If you’ve ever wished you could check into an art gallery, not just walk through one, The Liberty Inn in Caledon is just about that. An hour from Toronto, this five-suite boutique inn blends wellness, craft and history — but the real headline is that nearly every surface, plate, tile and detail has been made by hand.
The Liberty Inn sits in a restored 19th-century post office at 1498 Cataract Rd. — one of those red-brick landmarks you’ve dreamed about staying in. Inside, the bones of the heritage building remain, but the interiors look a lot like the mood board of someone who collects craft magazines and spends weekends in antiques shops.
Soft taupes, hand-rubbed millwork, exposed limestone, checkered tilework and custom transom windows hint at a space where nothing is generic. Cozy and quaint, this retreat feels like stepping into Kate Winslet’s adorable English countryside cottage in popular festive movie The Holiday.
Co-owner Jacqui Liberty, a Caledon-based ceramicist and founder of Soft Fire Ceramics, spent two years designing and hand-making nearly 10,000 tiles used across the inn. The backsplash in the kitchen, the bathroom floors, the fireplace surrounds — each one is crafted, glazed and imperfect in the way only handmade touches can be.
If that wasn’t enough, Liberty then did all the dishes, too. Every plate, mug, bowl and vase found in the suites was hand-crafted by the owner, each infused with the care it deserves.
Most hotels buy dishes by the case. This is the only one where the plates were thrown by the owner, fired in a local kiln and carried into the rooms while the grout was still drying.
The suites, designed in collaboration with Tiffany Leigh Design, lean into a warm, countryside minimalism: curved headboards, velvet throw pillows, heirloom-style lighting, handcrafted cabinetry and original materials.
Think: an old stone wall paired with a sculptural table lamp; a stack of local art books next to a fire-glowing stove; clay vessels filled with wildflowers; espresso cups that look like they came straight off the wheel that morning.
Even the kitchens feel like galleries — farmhouse sinks with brass taps, bespoke dish racks and displays of Liberty’s ceramics arranged artfully.
Up the street, Liberty runs her own studio, where guests can actually take part in a pottery class — the same craft practice that shaped the inn. It’s a rare full-circle experience: sleep among the ceramics, then learn to throw your own. There’s something special about the way it reframes the stay as a creative retreat rather than just a weekend away.
Outside, the inn’s private spa circuit has major Scandinavian influences — cedar hot tubs, a barrel sauna and a cold plunge arranged beneath string lights and surrounded by pines.
The spa, the wood, the textures and the warm glow of lanterns all echo the tactile language of the interiors.
The Liberty Inn also collaborates with five local artists, each commissioned to create new work that aligns with the inn’s themes of serenity, grounding and history. The pieces appear throughout the suites; paintings, prints and sculptural accents that nod to the region’s landscape and the building’s legacy.
Instead of curating a collection from elsewhere, the inn builds its art ecosystem from its own community. It’s Caledon telling its own story.
What makes The Liberty Inn so compelling is the choice to restore rather than rebuild, honouring the building’s past lives (post office, speakeasy, family home) rather than erasing them. The embrace of slowness, craft and touch in a world of mass production.
