that is contagious. "It took ten master carpenters five years to build it," Paul said of the superb craftsmanship that saturates the house. "Anything that could be done in the name of good taste, they did it here," he said. It has been a dream come true for this talented couple who found an aristocratic home in the country and decided to make it into one of the nicest Bed 'n Breakfasts in the Catskill Mountains.

"My name is Bubbles, (I'm the photogenic one, begging to have my tummy tickled) and that's my sister, Willow. (Feigning indifference.) We own two humans named Irene and Paul, whom we've trained to feed and brush us daily. We're not allowed on the second floor, (where the guest's rooms are) even though I occasionally pretend that I've forgotten the rules. (Hey, we're cats! We push the envelope.) We have our own quarters on the third floor where there is much to keep us occupied. We hope you like us, (we're soooo likable) and that you aren't allergic to our nice, warm fur. Ironically, (my human slaves taught me that word) my sister happens to have a slight allergy to humans, so if you hear her coughing or sneezing, take no notice. She's also allergic to young children, so don't take offense." (Sisters are such a nuisance.)

Bethelwoods 2007 Summer Schedule