Slogans and names

Believe it or not, it took a while to come up with "historic elegance in Lancaster County." Now I'm playing around with "18th-century luxury, 21st century comfort." Here are some other mottos we considered:

• Speedwell Forge, the #1 destination in Lancaster County for FedEx and UPS since March 2005
• Speedwell here, be forge you go anywhere else
• Speedwell Forge, just be grateful it wasn't Quitapahilla Forge
• Historic elegance at the border between Lancaster and Lebanon counties

And my favorite...

• Grandma's House B&B, my what big muffins you have

Yeah, it was almost called "Grandma's House B&B" because it was, after all, Dawn's grandma's house. Plus it was a pun on Little Red Riding Hood, with the wolf sanctuary next door. However, at the B&B workshop we attended two years ago they said "Grandma's House" evoked country Victorian, which was definitely not our goal. So it became Speedwell Forge B&B, although I wish there was a way to tell people that Speedwell Forge Road, Speedwell Forge Lake, and Speedwell Forge Park were named after us, not the other way around.

They also shot down "Grandma's room" because, they said, nobody wants to have a romantic getaway in Grandma's room. So it became Kathryn's Room, which was Dawn's grandmother, although I'm sure her grandfather Gerald would have liked a shout out as well. I think Kathryn's room works quite well. The room name that isn't working, though, is the Boys' room.

Named for Dawn's two step-brothers (who grew up there), it was always referred to as "the boys' room." Naturally we decorated it with a very masculine theme, with red paint and dark woods, blinds instead of drapes, and very simple furnishings. I know (from personal experience) that there's a large contingent of men who want to be romantic, but don't want the foo-foo you find at many B&Bs: The overstuffed comforters, the drapery-wrapped beds, the Laura Ashley sheets, the pillow shams that cover the bed, etc. So we thought we had a gold mine there.

Then we found out the Eastlake beds were three-quarter size, not twins, and so would not come together to make a king. Since most guys' idea of a romantic weekend is not sleeping in separate beds (or squeezing into a bed that is smaller than a full), everything changed.

We regrouped and decided to market towards women traveling together. It's a good plan--the market is just as large, and it's definitely underserved by the B&B community. However, now we have the challenge of getting women to stay in a masculine room whose moniker now takes on a completely different tone. To men, "the boys' room" is a place to relax and have fun; to women, it sounds like a restroom.

Since the bedroom set is Eastlake style, we considered the "Eastlake room," but since we're right by an actual lake, people might think they have a view of the water. We also considered "the compass rose room" (after the Amish quilts) or "The Red Room," but shot those down pretty quickly. I'd like to name something after the original builder, James Old, but "The Old room" doesn't have a lot of appeal, either.

Our last hope is to find some wealthy benefactor and name the room after them. How does the "Anne B. Sweigart Room" grab you?