About Us

Bette and Paul Stern are experienced home renovators who spent the better part of six years converting their 300-year-old house into a bed and breakfast, prior to opening in August, 2017.

 

Before her retirement, Bette was a longtime recreation professional for the Town of Mansfield. She administered a broad range of programs including the local summer camps, adult and youth programs and trips. She continued to work part-time at the Mansfield Community Center as a weekend manager until the covid pandemic persuaded her to stop..

 

Bette has been a knitter for most of her life, and every member of her family and extended family has at least one article of clothing she made. Bette also is an experienced quilter and has made the quilts used in the Stone Arches guest rooms. She also makes custom T-shirt quilts for people who want to them as a record of their family members' lives.

 

She and Paul together have done most of the renovation work on the property. Bette has painted all of the rooms inside at least once, tiled all of the bathroom walls and floors, refinished all the floors and among other things helped Paul install new ceilings, kitchen cabinets and a new roof on the barn.

 

Before he retired, Paul worked as a reporter and editor in New Jersey, Florida and Connecticut. He was an editor at the Hartford Courant for 22 years and still works part time at The Connecticut Mirror, an online news service.

 

After retiring, Paul attended cooking school and taught bread-making there after graduation. He makes bread and other items for Stone Arches guests. He also was a cook at Paul Newman's Hole In The Wall Gang Camp where he learned to make scrambled eggs for 300 people.

 

The Sterns have traveled to all 50 states, Canada, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and Europe. They have three grown children and three grandchildren. Their cats, who are not allowed in the guest rooms, are named Barnee and Tobee.