The Crane Estate in Ipswich was once the vast early 20th-century summer estate of Chicago industrialist Richard T. Crane, Jr. The estate, now owned and operated by The Trustees of Reservations, includes the 59-room Great House, the 10-room luxury Inn at Castle Hill, the Crane Wildlife Refuge and the white sands of Crane Beach that stretch for nearly seven miles. All told the estate encompasses more than 2,100 acres of beachfront, dunes, maritime forest and planned landscape, managed for both recreation and conservation.

The oldest building on the estate, The Inn at Castle Hill is now a beautiful bed and breakfast featuring simple yet luxurious pleasures such as snug beds, hearty meals, and stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean. Built as a farmhouse in the 1880s and completely renovated in the 1990s, The Inn at Castle Hill has 10 guest rooms, each offering a wonderful, inviting retreat.

All rooms have a king or queen-size bed, private bath, and views of the ocean, marshes, or woodlands of Castle Hill. Rooms feature local Plum Island soap, 300 thread-count linens, English towels, terry cloth robes, hair dryers, beach bags with towels for the summer months; to maintain the serenity of the estate, rooms have no television or radio.

Arrive early to make the most of your experience – there's plenty to do at the Crane Estate to burn off some energy if you're not quite ready to relax. At Crane Beach, 5.5 miles of trails traverse dunes and track the beachfront on both the Ipswich Bay and Essex River Estuary sides of the Castle Neck peninsula. Closer to the Inn there are four more miles of roads and trails around the estate core, winding around ancient gardens and the Great House atop Castle Hill. If walking isn't your speed, there are mountain bikes with helmets available for guest use. If you bring a kayak, there's easy water access. A boat also makes another 3.5 miles of trails at the Crane Wildlife Refuge available to you.

If you are here for a romantic getaway, horse-drawn surreys are available for $75 per couple (advance reservations required). And off the estate, there are plenty of antique shops to explore in Ipswich and neighboring towns.

In fact, an experience at the Inn at Castle Hill is not so much about what you can do at the Crane Estate – it's about simplicity and relaxation, and doing little or nothing at all. From spending two days outdoors exploring this exceptional natural area, to just reading a book on the beach, the choice is yours.