It is with great reluctance and deep regret that after nearly twenty years of welcoming Family, Friends and Guests to The Griffin House Bed & Breakfast, the time has come for us to close the doors and bid adieu to another era in our lives. We're proud of "our creation;" of the recognition and awards we've received, and of the far reaching contributions that it has afforded the community at large. Most of all, we're grateful for the experience of meeting, greeting and serving you; it has been our very special privilege and we will miss you all.

Some of our fondest memories are associated with the conversations that took place around the breakfast table. The coffee flask was always a particular source for wonderment. When guests struggled with getting at the dark, life giving liquid residing inside, we would comfort them by saying, “that’s alright, it takes a neuro-surgeon to open it." And then one morning came the inevitable retort, “I am a neuro-surgeon, and I can’t get the damn thing open!”

Or…once, as I was washing up at the sink after the morning’s uniquely cerebral discussions, and the phone rang. The voice on the other end asks if we have hot water. Confused and believing that it must be a hoax or somebody looking for a room, I said, “sure! of course we do. Where are you?” The voice on the other end responded, “I’m in the shower in the Griffin Room…could you send some up?” I turned off the water at the sink and asked, “how’s that?” He said, “Great! Thanks!”

Then there was the gentleman in the Lancastrian bathroom who ran out of toilet paper. He looked around and saw that there was a fresh roll on the ledge of the transom window behind him. Unfortunately, in his attempt to retrieve it, he dropped it and in the process of bending over to pick it up, he burned his bare buttocks on the exposed steam pipe, which immediately and violently propelled him, headfirst into the wall.

We're sincerely grateful when guests and community members alike recall for us the very special benefits, fundraisers, and dinner concerts where Irene miraculously prepared six course dinners for forty people, and then followed with her own one woman show. Once the last dinner guest had departed, and the in-house guests were safely tucked away in their rooms, Irene and I would begin the cleanup of all of the china and silverware from forty diners...moving the catering furniture to the carriage house, and returning with the main house furniture, and finally setting and making preparations for breakfast. Exhausted, we would fall into bed around 3:00am only to awake again at 5:30am for the early risers.

We're also proud to have played a major role in some of the happiest occasions in the lives of our guests. Many an engagement ring has found its way onto an accepting finger, and we are honored to have been selected for countless Weddings, Anniversaries, Birthdays and Christenings. Our own lives have been all the more enriched by the mutual joy that we have all shared.

These amazing memories evoke a deep sigh and a contented smile. Thank you, one and all!

Over the past five years, I’m sorry to say that a course has been charted for Irene & I that was not of our choosing, and we have been compelled to redirect all of these creative, and rewarding energies toward things of very little personal fulfillment, but of unrelenting necessity. Unfortunately, as we have all come to learn, the predators of this world conceal themselves within the very fabric of our many communities. Ours happened to come cloaked in the garments of a faith based organization, which we find to be a particularly heinous guise. However, we remain mindful not to cast discredit upon an entire community for the sins of the few. Now in our senior years, and after a lifetime of planning and saving, we are facing the loss of everything for which we have worked our entire lives, including our Investment Property and even our historical home, which we have been so proud to share with you, "The Griffin House"...all threatened by a congregation from Brooklyn, NY. They have used their superior organizational wealth, predatory stealth, and non-profit status as they violate every ethical, moral and sacred covenant they profess to represent; all while subverting our bankruptcy courts. They have demonstrated that they have unlimited funds for litigation, and for convolution of the judicial process, but purportedly, none to pay their debts. And so...as a strategy for excluding us from our own property while they populate it with their friends and families, and sub-lease it to others for their own financial gain, justice has suffered many setbacks, delays and adjournments. However, to their great surprise, Irene & I have stood fast, and we are exposing their many conspiracies, frauds, money laundering and abuses of our judicial system. We are sensitive to the fact that the foregoing is not representative of the community at large, and we remain convinced that the vast majority are similarly outraged by the actions of the few among them who bring discredit upon themselves and others.

I won’t bore you with the legal details here, but for any of you who might have an interest, I have created a website that exposes and documents their nefarious activities against us, which I will publish as soon as our attorneys  permit. This has become an important, precedent setting case in the federal bankruptcy system, as attested to by the fact that it has already been featured on page one of The National Law Journal. Also, it has been discussed in several law blogs, including: Stupid Bankruptcy Lawyer Tricks, by the Chicago based Coleman Law Firm. Irene & I are convinced that such convolution of our legal system lies at the very epicenter of our nation's current crisis. As an expose' and a course of study in Ethics 101, and Bankruptcy Fraud, this case needs to be a part of the curriculum in all of the major law schools.

This is not where Irene and I had envisioned ourselves in our senior years. We worked hard, played by all of the rules, and we certainly believed that at this stage in our lives, all of yesterday's "trials" would be manifested in today's "tribulations." Many times this train has been forced off the tracks with frivolous legal motions, or switched into some remote "adjournment" siding. However, we still have faith in our judicial system's ability to "drill down" to the truth and the law. More importantly, our friends and our family have served as the "wind beneath our wings" with their unwavering support and stabilizing counsel. They bolster our spirits and sustain our faith in mankind. And so, we remain confident that after five years of litigation, we will soon be putting this disgusting episode behind us, and return to the creative and productive endeavors that have always been so much a part of our lives.

These are troubling times for us all, and hopefully what we are witnessing is a purging of the greed and corruption that has insidiously crept into our society. Having always been a "glass is half full" type of guy, I'm confident that the good and decent people of America will prevail, and that we will soon restore the fundamental principles that made our nation great!

Once again, please know that you are all fondly remembered and that no matter where the winds of time may carry us, you will always be with us, and in our hearts. It is my intention to redesign this web page so that we may remain connected. You can also visit our “Griffin House Productions” web page where you can listen to, and view some of our A/V projects. Irene has recently completed her new cd "Shades" while my most recent cd is "My Current Sea." I have also added an historic jazz concert by my father, "The Chris Griffin All Star Big Band" at White Beeches CC recorded in 1963. Enjoy! And please do stay in touch.

Most Sincerely Yours,

Paul & Irene Griffin

The Griffin House Bed & Breakfast of Jeffersonville, New York, is a featured and award winning, Victorian mansion in The Catskill Mountains/Upper Delaware River Valley. Fine Antiques, Romantic Getaways, Weddings, Business Retreats And Recreation, In The Heart Of Sullivan County. Just Fifteen Minutes From the site of the original Woodstock festival, and The New: Bethelwoods Performing Arts Center!

Featured In: Romantic Weekends In And Around New York-by Irvina Lew/Bed & Breakfast in the Mid-Atlantic States-by Bernice Chesler/America's Wonderful Little Hotels And Inns-by Sandra Soule/The Non-Smoker's Guide ToBed & Breakfasts-by Julia M. Pitkin/American and Canadian Bed& Breakfasts- by Tracy Menges: