HISTORIC / HERITAGE SPECIAL SECTION: B&Bs abound in scenic areas of Kentucky

Crunch through the colorful fall leaves at an organic farm, stroll the streets of a Victorian neighborhood or gather your girlfriends at a century-old country estate and scrapbook to your heart’s content.

This fall, members of the Bed & Breakfast Association of Kentucky have rolled out their welcome mats with packages that invite visitors to stop and smell the crisp fall air, take a nature hike, put your feet up, sip wine before an art deco fireplace and treat yourself to some uninterrupted hobby time —- while someone else does the cooking.

Member inns —- and there are more than 100 —- are located in antebellum mansions and log cabins, country inns and manors and historic homes and farms all across the state. From a mining camp to a renovated church, each inn has its own ambience and all must meet exceptional quality standards for cleanliness, safety, hospitality and comfort.

Mother Nature puts on a colorful blanket

Snug Hollow Farm Bed & Breakfast, located in the Red Lick Valley of Irvine about 20 miles east of Berea, sits on 300 acres with creeks, wildlife and mountain views. Stands of trees, too. Acres of them have by now shed all shades of foliage to reveal interesting barks —- oaks, black gum, pine, butternut, sycamore, dogwood, redbud and elm —- so many in fact that the inn celebrates with a Nature’s Color Getaway package.

The trees can be so pretty that Barbara Napier offers guided identification tours of the grounds as part of her getaway package.

The innkeeper has created a nature’s retreat at her working organic farm with two comfy rooms in the farmhouse and a restored tin-roofed log cabin. Surrounded by the peace, quiet and beauty of the Appalachian “holler,” it has a healing ambience and vintage charm and is blissfully free of televisions and video games.

A typical breakfast might include country fried potatoes, fresh egg frittata with smoked cheese, fried apples, and biscuits and gravy. There might be gingered bananas, real maple syrup, fresh country egg omelets, muffins and fresh fruit salad, as well as the inn’s signature oatmeal pancakes.

Fall into winter

Perched in the midst of a neighborhood famous for its lush concentration of Victorian houses —- more in fact than any other city in the United States, including San Francisco —- is the fully restored Aleksander House. Built in 1882, this yesteryear charmer is located in Old Louisville, an 1800s-style national preservation district characterized by grand homes endowed with the gracious architectural styles and appointments of centuries past, including lots of stained glass.

With 14-foot ceilings, original hardwood floors, stained glass and fireplaces, this sumptuous three-story brick manse is listed on the National Registry of Historic Landmarks. Two sweeping staircases lead to the second- and third-floor guest rooms, each uniquely decorated in eclectic or period furnishings with fine linens and down comforters.

The art deco fireplace, located in Kimberly’s Room, is a perfect place to enjoy the inn’s Fall Get-Away package that includes a bottle of wine: Just uncork and sip as you relax on the comfy sofa, reading, playing a board game or watching a movie from the 400 video and DVD titles available.

The other rooms are equally inviting: Roxanne’s with its white wicker and Battenberg lace and overlooking the garden; spacious Penina’s, well-suited for families traveling with children; Katharine’s, a burgundy and taupe beauty; and Alek’s with its country charm.

Gourmet breakfasts might include Grand Marnier French toast or tarragon eggs in puff pastry, homemade granolas, muffins and jams, elegantly plated in a dining room with walls lined with French Toile paper and prints of 19th-century French Impressionists.

A scrapping soiree

The Baxter House in historic Harrodsburg is throwing open its doors to scrapbookers who are looking for some serious craft time in a retreat setting.

A 1913 country estate sitting on 8 acres of Bluegrass farmland, this 1840s three-room log cabin tosses in a charming rural vista overlooking the duck pond and animals grazing in the pasture, compliments of the House.

Today the bed-and-breakfast shows off the lines of an American foursquare, a structure that was popular in the early 20th century.

Four uniquely themed and decorated queen-size guest rooms (Navy, Frontier, Bluegrass and Derby), comfortably accommodate two to four guests and feature large private baths, refrigerators, cozy seating areas and in-room coffee and tea —- freshly cut flowers and homemade chocolate chip cookies, too. Two of the rooms are whirlpool suites and also include satellite TV.

Scrapbookers enjoy meals whipped up just for them, plenty of elbow room in the well-lit main parlor/work area and a sun porch for relaxing.

The inn is known for its home-cooked breakfast of Donna’s breakfast casserole and GayLynn’s homemade buttermilk biscuits with mayhaw jelly. The mayhaws, which only grow in the Deep South, come from family land located along the Sabine River in southeast Texas.

“I make a yearly trek to my brother’s farm to help pick berries and make mayhaw jelly,” GayLynn Gardner said. “It’s the best.”

IF YOU GO

Aleksander House. Through Dec. 15, book a “Fall Get-Away” package that includes accommodations for two nights in a two-room suite with working fireplace (accommodates up to six), breakfast each morning and a bottle of wine for $300-$340; regular price: $370-$410. 1213 S. First St., Louisville, 1-877-288-9979, Ext. 9343, www.aleksanderhouse.com

Baxter House. Grab the gals for a fun-filled scrapbooking retreat weekend. The Scrapbooking Special is $169 per person (usually $185) and includes two breakfasts, one lunch and one dinner. Minimum of eight people required. 1677 Lexington Road, Harrodsburg, 1-888-809-4457, www.baxterhousebb.com

Snug Hollow Farm Bed & Breakfast. Nature’s Color Getaway includes a two-night weekday stay, from October through December, at a $25 discount per night, daytime guided leaf peeping and identification tour, and a late-night treat of hot chocolate served by the fireplace. 790 McSwain Branch, Irvine, 606-723-4786, www.snughollow.com