McKay House, Jefferson, Texas

In 1877, when Jefferson was a worldly river port, it was rocked by the brief visit of "Diamond Bessie"---the stage name of Annie Stone Moore Rothchild, a popular entertainer. While in town with her husband, a wealthy Cincinnati gambler named Abe Rothchild, the pair walked alone into a field. A gunshot was heard, and Abe returned alone, claiming his wife had shot herself by accident. After three trials over seven years, Rothchild was a free man, but the people of Jefferson never accepted the "not guilty" verdict.

One of the attorneys who successfully defended Rothchild was Hector McKay, the first of two generations of McKays that lived in this 1851 Greek Revival. In the early 1980s, the McKay House was purchased by Dallasites Tom and Peggy Taylor, who, through extensive renovations, transformed it into the city's most luxurious B&B.

The inn is furnished almost entirely with antiques, mostly Eastlake, many of them quite valuable. But this place is anything but stuffy. Innkeepers Joseph and Alma Anne Parker know how to help folks break the ice, from the funny period hats distributed for visitors to wear at breakfast, to Victorian gowns and nightshirts provided in the rooms, and, in one room, his-and-hers clawfoot tubs that offer an opportunity for simultaneous scrub-downs.

An ancient Packard pump organ is played to call guests to the hearty "Gentleman's Breakfast," which is served in period dress and may consist of honey-cured ham, cheese biscuits, and homemade pineapple zucchini bread and strawberry preserves.

Afterward, guests can relax on the wide front porch, outfitted with a swing and white wicker chairs.

The guest rooms are individual in personality but uniform in elegance; each offers such furnishings as a canopy bed and antique armoire. The two downstairs rooms have coal-burning fireplaces; the two upstairs suites feature a balcony, skylight, and his-and-hers tubs; and a downstairs suite includes two bedrooms, each with its own fireplace.

But perhaps the most memorable rooms are the two set off from a central, dog-trot hall in the tin-roofed Victorian garden cottage located behind the main house. The Keeping Room, in particular, is amusingly authentic: a claw-foot tub sits exposed in a bay window, next to a transplanted outdoor privy, fully equipped with a lantern and a Sears Roebuck catalogue.

Location: 306 Delta St., Jefferson

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