Roycroft in East Aurora

“Phone rings, door chimes, in comes Company!” And thank goodness, because company is what motivates me to widen my “things-to-do” radius. NYC friend Mary Beth visited last weekend, and we had the perfect weather for a road trip to East Aurora.

As a selling point for moving to Rochester, my husband comforted me with the promise that distances would feel shorter. No longer would a 40-mile drive take 1 to 2 hours (which it could, to get into the city); he assured me if it was 60 miles to somewhere it was generally 60 minutes (depending on the weather…). The roughly 80-mile trip to the Roycroft Campus took a bit longer than 80 minutes, because we took a slightly off-Thruway scenic route, through the roller-coaster hills of Genesee and Wyoming counties, and past the roller coasters of Darien Lake. And we had to stop to take a picture of a wacky house near the theme park!

We arrived in East Aurora in time to get an orientation from the Visitor Center before having a wonderful lunch at the Roycroft Inn (highlight: the truffle potato chips with smoked Gorgonzola). 

Everyone was extremely friendly, and the front desk even accommodated our request to see a room – they gave us the key to #201, a very comfortable 3-room suite that I could easily imagine booking (and using as an excuse to have both dinner and breakfast in the restaurant). The rooms are decorated with historically accurate effect – wooden blinds, Stickley furniture, period lamps and wall sconces, and wallpaper in the style of William Morris. The large reception hall is ringed with stunning, recently-restored murals, by Alexis Jean Fournier.

Murals in the Roycroft Inn

The campus itself isn’t much to visit, although it was interesting to learn about. It was founded by Elbert Hubbard (a disciple of William Morris), in 1895, modeled on England’s guilds (printers, metal smiths, furniture makers and other artisans). “With the establishment of the Roycroft community, Hubbard had fulfilled one of the dreams of the Arts & Crafts philosophers: a self-contained and self-supporting community of people living, working, and playing together.” Sadly, Hubbard died prematurely in the sinking of the Lusitania. Some of the buildings currently house offices and artists’ studios, but what we mostly witnessed were shops. I’m not a huge fan of the Arts & Crafts style, but I did managed to find a hand-made hanging metal and glass piece that will look pretty in a window, and Mary Beth took home some lovely pottery, and some prints by Laura Wilder.

Room 201 at the Roycroft Inn

We had hoped to wrap in a visit to the Elbert Hubbard Roycroft Museum and the Millard Fillmore House, but both are open only in summer. Oh well, that’ll be a reason for a return visit (and more potato chips?).