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The registration clerk was asking me a question. Her face blurred as my eyes locked onto the oil painting behind her, an image of a woman holding a child in her arms and standing in front of a red barn. I was surprised to find such beautiful artwork in a hotel lobby.

"I'm sorry. What did you ask?" I asked, refocusing on the clerk.

"Would you prefer down pillows or fiberfill?"

I chose down.

"Firm or soft?" she asked.

"Soft," I replied, smiling.

Genuine art and my choice of pillows: This was shaping up to be a great stay.

The clerk handed me a welcome letter signed by Roberta and Howard Ahmanson Jr. I recognized the names of the multimillionaire philanthropists because I had lived in Southern California for many years.

But what connection did the Ahmansons have to a small Midwestern farm town, I wondered.

I had chosen the 40-room Hotel Pattee because it was billed as a "historic country inn" in the slice of Iowa my husband, Ralph, and I were traveling through in October on a road trip from California to Michigan.

I'd never heard of Perry, population 7,633, in central Iowa, but it wasn't hard to find. After exiting Interstate 80, we drove 20 miles north through farmland, past acres of corn stubble and entered the quiet town.

The hotel was equally easy to find. The handsome brick Colonial Revival building decorated with colorful flags from many nations dominates downtown Perry.

Inside, a huge floral display and an Arts and Crafts interior greeted us. The lobby was a melange of textures: tile, wood, hammered copper, pottery and Persian carpets. Leather Stickley-style furniture surrounded a stone fireplace.

Our room wasn't ready, so Ralph headed to the Inter-Urban Lounge, named for one of the trains that used to pass through Perry. But antsy from hours sitting in the car, I set off to explore the hotel.

I strolled around looking at the art as if I were in a museum. I was drawn to the photo-realistic watercolors of Steven Kozar and the rural scenes by Gary Ernest Smith, especially "Celebration of Life," which shows a man standing in a freshly plowed field as he plays a violin. He looks happily out of place — like this world-class hotel in a tiny Iowa town.