The Lodge room is a magnificent, starry-ceilinged Masonic Temple of a room. A massive four-poster king-size bed topped by eagles faces a huge, wood-burning slate fireplace. Masonic Lodges were greatly influenced by Egyptian and Greek images: the reclining couch beside the bed is based on one found in Tutankhamen's tomb, and the bed itself is reminiscent of Cleopatra's throne. A television mysteriously rises from a lectern at your request. The luxurious bathroom, composed of enormous marble slabs meant to evoke the great baths of Rome and Turkey, has a steam room with a shower, and a deep soaking Jacuzzi. You'll surely leave the Lodge Room an initiate to the secrets of the universe.

Rate: $625.00 • Click here to see a room comparison chart

In the Lodge room you are carried back to the foundation of Vermont's social structure where the Mason's, Elks, Odd Fellow, Rebekah's, Eastern Star, Grange and others taught values and ethics to Vermonters for centuries. Warren, for example, was the site of the "Mt. Pleasant Lodge" #60 of the 100F (International Order of Odd Fellows) from 1880-1945. The Odd Fellows originally met in the town hall and the old historic photos in the town library show the triple interlocked circles above the door. Later in the 1920s they purchased the hall known as the Odd Fellows Hall (the white box around the corner with the stubby column holding up the stairway) which now happens to be my architectural office. Early in the century, the Masons held meetings of the King Hiram Lodge in the west end of the second floor of the Warren Store that was then the Warren Inn and the second floor was the town dance hall. The Grange still functions in Warren with meetings in the town hall.

The star-studded ceiling of the room is found in many of the Vermont lodge rooms and is painted in the pattern of the Christmas Eve sky. The Waitsfield Mason's hall, across from the Joslin Library, has a star-studded sky painted on the ceiling that inspired our ceiling. Thanks to Ed Eurich, past Grand Master of the Waitsfield Masons, for his instructional and helpful tour. Art and Ann Schaller, artists from Warren, painted the stars including the Milky Way and true north orientation so that it is possible to see (if one goes outside) how the night sky changes as Christmas approaches and recedes.

Many of the lodges employed symbolism and design motifs from ancient civilizations as a means of honoring the track of vision, insight and knowledge over time. One can trace Egyptian, Greek, Moorish and Gothic images in the decorations, badges, furniture and proportions of the rooms. The bed is set on axis with the night sky, centered on the long axis of the room and at the golden section proportion on the other axis. Sleeping this way is said (by the wise ancient ones) to increase your intelligence, perception and vital energies (let us know if you find significant improvements). I found two antique eagles to keep watch over the high end of the bed. One is a weathervane from someone's barn (I hope not lifted off by chopper), the other is from the top of the flagpole from the old Brattleboro Post Office. The bed itself is an impressionistic version of Cleopatra's throne. We held back from iconography on the obelisk at the foot of the bed that might resemble the needle in Trafalger Square or the Washington Monument. The bed was superbly made in Peter Brough's shop in East Calais, down to the diamond headed brass bolts along the bottom edge which are normally seen on early Old Town canoe gunnels. The reclining couch next to the bed is similar to the couch discovered in King Tutankamon's tomb in Egypt, except without the alabaster eyes.

The pulpit for lecturing to your loved one before dinner is from the old meeting house in Hinesburg, Vermont circa 1870. Here, we used it to hide the television that mysteriously emerges through the reading lectern on top.

The fireplace mantle, on axis with the bed, is made from solid slate slabs painted faux marble in green and trimmed in gold. This came from an antique dealer in Putney who salvaged it from an estate in Bennington. The structure encasing the flue is clad in old blackboard slate salvaged from the Norwich University science laboratory, as is the bathroom countertop, once a lab desktop. Kate Stevens from my office designed the bathroom with enormous marble slabs from Rutland, which are intended to invoke the great baths of Rome or Turkey. It's a stretch, but when the steam comes on and the lights are dim, see if you don't drift off to the Mediterranean.

Feel free to come to dinner in one of the special jackets, hats or other special Lodge outfits we have collected and be sure to look at the collection of badges used in Vermont over the years in the many lodges.
- Dave Sellers