Turquoise Barn

A perfect place to relax, unwind, and rediscover the beauty of nature! We attended a retreat and the food was incredible, the amenities wonderful, and Michelle is a wealth of knowledge! We can’t wait to go back!

I’m not particularly familiar with the housing situation in Bloomville/​Bovina, so I couldn’t tell you whether or not there are a plethora of houses available that can sleep nearly twenty people… but the carriage house at the Turquoise Barn can. And surprisingly, it can do it quite comfortably.
Evidently the Turquoise Barn is the name for this entire compound, which is primarily a bed and breakfast. I can’t speak to their breakfast, but I can report that this carriage house and the surrounding grounds are absolutely gorgeous. If you’re looking to get out of the city and get away from the grind, you could do a lot worse than this massive, rustic cabin.
Especially if you want to do it with a bunch of your clown friends. The carriage house can not only sleep sixteen (be aware that this is with a couple bunkbeds and futons included), but it can also entertain at least that many easily. There is a decent-​size kitchen, a long dining table downstairs, as well as another on the back deck… and seeing as how the house is at the base of the mountains, the view is spectacular.
The layout of the house itself is rather intelligent, spaced well with a bathroom for each bedroom. Although the finishes are a bit rough, the showers have thankfully been recently updated, and the shower pressure is excellent.
As far as I can tell, there are only two real downsides to renting this house:
1. It’s not cheap. Sleeping four to a room with some on bunkbeds and some on pullouts, I would’ve expected to pay a bit less per head. Especially considering…
2. …There are a lot of rules. Look, I get it. You have a house that sleeps 16, and people tend to get a little wilder in big groups… and it’s usually better to tell people what is or isn’t allowed up front. But to me, there’s something… unwelcoming about being handed a list of regulations after paying a lot of money to stay somewhere. That said, there were only two major rules that really affected our stay:
— No shoes in the house. A few members of our party pointed out that it was a big drafty house, and there weren’t even carpets covering the floors… they were hardwood. I can understand not wanting mud tracked all over the house, that’s just common sense. But if it’s dry out? Also, we’d already paid a cleaning fee, which seems like it would earn us the right leave a little dust behind in order to keep our feet warm.
— It’s a vegetarian kitchen. Or a No Meat, Zone (they know better), if you will.* I can understand that the owners may be morally opposed to animal products and don’t want them cooked in their pans, but it’s a fact of life that there’s nothing better than bacon and eggs to feed a big group of people on a lazy weekend morning.
If you can get past the minor inconvenience of their rules, you’ll love this house, and you’ll love your stay. We were lucky enough to be there in fall as the leaves were changing, but I imagine summer is incredible as well, and curling up next to the woodstove** in the winter doesn’t sound too bad either.
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*This became the anthem of the weekend:
**We were told there would be enough wood for a bonfire, but we couldn’t find anything more than a bit of kindling. Which was sad.

My boyfriend and I had such a wonderful stay here. I happened upon Turquoise Barn online; we love to enjoy some time upstate whenever we can, plus we were scouting out possible places for a special event. (The barn itself is gorgeous!!) The bed and breakfast was full, but there was an option of putting up a tent on the grounds — we decided to go for it and were so happy we did; the land is so pretty, peaceful, quiet, inspiring. We stayed for a delicious, beautifully presented breakfast the next morning. Smoothies, porridge, good coffee, fresh fruit, etc. All super tasty. We shared our meal with the other people who were staying at the b&b, a really fun and easy vibe. Michelle and Michael are the loveliest of hosts and interesting to talk with. We got to see the rooms later, all of which were beautiful and had a rustic, spare luxury about them. This is a very special place. We hope to come back soon!

A group of friends and I rented the Turquoise Barn a couple of weekends ago because we were attending our friend’s wedding in the area. We had rented houses before and were a little nervous because we haven’t always had the greatest experience with it. Needless to say, we were pleasantly surprised when we arrived at the Turquoise Barn. The house was incredible! It was large and comfortable with a bathroom in each bedroom. The property had a lot of parking for all of the cars and had spectacular views of the mountains. Michelle was incredibly helpful and nice throughout our entire experience. We were lucky to have found such a wonderful place to stay with such great people running it!

This trip exceeded our expectations. The accommodations are rustic in the best sense of the term – the bed and breakfast is a superbly and authentically renovated carriage house, with most furniture and all the art originally constructed and created by owner/​hosts Michelle and Michael. M and M were also the perfect balance, uncommon from my prior bed and breakfast experiences, of kind and engaging but respectful of privacy. The property is beautiful, with plenty of places to relax and enjoy the mountainside scenery. Michelle’s breakfasts are very tasty (notably, I am a meat eater but loved everything). The only extra (s) my girlfriend and I took advantage of was a massage, which was great. Michelle also went 3 for 3 with her restaurant recommendations for lunch/​dinner. Anyone looking for a weekend away from the bustle of the city or any everyday humdrum would be well served by some time here.

Upon arrival the first night we were greeted by Michelle and Michael who were very friendly and welcoming. Relaxed with some chamomile tea and went to sleep in the Moss room. Awoke both days to delicious, healthy and beautifully presented breakfasts. It was such a nice treat for me to get such wonderfully delicious and nutritious meals and not have to do any of the cooking for a change. Michelle is such a talented chef and went out of her way to make sure we enjoyed the food and had everything we needed. Even my meat loving boyfriend enjoyed the food!
The property is really nice and walking around the pond and seeing their beautiful garden was very enjoyable.
I hope to come back soon for one of Michelle’s cooking weekends!

Turquoise Barn is a really charming place. We have been there 2x since the 4^th of July weekend. We are already looking forward to a 3^rd stay this year. Moss Room is our favorite…

Excellent experience! I was looking to take my wife away for our anniversary. Beautiful country setting. Breakfast is wonderful. Excellent presentation and amazing food. Most produce was taken fresh from the garden on premise. Many improvements are in progress as well.

My husband and I had our honeymoon at Turquoise Barn and loved it! We stayed in the Rosa Room in the B & B, which was beautiful and very comfortable. The negative reviews are for their hostel (which is quite rustic but very affordable), because they definitely have a lovely B & B with two enclosed rooms with private baths (and more rooms coming soon). The breakfast is delicious and healthy– smoothies, tofu scramble, chia pudding, fruits, etc. Our only wish was for slightly larger portion sizes since we found ourselves hungry after a couple hours and the food was so delicious. Michelle is a very friendly host and we had lots of interesting conversations, and she has tons of information on local activities, attractions, and restaurants.

The Turquoise Barn is a rare gem in Upstate NY. It is peaceful and beautiful. Michelle’s knowledge of raw and vegan food is extensive and the meals we had there were delicious and stretched out palates in wonderful ways. I only wish I lived closer and could go to her workshops and retreats more often.

Great choice to stay if you are a nature lover and enjoy raw/​veg meals. Rosa Room is our favorite… I want to take the bathtub home with me. The whole property uses fresh-​spring water, so it makes for the best baths and showers in the world. Owners are great, area is amazing, breakfast is delish! We enjoyed our stay so much in June, we’re going again this weekend. Thanks for sharing your little piece of heaven, Michelle and Michael.

Turquoise Barn is absolutely perfect. I went here last august as a gift for my boyfriend’s birthday. I was excited to find the place because he has a lot of food restrictions due to lyme disease on top of being a vegetarian. Michelle and her husband Michael could not have been more accommodating. The food they made was delicious and served on the beautiful porch outside. The house itself was gorgeous and the landscape even better. She gave us some recommendations for places to see during the day. We went to the local downtown area (very small but cute) and then found a family with a field of blueberry plants growing behind their house. We could pick blueberries for $ 5 a pound, which is actually an impossible feat. At night, Michelle and MIchael had a bonfire outside for the guests, complete with homemade popcorn. They had many great foods and gifts for sale in their barn/​store out back.
Turquoise Barn was well worth the price for a beautiful setting, friendly family, and delicious homemade and healthy meals.

My boyfriend (newly vegan, newly raw, quite enthusiastic) found this place online and took me there the first weekend in October. Michelle (the owner) assured us that it would be a great weekend for foliage, hiking and exploring. (She was right, it was chilly but gorgeous, sunny and crisp.) She was really great about answering all of our questions and addressing our concerns before we came. There were some pretty bad storms which caused flooding in the area the day that we came, and she emailed to make sure that we checked our routes and avoided washed-​out bridges and roads, which turned out not to be a problem anyway. (But it was very thoughtful.)
We got in a bit late and were greeted by Michael, her husband. He was so warm, we felt at home right away. Michael was the main architect for the project, and the main house is big and open with a nice flow and really unique, interesting details and spaces. He made much of the furniture, as well, so almost everywhere you look there is something beautiful and interesting to catch your eye.
When we got to our suite, I was struck by how the thoughtful decoration left me feeling that the space was warm, interesting and yet it was fairly sparse, leaving room for us to unpack and spread out and make it our own, even if just for a few days. It was a nice change from other B&Bs that clutter all surfaces with cute little «this’n’that».
We had a modern shower and a classic old claw-​foot bathtub, a huge, comfortable bed, a large mini –fridge for all our veggie snacks, a gorgeous view of the garden, barn, mountain, trees, chickens, etc.
I am a raw vegan chef, and I think that raw breakfast is fairly easy to do well. Michelle’s was yummy, but more impressive, it was really beautiful. She is an artist, and it shows in her presentation. We had fresh mint tea from the garden, chia pudding, fresh fruit, smoothies, coffee… Everything was really yummy and Michelle was there for a chat over tea in the afternoon, which was lovely.
The whole place is beautiful and interesting and unique. Michelle, Michael and Miguel (their son) were wonderful and friendly. We kept noticing how we felt more like house guests than customers. We (my boyfriend and I) are both looking forward to going back, and would definitely recommend the Turquoise Barn to any veggie lovers out there who want a beautiful vacation.
PS, don’t miss the tours of the other two barns, one is a hostel/​kitchen/​living/​studio space, the other is a gallery/​store. We brought home a beautiful piece of woodwork which is now hanging in our living room. The perfect souvenir. ;)

My boyfriend and I went here for my birthday last Fall. We were excited for months before hand since this was out first getaway together. Unfortunately, we arrived and the whole place is open. The room is right next to the family’s rooms and none of them have ceilings or enclosed walls. There is very little privacy. We spoke to the owners and they said they would give us a partial refund (they were very nice) and we found another place. Unfortunately, they never did give us a refund and its been almost a year. Wished it had been different. We are very positive people and don’t like to complain.