Built in 1899 as a summer home, Willow started out with a gorgeous exterior of charred cedar shingles on the second and third floors and narrow clapboards on the first floor. Porches were attached to every side of the house. Over years, outbuildings were added: a game house (the green cottage next door), a carriage house (the white bungalow down the drive), stables (the red shed facing the pond) and the now abandoned “lookout house” on the ridge above us. The forests around Willow were still mostly open fields for grazing. From 1930 to 1970 the house underwent several updates: electricity, plumbing, en suite baths, and insulation were added. Past owners reconfigured some of the of porches, added a garage, added a large pond, re-clad the second and third floors in narrow clapboards, and painted the exterior. The updates and changes improved comforts while not upsetting the overall charm and character of the house.

Some time around 1980, the property became The Inn at South Newfane. We still have one of the first roadside signs, now hanging in our service area. The grand rooms of the first floor were re-imagined in the Newhart style of New England inn-keeping. The grant foyer was remodeled into a reception area. The dining room became a restaurant. A commercial kitchen was introduced. A bar and tavern room were built out. While these changes did alter the home’s uses, most past owners were careful not to fundamentally change the home’s character.

As the current stewards of this grand property, we’ve endeavored to maintain its character, improve on its comforts. and restore it to its start as a home. Instead of the institutional signals of a hotel, you’ll find all the signals of a southern Vermont home: local pottery, farm-to-table foods, and handmade everything. We hope you enjoy this property the way it was intended from the beginning. From its first years as a summer home to today’s use as a retreat center, Willow is a sanctuary where the outside world takes a pause so that we can reconnect to nature, our loved ones and ourselves.