Charming Tudor-Style Country House

President George Washington once owned an idyllic, 18-acre swath of countryside in Charles Town, which was founded by and named after his younger brother. Today, the charming Hillbrook Inn rests on the founding father's former property, tucked into the side of a verdant, sloping hill. Two thousand windowpanes speckle the Tudor-style exterior, allowing sunlight to flood an elegant interior accented by Flemish oil paintings and oriental rugs. Visitors can linger in adirondack chairs on the back patio or go for a supine swing in the hammocks strung up between leafy trees just beyond the manicured gardens.

Cozy main-house rooms are adorned with Victorian-style antiques, hardwood floors, and jewel-tone rugs. Soft, down duvets swaddle the queen-size sleigh or four-poster beds. After a soak in the claw-foot tub, guests can slip into a sumptuous turkish robe and a pair of slippers, and nibble on cookies and champagne. In select units, an electric or wood fireplace crackles, and guests without a hearth can warm their hands over the in-suite iPad provided in each Hillbrook room. It's this attention to detail that has helped the inn earn a spot in BedandBreakfast.com's Diamond Collection.

Executive chef Christine Hale crafts gourmet meals suited to her patrons' custom dietary needs at the on-site restaurant. Each morning from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m., the restaurant serves a two-course gourmet breakfast. At the Gatehouse Spa, massage therapists knead musculature during 45-minute massages ($100), and aestheticians pamper hands and feet with manicures ($35) or pedicures ($55).

Charles Town, West Virginia: Scenic Views from Civil War Battlefields

Charles Town lies only 90 minutes outside of Washington, DC, among the grassy slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The mountains are both scenic and full of Civil War history. The Confederate army suffered mass casualties at the bloody Battle of Antietam only 30 miles away. And fewer than 10 miles from the inn lies the town of Harpers Ferry, where John Brown's failed armory raid became a catalyst for the war.

The West Virginia portion of the Appalachian Trail also winds through the area. A portion of the famed path, the 12-mile Loudon Heights Trail Loop, passes through three states, alongside rivers, and over stunning ridges. The Virginia Wine Trail covers a different type of territory with stops at nine nearby vineyards where tour-goers taste vintages, inspect the premises, and juggle wine barrels.