Author Archives: pitcher_admin
02/17/2020 2:55 pm
Comments Off on What People Are Saying About the Pitcher Inn The past few months have seen the Pitcher Inn given some really nice press coverage, and we thought we’d dedicate today’s blogpost to sharing some snippets. We’re honored to receive such glowing reviews, and we hope they’ll inspire you to come stay with us here in the Mad River Valley—whether it’ll be your very first time, or you’re a regular guest of ours deciding you’re overdue for a return visit!
Here’s a look at what’s being said about our luxurious Relais & Châteaux property in charming Warren, Vermont.
(more…)
01/14/2020 3:01 pm
Comments Off on Sugarbush to Get New Owners in Alterra There’s a big change afoot at one of the famed, long-running ski resorts our Pitcher Inn guests enjoy awesomely easy access to—but you needn’t be worried.
Sugarbush—one of the great ski resorts of the Northeast, and until now one of the last to be independently owned—has been sold to the Colorado-based Alterra Mountain Company, which runs 14 other mountain resorts in six U.S. states and three Canadian provinces, and partners in the management of more than two dozen others around the world. From the looks of things, the sale will ensure Sugarbush will be able to continue its fantastic level of service long into the future.
(more…)
11/20/2019 2:52 pm
Comments Off on Magical Holidays in the Mad River Valley Immerse yourself in the singular holiday-season magic of the Mad River Valley with festive and luxurious accommodations at the Pitcher Inn. From a Thanksgiving feast and the good cheer of Christmas to a New Year’s Eve celebration, we’re the perfect destination for a pampered New England holiday getaway.
We’re reopening on November 27th after a three-week closure of readying the Inn for the holidays, and we’d love to welcome you sometime during this holiday season!
(more…)
09/23/2019 7:38 pm
Comments Off on Fall in the Mad River Valley We’re right at the cusp of our busiest month of the year here at the Pitcher Inn: October sees leaf-peepers from near and far journey here to take in the world-famous autumnal show Vermont puts on.
The fall colors are the blockbuster draw, but there’s plenty of other reason to make a getaway to our luxury Relais & Châteaux hotel here in the Mad River Valley. Here’s an overview of what’s in store for you—bountifully blazing leaves included—this season at the Pitcher Inn!
(more…)
08/12/2019 4:05 pm
Comments Off on Local Duck at the Pitcher Inn We’ve got some more exciting developments on the Pitcher Inn culinary front to announce.
Earlier this summer we introduced you to our new executive chef, Jacob Ennis. Already hard at work expressing his fresh and creative vision for our Relais & Châteaux gastronomy, Chef Jacob recently purchased an entire flock of Vermont-raised Pekin Ducks—some 60 birds. That means here at the Pitcher Inn we’re going to be having a bit of a duck fest this month and into the fall and take it from us: You’re going to want to be a part of it!
(more…)
07/03/2019 3:37 pm
Comments Off on The Pitcher Inn Welcomes Chef Jacob Ennis Today at the Pitcher Inn blog, we’re asking all of our guests and readers to join us in welcoming a brand-new executive chef to the Inn: Jacob Ennis!
Chef Ennis comes to us deeply steeped in the culinary traditions of Relais & Châteaux hospitality: Ours is the seventh R&C property he’s been a part of. As part of an illustrious resume, Chef Ennis has served as executive chef at such restaurants as the Vanderbilt Grace in Newport, Rhode Island, Topper’s Restaurant at The Wauwinet on Nantucket, and Restaurant Aaron and The Blue Room at the Horned Dorset Primavera, an R&C hotel in Rincon, Puerto Rico.
(more…)
05/28/2019 9:10 pm
Comments Off on Top Ten Reasons to Summer in the Mad River Valley Ah, summertime in the Mad River Valley: By our reckoning, it just doesn’t get any better. Join us at the Pitcher Inn for this gorgeous and action-packed corner of Vermont’s finest hospitality, and drink in the season’s charms to the full!
Here are 10 of the top reasons to take a well-earned summer vacay in our neck of the woods.
(10) Sugarbush Brewgrass Festival (June 8, 2019 at Sugarbush Resort)
Here’s a quick math equation for you: bluegrass + craft brews = BREWGRASS! More than 20 Vermont breweries and some great bands are “on tap” for the ninth running of this awesome summer kickoff party on the mountain.
(more…)
05/04/2019 1:58 pm
Comments Off on Pitcher Inn Passport – School Room
We love giving tours of The Pitcher Inn. One of our favorite things to do – when availability permits – is giving tours of our fabulous guest rooms. Often, folks will form a deep connection with a specific room and plan their vacation around the availability of their home away from home. We adore this sense of ownership that our friends develop. It’s our dream to give the opportunity to all our followers, friends, and family. We’re starting this series to share the fascinating history and design of The Pitcher Inn. Follow along and find out all the details of your future favorite room.
THE SCHOOL ROOM
Designers: Dave Sellers and Duncan Syme
Contractors: Harold Austin Builders & Halsey Woodworking
At long last, you can go to sleep in class without guilt. In fact, our school room is designed to encourage just that by recharging your memory cells to those times when you were probably doing all you could to stay awake during class. Utterly impossible not to doze, sitting in those hard chairs while the sun was shining outside and the fishing poles calling for help.
This room celebrates the one-room schoolhouse, the foundation of Vermont’s education system for 200+ years. Warren had five of them, three of which are still standing on their original locations. The simple designs with high ceilings, walls of windows and the big bell on top have become signatures for Vermont. Granville, VT, which is located 20 minutes south of Warren, had one single-room schoolhouse (kindergarten to eighth grade) left in full operation until 2008. Sadly, this schoolhouse had to close its doors. In addition, the Shelburne Museum has one that has been fully restored and equipped on exhibit.
Here we have created an illusion of time and space in the design of the room by curving the interior wall, continuing the windows across it, and leaving a space between the interior wall and the new curved one. This simple move created space for an exhibit case, George Washington’s portrait and two diorama paintings. Sonja Gropman, an artist living in New York and Warren, executed both of these. She selected a style of primitive painting from records of 18th and 19th century children’s art. The winter and summer scenes are not unlike that seen out the window of the “Plunkton School” in 1850. By the way, the old Plunkton School is still standing at the four corners of the Plunkton and Fuller Hill Roads in East Warren.
Behind the copy of Gilbert Stuart’s George Washington (each schoolroom had one and the original can be viewed at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts) you will find the TV. Opposite the wall of windows is the wall of blackboards, complete with the treble, bass clef, and lines so you can write your own music. (We haven’t been able to find the multichalk holder that teachers would use to set the lines for music scores, if you find one let us know.) These 3/8th inch thick slate blackboards came from salvaged Vermont schoolrooms. On the desk are several small individual slate boards that were used before paper was cheap.
The trim around the room has been copied from an authentic storage closet we located in Burlington, VT and installed at the edge of the blackboards. Above the trim is the alphabet and numbers copied from the “Palmer Method of Hand Writing”. An original copy is in the display window. Take it out and try your hand on the blackboard. Above the old school master’s desk with the glass globe and book from the Replogle Company in Evanston, Illinois are the pull-down study maps we all learned to love – look closely at Cuba.
Opposite the map is a mural in perspective, which extends the room into a fantasy library. The oak side pillars came from the private library of a torn down mansion near Charlotte, VT. Sarah-Lee Woodard and Edgar Stewart have created a caricature of Raphael’s most famous painting of the 1600s: “School of Athens” making it into the school library – look in the middle shelf for an art book that has a copy of Raphael’s original with Plato and Aristotle in the middle. Can you find Pinocchio, Geppetto, Tinkerbell, Mother Goose, Robin Hood and Friar Tuck, Ratty and Mole, the Cheshire Cat and Alice? You will find them among steam trains or in King Arthur’s castle that looms in the distance. You will discover next to the mural, on the book shelf, that there is a copy of Edgar Stewart’s illustrated children’s book, and you have no doubt seen some of Sarah-Lee’s work when she led much of Ben & Jerry’s graphics into production.
The bedside tables are real Vermont school desks and the Abe Lincoln in the bathroom is the same vintage one you might have found in the hallways of the old schools. Look at the bathroom counter, it used to be a laboratory top in the old science lab at Norwich University. We are still looking for more old posters for our bulletin board, a flag stand (we have a 48-star flag) and lots of old school books. We found an early school clock and the same simple ceiling lights they still use in many schools. Note that the ceiling has intentional cracks and areas of repainting to simulate the old ceiling one would stare at during study time. There was magic in those old rooms as there must have been magic coming from the school teacher who held order in a room with kids of all ages while trying to inspire and feed the necessary learnin’ to the leaders of the future.
The one-room schools wouldn’t work without skilled, fearless and charismatic teachers who could command attention and deliver the three “R’s” and more. They were more often than not career teachers holding down the fort for 20-40 years. They became an institution in local life. Our list of Warren one-room teachers is becoming complete and will be memorialized by a plaque in the hall.
This room was a joy to design and see built. All the artists, craftsmen and mechanics contributed ideas and energy. Steve James, one of Hoover’s crew, masterminded installation of the casework. Rice Lumber milled out the ridiculous paneling shapes, Park Hasley built the cabinets, Master’s Electric figured out how to wire-up the place and Duncan Syme laid out the bathroom tiles for Keith to work them in.
-Maggie Smith, Owner, 1997
It’s fitting that I write this in springtime, as it’s my favorite time of year for the School Room. Ironically, it’s the time when children begin gazing through the windows of the classroom, dreaming of summer, that I most often find myself enjoying our own little classroom. Appropriately, it’s because of the beautiful view off of its private, little back porch, overlooking our garden.
Soon after buds begin bursting, the mammoth crab apple tree directly below School begins to blossom. And it is a sight. Although lovely when winter gives the beholder a clear eye to the Stable, garden, and Freeman Brook beyond, nothing compares to its vernal vision. A wall of white flowers screens the porch from view, each breeze bringing showers of petals down.
A truly magical time to enjoy the provided cafe table and chairs. Best with a beverage (be it coffee, tea, or champagne) and a good book or sketchpad, I can’t think of a better opportunity to start sweeping away the winter cobwebs from the mind.
Enough waxing poetic. Let’s head back inside:
One afternoon I was bringing a couple up to the School Room and while showing them about the cozy room, I realized that we’d somehow overlooked cleaning the blackboard after the previous guest had stayed.
Using the provided chalk, the last occupants had emblazoned – in beautiful cursive – “Let’s get funky!”
Being fairly new, I was absolutely mortified. Apologizing, I told them I’d have housekeeping come in and remove it immediately. The couple, giggling like – yes – schoolchildren told me to do no such thing. They loved it, and it stayed until they checked out having added their own words and art to the board.
I did let housekeeping know about the oversight, but that was as far as it went. I’m not one to tell tales out of school.
-Mimi Bain, 2019
PS: With Spring’s flowery explosion visible on the horizon, I’ll update this with a few shots of our lovely crab apple tree when the time comes.
03/28/2019 3:05 pm
Comments Off on The Pitcher Inn Passport – Mallard Room We love giving tours of The Pitcher Inn. One of our favorite things to do – when availability permits – is giving tours of our fabulous guest rooms. Often, folks will form a deep connection with a specific room and plan their vacation around the availability of their home away from home. We adore this sense of ownership that our friends develop. It’s our dream to give the opportunity to all our followers, friends, and family. We’re starting this series to share the fascinating history and design of The Pitcher Inn. Follow along and find out all the details of your future favorite room.
Designer: Jim Sanford of Sanford & Strauss Architects
The Mallard Room takes you into a duck blind — the original concept has the light slowly rising over the horizon as the sounds of the marsh become louder and ducks and geese can be heard until the loud bang of a gun shoots down your dinner, making it land on the bed in its raw form. At this point, an enormous wet Black Lab bounds into the room and licks you awake.
Alas, it became necessary to trim back on this design. Nonetheless, the room is full of decorations that are significant to the experience and tradition of waterfowling both on Lake Champlain and Vermont’s inland waters. There is, unfortunately, no way to capture the incredible feeling of the marsh just before sunrise in November. The sounds, light, smells, moist air, and the unbelievable feeling of excitement just can’t be duplicated in a room of any kind.
But the Mallard Room comes close to the real thing. The decorative grass woodwork surrounding the room, along with the lifelike Canvasback Drake and Merganser Drake decoys (both by Gary Starr) make you feel as if you are submerged in the marsh. Gary was also the mastermind behind the Canada goose overhead (connected to the weathervane on the roof) and is responsible for the ducks on the bedposts. Of the well-known decoy carvers of Vermont today, Gary’s simple, graceful interpretations are some of the best.
Waterfowling would not be complete without the hunting equipment. From left to right in the glass case are a pump Marlin Model 43, side-by-side classic Lefever Nitro Special, and a Remington Sportsman. The Lefever Nitro Special is a gun that is used heavily in the blind and uplands, making it a necessity to have in the case. All three guns are 12-gauge shotguns and predate the new popular use of the “ski cannon 10s.”
-Maggie Smith, Owner, 1997
The Mallard Room is one of my sleeper favorites. There’s something about the hazy morning painted effect on the gentle arch from wall to ceiling; the strip lights that provide a gentle glow behind the carved reeds; the grounding wood wainscoting adding a sense of being in hiding… It’s a tremendously relaxing room. The huge window, frosted with reeds to continue the trend, overlooks our backyard and a crab apple tree which blooms a beautiful white in the springtime.
Although it doesn’t boast a fireplace, steam shower, or porch, I think there’s a lot to be said for the deep leather sofa (pullout, making it a fabulous room for parents traveling with a child) and ample floor space. There is space to spread out without sterile or melancholic austerity. With the great big king bed, with larger-than-life carved duck heads at the bottom post, there’s a little bit of fairy tale feeling to Mallard. Shotguns aside, there’s more than a bit of Swan Lake present.
By their nature, each room has its own quirks that a thoughtful host will warn their guests about. As is our habit, the quirks are typically built-in and planned. The Canada Goose often changes course several times a day, a martyr to the weathervane on the roof overhead. “Not a ghost, not a fan, just the wind,” I warn when introducing our guests to the Mallard Room. If I don’t, I’m sure to get a call later that evening asking how to turn off the fan, or an ‘I don’t believe in ghosts, but…” It’s very relaxing though – once you’re in the know – reclining on the couch with a book, only to become momentarily distracted by the goose turning slowly in the breeze above.
-Mimi Bain, Inn Manager 2019
03/16/2019 1:40 pm
Comments Off on Pitcher Inn Named A Top Spring Break Destination We’re not sure our (awesome) state of Vermont is the first place people think of for spring break: Tropical beaches, plentiful palms, and epic pool parties aren’t exactly our stock-in-trade. That said, our neck of the woods is pretty darn fantastic this time of year, and as it happens it recently got a high-profile shout-out as a spring-break destination—and so did the Pitcher Inn itself!
We’re referring to a writeup in Marie Claire last month by Sara Holzman, titled “The Best Spring Break Destinations We Want to Visit ASAP.” The Mad River Valley is one of them, alongside such farflung counterparts as Santa Barbara, California; Palm Beach, Florida; Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Vieques, Puerto Rico; and Mexico’s Isla Holbox. Sounds like pretty good company to us!
(more…)
