MARBLETOWN – There are lions and tigers and bears to be found in the Den of Marbletown.

This new bed and breakfast, with Steiff museum and gift shop, opened earlier this month on Basten Lane in Stone Ridge, just off Route 209. Owners Steven Ferri and Nan Bress-Ferri have remodeled their old farm house, on what was once part of the Basten farm, into an interactive museum.

The museum is filled with Steiff stuffed animals. Steiff is a stuffed toy making company from Germany that has been making much treasured animals and figures since the late 1800s, and made its first teddy bear in 1903, according to Ferri.

Bress-Ferri explained that her mother collected Steiff stuffed animals, which is a much more commonly known brand in Europe than in the United States. "So, I grew up with them a little bit," Bress-Ferri said.

The couple had often joked that there were so many stuffed animals at her mother's that someone should open a museum with them. Turns out it would be them.

Ferri will be running the retail shop where Steiff animals can be purchased. He adds that his mother-in-law turned him into a "gentleman collector" with the gift of an enrollment in a Steiff club.

The new museum includes a Steiff timeline, collectables, limited editions, and studio pieces such as a life sized-bald eagle. In the timeline are pieces from 1903 to 2013, a bear with movable parts named Rod and a Titanic bear from 1912 among the earlier works and a Wicked Witch of the West with fur the exact pigment as the face paint on the witch in the Wizard of Oz from 2013.

Interactive displays are found throughout both floors of the museum with more to come.

"We want there to be stuff you can touch and handle," Bress-Ferri said.

The displays in the collection room, on the second floor, will change seasonally and feature local artists and businesses.

The Ferris explained that their breakfast room will be open for tea and tea parties as well as community group meetings. They envision a place where volunteer committees can meet and kids can play while they're working. Their intention is to be a tourist destination on the weekend and a community resource during the week by showcasing local business, artists, food growers, and more, according to Bress-Ferri.

The Ferris were "thrilled" with their grand opening weekend October 10-12. Over the three days neighbors, the town board, and kids came out for a ribbon cutting on Saturday, a Steiff club event, an art opening for Hurley-based artist Lora Shelley, as well as to simply pass through and enjoy such a pleasant new museum in their midst.

The hours for the Den of Marbletown are Tuesdays through Fridays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

And the name? After a bear den of course... a cozy place to meet, play, or stay.

For more information call 687-6441 or visit www.thedenofmarbletown.com.