SUDBURY — It’s 9 on a recent weekday morning and Hudson native, Tara Murphy, has just begun work as the restaurant and front desk manager at Longfellow’s Wayside Inn, America’s oldest operating inn and a Massachusetts Historic Landmark celebrating its 300th birthday this year. Formerly a two-room home, the 10-guestroom inn now sits on a 125-acre complex co mplete with a schoolhouse, chapel (popular for weddings), working grist mill (which grinds corn and wheat for the inn’s pastries and desserts), barn, gate house, ice house, and rose garden. When Henry Ford purchased the inn in 1923, he turned it into living museum of American history. Now, a Board of Trustees owns the property, which derives most of its income from sales in the Tap Room and Main Dining Room.

Taking a break from her duties, Murphy describes a typical day, the top three skills her job requires, and her biggest laugh-aloud moment during her 26 years of working at the inn. This conversation has been edited and condensed.

Q. How did you start working here?

A. I was working at a clothing store called Arthurs in Hudson and one of the girls I worked with was a housekeeper [at the inn] and she told me they were looking for a breakfast waitress. So I came and applied for the job and never left. It was February of 1990 and I was 17 years old.

Q. What made you stay?

A. Oh, definitely the people. It’s like a family here. We really take care of each other.

Q. A typical day?

A. I drop my granddaughter off at school at 8:30 and then come here at 9. I try to get through my e-mails and then meet with the innkeeper to see what’s happening throughout the day. I then check to see what functions are happening, what types of reservations we have, and then make sure my staff is in place for lunch. I basically play a host from 11:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. Then I get the staff set up for the dinner shift and whatever functions are going to happen that night. Then maybe I’ll re-check my e-mails, cover the front desk break, and, any type of fires that happen throughout, I put out. I go home at 5.

Q. What sort of guest spends the night?

A. Someone looking for some peace and quiet and relaxation because we have no TVs here and no radios. It’s a great place to get away from the real world — sit in The Tavern by the fire and have a nice quiet cocktail or walk the grounds. We also get history buffs, for sure.

Q. Can you tell me about the ghost?

A. She was the sister of one of the innkeepers and died in 1842, so she was just 45. She was considered the belle of Sudbury. All the men sought after her. She picked one man in particular and they were engaged to be married. He left for England to settle his affairs with the promise to return and never returned. So they say she’s still waiting here for him and that she died of a broken heart.

Q. How does she make her presence known?

A. Room 9 was her bedroom and Room 10 was her study, so people [staying in those rooms] experience things like hearing a piano playing in the middle of the night [she played the piano] or their room has a really strong orange scent that was said to be her perfume, or they’ve seen some orbs in their digital cameras.

Q. What kind of people dine here?

A. Generally, an older clientele who appreciates that home-style, warm-your-belly type of food, like pot roast and chicken pot pie.

Q. Guest you’ll never forget?

A. There was this really special older woman. She had some issues going on with depression, maybe a little bi-polar, but she wanted to be around people, so she would come here for four or five nights at a time and just talk with everybody and sit in the dining room for hours. She was just the sweetest, kindest woman. Her name was Emily, and I just created a bond with her. She’s passed now.

Q. Biggest laugh-aloud moment?

A. Probably when the toilet let go in the second floor men’s room at 3 p.m. on New Year’s Eve [2014] when we were opening at 4 [for a big dinner crowd]. We got it cleaned up in time, but when the water is gushing down to the front desk, if you don’t cry, you just laugh.

Q. Top three skills your job requires?

A. Being able to stay calm, being able to talk with people — (long pause) — I don’t know. I’m not one to pat myself on the back, so it feels really weird for me to tell you something I’m good at. Two’s good, right?

Victoria Abbott Riccardi can be reached at vabbottriccardi@gmail.com.