A resident of Richmond Hill since 1977, Ms Marsh started her bed and breakfast in 2003 after her daughter left the nest.

“Even though I have a home office for my Landscape Design business, I felt guilt living in a 2,100-square-foot house on my own,” she said.

And as chairperson of the York Region Environmental Alliance she felt an obligation to be what she calls an “environmental ambassador” for the Oak Ridges Moraine.

Her work crusading for the environment led to her chaining herself to a tree to protest a road being built north of Stouffville Road in 1999 and she was subsequently arrested.

These days, however, she takes more of an advocacy role, working with the Environmental Alliance to enact pesticide and anti-idling bylaws, as well as garbage and recycling awareness.

She also believes in showing people just how easy it is to lead a green lifestyle.

“I'm hoping that over time they will be converted,” she confided.

Indeed, her commitment to conserving resources can be seen in a myriad of small measures around the house, from the bricks in the toilet tank to displace some of the water, to the way she saves the water when she washes vegetables and uses it to water her plants.

“All the water in my kitchen gets used two times,” she proudly confirmed.

On a bigger scale, the house and landscape also contribute to the conservation of resources.

The trees are one of the passive solar techniques that allow the house to minimize the amount of energy it uses.

Passive solar is home design that makes use of the steady supply of energy from the sun by factoring the building's energy requirements with its site and window orientation. If you've ever sat by a sunny, south-facing window on a winter day, you've experienced passive solar energy.

In the case of Toadhall, it means all the windows are on the south side of the house, it has a great deal of insulation, blinds provide added insulation and a fan circulates heat from the greenhouse on the second floor down to the crawl space, where it radiates back up through the floor.

The kitchen is on the second floor and bedrooms are on the ground floor, making them cool and comfortable during the summer.

In winter, the south facing windows make it unnecessary to turn on the heat until the evening when the sun goes down. In the summer, leaves from the deciduous trees block the heat of the sun, keeping the house cool without the use of an air conditioner.

Even the culinary delights offered up to B&B guests conform to an environmental standard, with dishes being created from food that is local and organic whenever possible. Ms Marsh firmly believes in supporting local farmers and giving them more of an incentive to go organic.

For breakfast there are offerings such as vegetarian strudel with tomato coulis, radish and snow pea sauté, organic bacon and toasted cardamom raisin bread or chestnut flour pecan waffles with sliced banana, lime yogurt and pure maple syrup.

“I don't think when people stay at a B&B it should be the bacon and eggs, diner-style breakfast. It should be a cut above,” she said, though breakfast isn't all guests have come to expect.

Ms Marsh also serves tapas in the late afternoon of her guests' first day, with wine and options like pappadam curried oysters with cucumber raita and broccoli pakoras with tamarind chutney.

“I've always thought healthy food is a part of life … no one has ever left a vegetable on their plate at breakfast,” she said.

With the help of the internet, Toadhall attracts international guests from Europe, Asia and the United States, who come for business meetings and conferences in Toronto and “don't want to stay down there in the concrete,” she said.

Toadhall is featured in Lonely Plant, as well as Green Places to Stay, an international guidebook by travel writer Alistair Sawday.

“In a B&B, you find your niche, whatever that may be,” Ms Marsh explained.

Besides those travelling for business, she also caters to those with a taste for art.

With the McMichael Canadian Art Collection a 15-minute drive away, visitors to Toadhall can not only see some of the works of the Group of Seven, they can proceed northward to view the landscapes that inspired them.

“They feel the location is central to not only Toronto, but the McMichael,” she said.

While many of Toadhall's guests stay on their way to Algonquin Park, Ms Marsh will sometimes suggest a side trip to the heritage site Sainte Marie Among the Hurons, in Midland, which is only an hour-and-a-quarter drive from Oak Ridges.

However, she says it's not necessary to make the drive north to engage with nature since York Region has such an abundance of trails for hiking and walking.

“The trails are quite a draw,” she said.

By Serena Willoughby, North of the City magazine

For more information on Toadhall Bed and Breakfast go to www.225toadhall.ca. For more information on the York Region Environmental Alliance go to www.yrea.org