April 19, 2011 8:57 am

I'm always looking for quick getaways out of the city, and this past weekend, we ventured 2 hours north up to Litchfield County, CT, a bucolic haven that I've always thrown around as my dream "summer home" spot (without ever having gone). It didn't disappoint. We chose to splurge on a quirky place I read about years ago on coolhunting.com and recently spotted on luxurylink.com (a site that offers deals on luxury hotels), Winvian. Each guest at Winvian chooses a cottage -all of which are decidedly kitschy–including the Treehouse (which is up on stilts), Secret Society (an exaggerated Yale-ish skull & bones windowless lair), and the Helicopter (which has a 17,000 pound restored 1968 Sikorsky Sea King Pelican HH37 as decor inside).

We chose the one-room Golf cottage, with silly flags around the bed that was wall-to-wall carpeted with a putting green. There were clubs and balls galore, and the kids had a blast putting around the room. In lieu of the fancy restaurant on premises (which looks amazing, but we guessed wouldn't have chicken nuggets), we ventured into the town to The Village Restaurant, which is an easy spot to go with kids, with decent food and a lively crowd. 

There's plenty to do between lawn games on premises, a game of tennis, hiking at the White Memorial Nature Preserve and antiquing (if the kids can bear with it). Winvian also offers special cooking lessons and glass blowing classes, and adventures at the Skip Barber Racing School at Lime Rock. We chose to go biking–as it was a gorgeous day. It is the oddest Relais & Chateaux property that I've visited, but it was definitely luxury, with a tongue in cheek, not taking itself too seriously charm. www.winvian.com