The Riter Mansion: a cozy winter hideaway.

• Author: Oliphant, Aisley
• Position: Readers' Choice

When John Michaelson and his wife purchased the then-named Logan House Inn in January 2004, never once did they expect to be running a bed and breakfast. "We didn't set out to do a bed and breakfast," says Michaelson. "We wanted a nice location to do weddings and dinners and lunches and things associated with big groups."

The mansion was built in 1898 by Benjamin Franklin Riter, a pharmacist who owned the Riter Brother's Drugs retail stores in Utah and Idaho. Following Riter's death in 1925, the mansion saw many tenants such as an engineering firm, additional residents and even a fraternity. "We have unique things like radiant heat--we have old style radiators," says Michaelson. "It's kind of reminiscent of the way the house was built back in the day. We haven't commercialized a lot of the rooms. You feel like you're coming into a home ... that's what people like about it."

The Riter Mansion has a selection of rooms to choose from, such as the library room, decorated with shelves of hard-backed books, and the parlor room overlooking the veranda.

Michaelson and his wife make the breakfasts fresh every morning. "One of our favorites is apple pancakes. It has a brown sugar syrup [made]...