As an Innkeeper, I have the opportunity to host many guests—regular folks—like me and you. Some, however have traveled a road that has brought them great celebrity. I thought you might like a glimpse at some of the memories. Click on their names to link directly to websites about their work.



The afternoon I spent with legendary folksinger Arlo Guthrie was splendid, familiar and just down right comfortable—made me grateful for the word "kinship." We sat in the shade of a big maple tree, drank beer and talked for hours about our lives and our loves (families, old cars, and architecture.) His visit seemed to resonate throughout the Inn for days. A scant scent of patchouli surrounds Arlo and lingers in my memory to this day.

I first met Uma Thurman when she was 12 years old. I was working at a clothing store where her mother shopped. Uma was a poised, tall, and beautiful child—and when I asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up she simply replied..."a great actress."

We re-met years later when Ethan Hawke and his famiy stayed with us. He made mention of Uma's fondess for a particular candy bar and I was delighted to fill the room's candy dish with it when she stayed as a guest.


Since owning the Inn, there has been just one guest who actually knew the house back in the 1940’s – Chevy Chase. He said, “I used to get my hair cut right here on the front porch. There was a sand box in the front yard, and I’ll always remember the original red tin roof. There was a door over there…where did it go?” Chevy was raised here in Woodstock; worked in the local coffee shop as a delivery-boy. His memories of the town and of this house were fabulous to hear. Thanks, Chev.

Meeting talk show host Greta Gaines was a treat—her energy and sense of humor are truly genuine.

Hosting actor and director Quentin Tarantino allowed me the opportunity to finally get some answers to so many questions about the characters in "Pulp Fiction!" Quentin plays a bit part in the comedy "Little Nicky"...see it! Outrageous and hysterical is how I will remember this guest.

In comparison, Emmy award winning writer and comedian Al Franken's satiric humor comes from a more serious, quiet man. I have enjoyed his work on Saturday Night Life for many years.


Chris Sarandon and his wife, Joanna Gleason, have each had long movie and television careers. His villain character in the off-beat comedy "The Princess Bride" is one of my all time favorites.

Cutting-edge director David O. Russell wrote me a note simply saying "...some places feel like home—this is one of them." Thank you, David.



Director Les Blank came to stay following our area's ever-popular Garlic Festival. We exchanged greetings over a cup of garlic covered popcorn!

Mike McCready and Stone Gossard, two members of the legendary "grunge" band PEARL JAM came for a visit. Mike was on a strict diet, and requested the use of our private kitchen to prepare his meals. He has been dealing with Crohn's disease since he was a teenager—and made one simple request: three pounds of extremely lean chopped meat! I asked him about his diet, and this was the jist of it: "The thing that has really been working for me right now is my diet and this book by Elaine Gloria Gottschall, called "Breaking the Vicious Cycle." And this doesn't work for everyone but, for me, it's worked. And it's basically a diet, of no sugar, no starch—so, no potatoes, no fries, no refined sugars. And it's tough. We have to make bread out of nuts and all sorts of stuff, but it's the only thing that's put this [Crohn's] thing in remission without being on a ton of drugs. Actually, it's the best I've felt since I was probably 15 or 16. "

It was a pleasure meeting both Mike and Stone (who wasn't on a diet, but loved the fact that I served Green Tea!) My three kids, being under pop-music radar chose to watch "Sponge Bob" reruns rather than meet the band!

New age diva, Caroline Myss said of The Wild Rose Inn, "...this place is the berries!" When asked to elaborate on that description she said, "I've traveled the world...Marti, this is the nicest B&B I have ever visited." Caroline's positive attitude and easy-going manner endeared her to me immediately. We shared a cup of coffee and I had the extreme honor of a personal reading. I urge all readers to pull up Caroline's website and tap into her amazing energy!

This beautiful picture of Tuesday Weld was taken in 1961 – the year I was born. The kitten-next-door-diva of the 60s created the enduring fashion trend of all time, the tumbling blonde hair, catlike eyes, and pouty lips first inspired by Briggite Bardot. To have the opportunity to host a childhood legend was remarkable.

Academy Award winning director John Boorman and his family were visiting from their farm in Ireland. Three of the most adorable young children I have ever met were cuddling down for the night with the Inn's teddy bears while I talked to Papa John about my favorite scenes from the cult-classic "Zardoz."

This portrait of rock and roll enigma Willy Deville shows our guest in a gaucho-style ensemble. The day we met he was decked out in pure Native America fashion: a floor length bear skin jacket with trailing leather tassels, a huge loom-woven scarf, heavy turquoise jewelry, and gold capped walking stick.

Here, in Woodstock, anything goes…and usually does. You can walk the streets in either a tuxedo or pajamas and feel perfectly comfortable. Dapper Mr. Deville fit in very well!

Now, most guests spend a night or two—but, recording artist Steinar Albrigtsen from Norway, came for 3 weeks! He was cutting an album with local musician, Tom Pacheco. I had the pleasure of listening to each days raw audio tapes when Steinar came home each evening. We'd play old Joni Mitchell and sing word for word— harmonizing, trying to reach her high notes. Steinar has come back to the Inn many times, with fresh Norwegian salmon and Jetost, no less! On his last visit he gave me the sweetest honor by writing the song "She's a Wild Rose."

Christian McBride and his band occupied the entire Inn one evening. He was amazed that I walked right in to his room and sat down to watch a basketball game with him. Well, the door was open! With producer Steven Nemeth from Rhino Entertainment, I actually got to play a little one-on-one B-ball at the community courts.

I’d like to think that running The Wild Rose Inn is a family effort, in truth it is a one-woman show that features reservations, bookkeeping, customer service, sale and marketing, and house-keeping (need I continue?). So, it might come as no surprise that multi-tasking has it's funny moments. One day I took a reservation from a soft-spoken woman with a Beverly Hills address and filed the card until check-in. When that day came I was amazed that the name of one of our incoming guests was Ms. Jessica Lange. I looked at the card and laughed to myself. Celebrity radar does sleep. Yes, it was the one and only..and yes, she is as gorgeous and down-to-Earth as one could possibly imagine!

While you're surfin' through these links be sure to stop in and visit some celebrity members of my own family: 1st cousin Eric Ladd, president of Picture Mill Productions and 3rd cousin television celebrity Melissa Joan Hart!