Trillium

Trillium is a really great place to stay on a vacation or just to get away, my name is Nevin Swanson son of Noah Swanson owner of trillium bed and breakfast
8 years ago (30-04-2017)

I have never in my life written a review for anything ever, but after seeing the only review for this place so different than my feelings, I felt compelled to say something. If you are looking for a 100% sanitary hotel experience with a 24/7 bellhop at your service, then yes, you may not want to look at rentals located on organic farms, but if you are looking for a truly beautiful time spent with with friends and family that you will always remember for the laughs, the treasures, the animal friends, the natural grounds, the trees to climb, the warm bakery in the mornings, and the quiet friendliness of the owning family, this is your spot.
8 years ago (28-08-2016)

Crows caw, pinwheeling across the horizon. A blue jay sits on a branch, watch me indifferently. What sounds like a squirrel scrambles across the porch roof. For a brief thirty seconds a redheaded woodpecker perches on the rough beam railing. It’s quiet, but not entirely quiet. The usual country noises of birds, trees and brush. A Morgan horse pulling an Amish buggy full of family to Sunday Meeting clops across the road at the top of the hill. An airplane flies somewhere overhead. The donkeys in the pasture to my right graze quietly, with a loud bray once in a while for no particular reason. This is an early Sunday morning, on the back porch’s comfy couch, on the edge of October and November, at Grandma’s Cottage at Trillium. A chicken wanders up on to the back porch, looking at you. Perhaps you have some muffin left over. Or not. She’ll wander through on her own. There will be more chickens. Inside, on a cutting board on the range, is an entire loaf of fresh-baked bread and a pan of sticky buns, with some homemade strawberry jam. The bread was made this morning by your generous hosts, who deposit it oh-so-quietly on the front porch in a giant old metal picnic basket. Yesterday’s picnic basket was full of crunchy little muffins, and some kind of strawberry bread. This is our second year spending Halloween weekend in this cottage at Trillium. There are two cottages; Grandma’s, and Hill House. Both times we’ve stayed in this lovely little grandma house by the garden, so I cannot comment on Hill House. Though I’m sure others have. We came here at the recommendation of friends who had spent a summer weekend here. It’s quaint, and rustic, and reminds me of going to the hunting cabin when I was a kid in Pennsylvania, only it’s nicer than that. But it’s a country cottage. Old burnished wood floors, a stone fireplace that’s a joy, a mishmash of knick-knacks and tapestries and two old comfy beds so you can have your pick. It has what you need, to sleep, to read, to take a nap, to take a walk. It’s very near the Kickapoo Reserve and Wildcat Mountain and great trout streams, and not a long drive to Viroqua for a beer and dinner. If you seek sophistication, with stainless-steel appliances and a double-headed shower and afternoon high tea, then this isn’t what you’re looking for. If you want to sit at somebody’s grandma’s kitchen table, and walk over to the decorative coal stove and take a warm delicious muffin out of an old picnic basket, and cut it with a nice old knife and put some local Organic Valley butter on it and look out the window at birds sitting on pumpkin vines, then this is the place for you. The basics are provided, but you should bring your own coffee and any snacks you may like. You’ll get the previously mentioned bakery items, and there will be eggs and milk in the fridge. But some degree of self-sufficiency is required, and it’ll be a pleasure to fry an egg in somebody else’s cast iron pan while pretending it’s 1911. There’s a coffee maker, there’s stuff to make tea. You’ve got the run of the place so feel free to go pet the donkey’s or go for a walk in the woods. There’s a radio. No TV, which is as it should be. There’s a game or two, but I prefer to bring the cribbage board from home. When the sun goes down you can listen to the co-op station from Viroqua and their earnest volunteer DJ’s playing songs they love, and that you may or may not love. In the day, go explore the Amish bakeries, or the hiking paths of Wildcat Mountain, or the local towns and bars. Or just drive around and soak in how gorgeous the driftless region is. Or read a book. Your choice. It is, without a doubt, one of my favorite places to get away. Don’t forget to sign the guest book!
8 years ago (30-10-2016)

Do Not Waste Your Time, Money, or Efforts!! I was very excited to stumble upon the Trillium Cottage B&B website. My husband and I were looking for a getaway trip for my parents as a thank you gift to them. I was thrilled to give them a gift certificate for a two nights stay at Grandma's Cottage. When my mom called to book the weekend she let me know that the gentleman who answered was very rude and disinterested in her excitement. Okay, well I can get over that... they were still excited to go! They took off of work on Friday and were excited for the weekend. Upon arrival no one from the homestead was there to greet them. And if they were, they never made an effort to come out of the house. My parents pulled up to an overgrown, un-cared for property. Grandma's Cottage was filthy and the towels and sheets were very hard (line dried?). Nothing was swept or even looked remotely cared for. There were no walking paths, everything was too overgrown. Nothing on the property looked as though it had been maintained in years. Now, we have a family cabin and have been camping and whatnot. My folks are not thrown off by a cabin - and this place did them in. They didn't even consider staying. Instead, they made jokes about how creepy it was and that if they did stay they were afraid they wouldn't make it out alive (at least they were getting a giggle out of it). I, on the other hand, was incredibly embarrassed that the image painted on the website was no where near what they found when they got there. This was supposed to be a gift and instead they left and stayed somewhere else. When I called to speak with the owner he was rude, unapologetic and unwilling to rectify the situation. I explained how misleading the website is (hasn't been updated in years) and how upsetting it was that he refused to refund not a single penny of the over $200 paid. I am not the only one with complaints about this supposed B&B. I just wish I would have read them online before calling and making a purchase. This place is taking advantage of the "bed and breakfast" name.
9 years ago (23-09-2015)