JAFFREY, N.H. -- Who among the cubicle crowd hasn't thought about it, however briefly? Can the day job, kiss the corporate world goodbye, and run a cozy bed-and-breakfast in the country.
Three months ago Charlie and Sue Lyle took the plunge, buying the 152-year-old Benjamin Prescott Inn, a handsome country mansion in the shadow of Mount Monadnock.
Sue left a 17-year career in claims and litigation management for a variety of insurance companies. Charlie still has one foot in both worlds; a systems supervisor at a plant in Chelmsford, Mass., for 29 years, he said he's fed up with downsizing and outsourcing and looking forward to the time when he can join Sue full time at the inn.
The Lyles had been innkeepers for only two weeks when we visited, and in some areas they were still feeling their way. But where it counts most -- a warm welcome and a genuine interest in making guests feel at home -- they were already pros. When we called from the road to say we were running late and wouldn't arrive until 10 p.m., Sue urged us to take our time and thanked us for calling.
Candles in every window greeted us as we approached. ''Park your car on the grass," Charlie told my husband as we pulled in. ''Farmer Sawyer needs access to the barn." The inn abuts a working century-old dairy farm, a reminder we were in rural New Hampshire.
Colonel Benjamin Prescott arrived in Jaffrey in 1775 and built a home across the street; part of the foundation is still visible. Prescott's sons built the inn, burning their names and ''1853" into a beam, and today every room is named for a Prescott family member.
There's a good variety of accommodations. We stayed in Benjamin's Retreat, a two-room suite with a private entrance. The bedroom had a four-poster queen-size bed, blanket chest, night tables, dresser, and closet. There was a ceiling fan and a window air conditioner, but we could also open the window looking onto the meadow, which we liked. Cream-colored walls and slate blue doors with old-fashioned wrought iron latches created a period look. We got the impression the room hadn't been occupied in a while; there was some dust on the lamps and a few cobwebs in the corners. The bathroom was small, with a shower stall and little storage space.
From the bedroom a short hall led to a small sitting room with a couch, two chairs, tables, and a television set with very limited reception. Since we visited, the Lyles have decided to offer satellite dish television only in the common rooms and one of the upstairs suites; not only was the cost of wiring all the rooms for cable television prohibitive, Charlie said, but he and Sue felt fewer televisions blaring would make for a more serene environment.
On a tour Sunday morning we took a peek at Rachel's Room, with twin beds; Phoebe's Room and Oren's Room, which share a sitting area; and the expansive John Adams Suite, which can sleep up to eight people. This unusual suite includes, on one side of the hall, a king-size bed with two double beds built into alcoves under the eaves. Across the hallway is a living room with couch, microwave, sink, wet bar, and a balcony overlooking the hay field, along with a queen-bedded eave sleeping area. Sue said she plans to add curtains to the eave areas for privacy; it struck us that children would think that was pretty neat.
There are thoughtful decorative touches throughout the inn, such as old christening dresses on the walls, an old-fashioned sewing machine turned into a table, and antique dolls from Sue's collection on the beds.
All rooms have a private bath. Air-conditioning is available on the second and third floors and in Benjamin's Retreat.
Breakfast is served from 8 to 9:30 at individual tables in a room with butter yellow walls, decorated with old prints, postcards, and trolley tokens. Coffee and tea are self-serve, as are homemade muffins with honey maple spread. We found thick pancakes in the shape of maple leaves attractive to look at but tasting strongly of baking powder. We enjoyed the fresh strawberries and blueberries on the side.
Our fellow guests included several people from Atlanta who were in the area to attend a wedding. At Charlie's suggestion, they spent the day browsing shops and restaurants in downtown Peterborough, about 15 minutes away. They could also have visited Cathedral of the Pines just down the street, viewed the grave of writer Willa Cather in the historic Jaffrey Center cemetery, or hiked up Monadnock, said to be the most climbed mountain in North America.
We took the low road, choosing to watch the Beatles' 1964 appearance on ''The Ed Sullivan Show," one of many classic television shows and movies available on DVD in the inn's living room.
Contact Ellen Albanese at ealbanese@globe.com. 
