A hayloft, in legend, is a most wonderful, sweet-scented, quiet place to sleep, a favorite hiding place where most people in stories always seems to be dozing off. Our hayloft is a two-bedroom suite at the top of the old barn. Leather club chairs face the brick fireplace, and the red chimney rises through the roof. State fair ribbons tell the merit of some handsome long-ago chickens who took first and second place. There are cow-print curtains, king-size beds, a red chest with a checker board top and farmhouse antiques throughout the suite. There are also two bathrooms with marble counters, stained glass windows, Jacuzzi tubs, and separate showers. This is no doubt the best hayloft ever built.

Rate: $800.00 • Click here to see a room comparison chart

The barn of The Pitcher Inn was the only building to survive the fire of 1993 unscathed. It also survived the rebuilding of the Inn with few apparent changes. While the barn's function would change to bedrooms for Inn guests, the designers insisted that its character as an agricultural/storage/antique barn be preserved.

The few apparent changes to the building's exterior include two dormers and a handful of windows added for light. In addition, the dirt ramp that led straight up to the barn doors was carted away and replaced by a stone retaining wall. Though the barn exterior may appear "untouched," it has been! The whole building was jacked up, a new foundation was poured and then the building was lowered down again. The roof was rebuilt. Every inch of the exterior has been scraped, patched, sanded and repainted.

The work on the interior of the barn is more obvious. Large spaces have been divided into smaller ones, bead-board replaces barn-board, and furnishings accommodate the two-legged variety. The barn no longer smells of sweat, leather and... other stuff.

Throughout the design and construction process, designers looked for opportunities to reestablish the barn's agricultural/storage character. The first floor was designated the Stable, the second floor - the Hayloft. Mac Rood of Bast and Rood Architects designed the first floor to evoke stalls, mangers and tack rooms. Karen Schmitz of Karen's Fabrics and Trading Co. provided the fabrics, drapery, quilts and upholstery throughout the barn. Kate Stevens of Sellers and Co. Architects designed the second floor as a hayloft.

The design concept for the second floor was the idea of the hayloft as an agricultural room (a dry place to store grains, hay and farm equipment) and also as a kind of ultra-attic where very forgotten and possibly precious stuff lies in wait.

The headboards were fashioned out of old boards to resemble feed bins. The headboards also create extra storage and build the beds out from the wall to make up for the steeply pitched roof. The stained glass between the stairway and the bathrooms has agricultural themes. Wide old floorboards continue uninterrupted from room to room, a reminder of the openness of the hayloft before the divisions. The various country fair ribbons and rusty old tools (collected by myself) are also part of the hayloft as an agricultural room.

The bathrooms and furnishings support the idea of the hayloft as a storage place for cool junk. The vanities are designed as if they were beautiful country kitchen tables that were remodeled as vanities. The tile work in the showers focuses on the far wall where geometrically laid colored tile floats against a simple white background. The tile patterns are traditional quilt designs. The intended effect is a quilt hanging - the kind you would find in a trunk in the corner of the hayloft. The furnishings are old and freestanding, as if they were original occupants of the hayloft that had been recruited to hold modern amenities like the television and refrigerator.

A Vermont Barn is a promising place. It could contain anything. Livestock, ancient tractors, a piano, flags and hooked rugs are all fair game. The hayloft was designed to remember the origins of the barn as a musty agricultural/storage shed, a place where the historical, the unrecognizable, the beautifully crafted hide.
- Dave Sellers