WAGMAGAZINE 2021

Not that there is any room for complacency with Covid, but we take our pleasures where we can safely find them. The pub in question, The White Horse Country Pub & Restaurant is in the village of Marbledale in the southwest corner of the Litchfield Hills, a picturesque pocket made even more popular (and house prices even more astronomical) on account of nearby Washington, Connecticut, being the setting for the Netflix series “The Gilmore Girls.” The pub was established by Brit John Harris and wife Lisa 11 years ago, but you’d think from its interior, complete with beams, nooks and fireplaces, that it had been here for a century at least. It’s also as near to a British country pub as you’re likely to find anywhere east of Cornwall, consistently winning all manner of awards for its upscale pub food and charming ambiance.

A third reason its legions of fans love The White Horse is for its memorabilia, a collection of art and artifacts as random as it is riveting. A Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Christmas card might jockey for position with a photograph of Winston Churchill, signed by his daughter, Sarah, while a swatch of Martha Washington’s wedding dress competes for wall space with a 20 shilling note, dating from 1773, “from the Great British Colony of Connecticut.” Seals, deeds and proclamations from parliament act as wallpaper. A Rolling Stones guitar, meanwhile hangs just by the deck doors and, behind the bar, a 1920s Indian Scout motorbike is suspended in all its glory. Think Mumbai’s Chor Bazaar (Thieves’ Market) married with London’s Portobello Road, with a touch of Brooklyn’s Flea market thrown into the mix.