Vermont

Norman Rockwell Mural Returned To Vermont State Capital

Filed under: Art

A piece of Vermont history, a photographic mural by artist Norman Rockwell is back in the state capital. The large black-and-white photograph, shown above, "Maple Sugaring in Vermont," was commissioned by Rockwell's friend Col. Henry Fairfax Ayres, who lent it to the state for display. The the 5-by-7-foot mural was made in 1947 and shows men, including Rockwell himself, tending sap buckets hanging on maple trees outside as the sugar house belches smoke into the sky.

The mural hung in the lobby of the state Agency of Agriculture building in Montpelier for years but in 1987, the state lent it to the Norman Rockwell Museum of Vermont while the building underwent renovations. At the museum in Rutland, Vermont it become popular with visitors. Last year Vermont Agriculture Commissioner Roger Allbee (shown above), who was aware of the original loan, started to make inquiries. The museum was attached to the mural and had used it as the anchor of a collection. Eventually the grandson of Col. Ayres was contacted and he said it should go back to the state. While the issue of ownership may have been resolved it's likely that the mural will attract less eyes in its new home in a second-floor hallway of the Agency of Agriculture's office building, across the street from the Statehouse than at the Rockwell Museum.

Tags: norman rockwell, photography, Rockwell Museum of Western Art, vermont

Stowe Mountain Lodge's Winter Packages

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Vermont's Stowe Mountain Lodge has announced packages and specials as part of their third busy winter season. The Four Diamond package offers discounted luxury accommodations for two, dinner for two in Solstice, the AAA Four-Diamond restaurant, a pair of one-day ski lift passes and a bottle of champagne upon arrival.

If your plans take you to Vermont for Thanksgiving you can celebrate it at the Stowe Mountain Lodge where executive Chef Tiffany Sawyer will prepare a classical New England Thanksgiving menu with a maple sugar butter glazed turkey carving station with port and orange scented cranberry sauce, butternut squash bisque, shellfish chowder, bourbon blue cheese sweet potato mash and homemade pumpkin pie. There is already snow on the mountain and it is hoped that lifts will be operational by November 20 so you can work off your feast on the slopes.
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Stowe Mountain Lodge is the only ski-in/ski-out resort in Stowe and the lodge has a complimentary ski valet to keep snow gear dry, warm and organized. For families, the Stowecation package includes movie rental, a make-your-own snowman kit, tokens for the lodge game room and a kid-friendly welcome basket with s'mores, popcorn and hot chocolate.

Tags: hotel deals, stowe mountain lodge, Stowe Vermont, vermont, winter travel

Orvis Presents North America's Finest Hunting Lodges

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Sports, Books

Last spring we reported that legendary Vermont-based sporting outfitters Orvis had published a great new book on fly fishing's finest destinations. Now the company has come out with an equally compelling companion volume on hunting game birds. Great Hunting Lodges of North America: Wingshooting's Finest Destinations (Rizzoli) is a lavishly illustrated look at the very best upland and waterfowl hunting destinations around. Profiles of almost 20 featured Orvis destinations celebrate the great American sporting tradition and include detailed information on the local game species and wildlife, the lodge and the surrounding countryside, along with in-depth sidebars on key game birds and sporting dogs. Even if you're merely an armchair adventurer who's never fired a shotgun the great outdoor photography is worth the price of admission in its own right. Featured lodges include the Eagle Nest Lodge in Montana, Flying B Ranch in Idaho, Greystone Castle in Texas, The High Lonesome Ranch in Colorado, Mexico's Rancho Caracol, Deer Creek Lodge in Kentucky, Harris Springs Sportsman's Preserve in South Carolina and Pine Hill Plantation in Georgia. Check out the gallery for a preview.

Gallery: Great Hunting Lodges of North America

Tags: books, coffee table books, Colorado, dogs, fishing, fly fishing, Georgia, guns, hunting, hunting lodge, Idaho, Kentucky, Montana, Orvis, Rancho Caracol, shotgun, sporting, sports, Texas, Vermont, wildlife

Dine With Farmers at the Equinox Resort

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Luxury Travel & Hotels, Events

Leaf peepers head up to Vermont each year to see some of the prettiest foliage around but another reason to visit is the Farmers' Dinner Series being held at a variety of locales in the state. The next dinner is October 23 at the Riverview Cafe in Dummerston Vermont.

The farmers' dinners bring people closer to the wonderful food sources available in Vermont with diners and farmers breaking bread together. On October 29, the charming Equinox resort is hosting a Farmers' dinner with Taylor Farm. The three-course dinner highlights the Fall Harvest of Vermont's farms as well as items from the garden of The Equinox's own Executive Chef Jeffrey Russell and the local farmers will share the story of the meal as it unfolds. An optional reception prior to dinner includes a tour of Taylor Farms with a wine and cheese tasting. The dinner is $50 per person and the wine and cheese reception is an additional $10 per person. Guests may also choose a weekend getaway for two which includes the dinner and two nights in luxurious accommodations for $579 per couple.

Tags: disney, equinox resort, farm to table, farmers dinners, vermont, vermont travel

Heritage Aviation Creates Greener Private Flying

by Ariston Anderson (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings, Green

Just how green can personal jet travel be? Well, not very. There's no doubt that traveling by private jet wreaks havoc on our carbon footprint. One company in Burlington, Vermont, has set out to create the most green private aviation company ever. Heritage Flight has for 25 years broken down travel barriers. Offering aircraft charters from Turbo-Props to Bombardier Challengers, they fly you around the world, anywhere, anytime. No lines, no hassle. International returns allow you to pass through customs hassle-free. Pilots will even change routes mid-flights if you change your mind between say the French Rivera and the Italian Seaside. Today, private aviation in Vermont is a $2 billion industry.

Gallery: Heritage Aviation

Tags: burlington vermont, fbo, fixed base operation, heritage aviation, vermont

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Fly Fishing's Finest Destinations, Courtesy of Orvis

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Sports, Books

When it comes to fly fishing, legendary Vermont-based sporting outfitters Orvis is the recognized authority. The company celebrates nearly 50 Orvis-endorsed fly-fishing lodges across the U.S. and Canada in a nifty new book for the armchair angler, Great Fishing Lodges of North America. The perfect tool for planning your next outing as well as a rich visual feast for anyone interested in sport fishing or the lodge lifestyle, the book highlights the best destinations from Alaska to Florida, Montana to Maine, and across Canada.

Each lodge is profiled and portrayed along with detailed information on the local waters and its game fish, the lodge, amenities and activities, landscape, and game species and wildlife in the area. Featured lodges in include the Alaska Sportsman's Lodge (Lake Iliamna, AK); The Essex, Vermont's Culinary Resort & Spa (Burlington, VT); Lake Placid Lodge (Lake Placid, NY); Chetola Resort at Blowing Rock (Blowing Rock, NC; The Blue Damsel Lodge (Clinton, MT); North Fork Ranch (Shawnee, CO); Cow Creek Ranch (Pecos, New Mexico); Moose Lake Lodge (Anahim Lake, British Columbia); and more.

Gallery: Great Fishing Lodges

Alaska Sportsman's Lodge, Lake Iliamna, AK

Morrison's Rogue River Lodge, Merlin, OR

Tags: Alaska, books, British Columbia, Canada, coffee table books, fishing, fly fishing, fly-fishing, Lake Placid, Montana, Orvis, outdoors, sporting, sporting goods, Vermont

Heritage Aviation Unveils its 79,000-Square-Foot Eco FBO

by Jonathon Ramsey (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

If we asked you to place a word in front of the phrase "International Airport," your first choice probably wouldn't be "Burlington," as in Vermont. Nevertheless the Burlington International Airport has been growing steadily the past few years, and one of its tenants, Heritage Aviation, has been growing with it. The company has just unveiled its 79,000-square-foot Fixed Base Operation (FBO), for 24/7 facilities and services aimed at the general aviation crowd.

The opening gala will be held on May 20 to showcase the FBO and hangar. Vermont companies and artists aided in the design and decoration of the buildings, which include a gym, game room, media room, flight planning and nap rooms, LEKTRO tugs, and FAA-certified and award-winning avionics, maintenance, detailing and aircraft management services. Sadly, it appears the pancake conveyor belt and a maple syrup fountain has been left out of this initial build. If you're in the area, the Vermont Symphony Orchestra will be providing entertainment, and samples of Vermont microbrews will make you feel even better about being there. It's BYO on 'cakes and syrup...

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Tags: airport, burlington, fbo, fixed base operation, heritage aviation, vermont

Church May Sell Tiffany Window To Benefit Homeless Shelter

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art, Charity

A church in Brattleboro, Vermont is hoping for a little divine intervention to keep from selling its prized possession, a stained-glass Tiffany window. The First Baptist Church in Brattleboro, Vermont operates a homeless shelter and the congregation voted to sell off the valuable window if it needs the funds in order to keep the shelter open.

A notice on the church website declares that the church has a mission to serve the needs of the homeless and that it does not want to sell the window if it can help it. The message goes on to define the church as The Homeless Warming Shelter of Brattleboro, Vermont. The shelter provides between 30 and 50 people with a warm place to sleep and a hot meal in the chilly months of December through March. An article in The Art Newspaper reports that small donations have arrived in the last couple of months since the vote to sell the window if necessary was announced. Money raised from the sale of the window would be used for winter heating bills, the homeless shelter and repairs to a leaky roof.

The window depicts St. John the Divine and is signed by Tiffany Studios. It was given in honor of Levi Knight Fuller who died in 1896. He was the former governor of Vermont from 1892-1894 and engineer and vice-president in the Estey Organ company of Brattleboro Vermont. The church has been offered $75,000 for the window but could bring $100,000-$120,000. Reverend Suzanne Andrews holds on to the hope that if it is God's will a donor will come forward to help the church keep the window.

Tags: brattleboro, first baptist church of brattleboro, FirstBaptistChurchOfBrattleboro, homeless shelter, HomelessShelter, tiffany window, TiffanyWindow, vermont

Treetops, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

Frank Lloyd Wright protege Wesley Peters designed this incredible home composed of overlapping concentric circles. The private 80-acre estate offers total privacy with nature trails, a stream and a pasture. It includes a high tech roof and a five-car Wright-style garage. It is located in Vermont, Wisconsin which is about a half hour away from Madison. The home has been through a remodel and restyle but maintains the vision of the original architect. It is listed at $2 million.

Gallery: Treetops

Tags: estate of the day, EstateOfTheDay, frank lloyd wright, FrankLloydWright, treetops, vermont, wesley peters, WesleyPeters, wisconsin, wisconsin real estate, WisconsinRealEstate

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The Classicist: The Equinox, Updating An American Icon in Vermont

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, The Classicist

Presiding over the picturesque Vermont village of Manchester, The Equinox has played host to the well-heeled and well-traveled for nearly 250 years. Established in 1769, the archetypal grand old New England hotel has served as a meeting place for the fathers of the American Revolution and hosted American presidents including Taft, Grant, Harrison and Teddy Roosevelt. Now part of the Luxury Collection, the iconic 195-room resort recently underwent a $20 million restoration, adding luxury amenities, luxe accommodations, and a new restaurant and bar to update an American icon and uphold its legacy going forward.

Designer Geoffrey Bradfield was put in charge of the redecoration, and fitted out the new guestrooms with a muted palette of slate blue, dark brown and beige accented with hand-carved furniture. One wall of each guest room features a large black and white photograph of The Equinox from the early 1900's. Custom-made beds, marble vanities, dramatic floor length curtains and plush leather armchairs add the finishing touches. The lobby seating areas and library, both with fireplaces, have also been spruced up.

The Falcon Bar and Chop House are the new additions to the drinking and dining scene. The Falcon Bar features French doors opening onto a terrace with incredible mountain vistas and an open-air fire pit. Inside there's dark wood paneling and plush leather chairs, as well as an extensive collection of single malt Scotch and a comprehensive wine list. There's also a menu of locally sourced cheeses and gourmet chocolates. The Chop House, located at the original site of The Equinox House Hotel built by Franklin Orvis in 1853, features the original stone hearth and is designed in the manner of a refined hunter's lodge complementing the gourmet steak house fare. Leather banquettes and rugged palette are accented by old hardwood floors.

Gallery: The Equinox, Manchester

The adjacent Marsh Tavern, which has been the favorite watering hole of presidents since 1769, has been given a new menu of sophisticated, New England-style cuisine full of nostalgic flavors and simple, farm fresh ingredients. The bar specializes in an extensive selection of beers and ales and features snacks such as pretzels served with Raye's Mustard from Maine, the last stone ground mustard mill in the country. And of course there's lots to do besides eating and drinking: the indoor pool and spa, for starters.

The Equinox also offers the ultimate outdoor Vermont adventure experience with a variety of activities such as golf, falconry, archery, fly-fishing, shooting and Land Rover off-road driving. You can spend your morning maneuvering a Land Rover on rough terrain, midday practice your aim with recurve bows on the archery field, play golf on the lush course, and in the afternoon try field hunting alongside a majestic hawk, with some of the country's most scenic vistas as a backdrop.

Tags: Geoffrey Bradfield, GeoffreyBradfield, hotel, Land Rover, LandRover, Luxury Collection, LuxuryCollection, New England, NewEngland, The Equinox, TheEquinox, Vermont

Vermont Bed and Breakfast Offers Free Getaways For The Uninsured

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

We've seen an inn in Vermont offer getaways for the unemployed. Now a different inn is offering a free getaway for the uninsured. Tim and Amy Brady, the owners of Forty Putney Road Bed and Breakfast in Brattleboro, Vermont know firsthand the challenges of being without health insurance. In 2007, when they left their corporate jobs to start the bed and breakfast they struggled to find a healthcare coverage option that would be affordable and not exclude existing conditions. Now they hope to provide a healthy getaway to those who may be facing the same struggle with their own health care coverage by giving away one healthy getaway each month, complete with an apple a day , to an uninsured couple in need of some stress relief. Each month until a National Health Care Reform Bill is passed Forty Putney Road Bed and Breakfast will award one deserving couple with a two-night stay that includes a healthy breakfast. Visit the Forty Putney Road Bed and Breakfast website for more details.

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Tags: bed and breakfast, BedAndBreakfast, forty putney road, FortyPutneyRoad, getaway, uninsured, vermont

"Pink Slip Getaways" at Rabbit Hill Inn Extended Through 2010

by Alison Wellner (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

I was having lunch with the colleague the other day, discussing the latest round of media layoffs. We both agreed that given a healthy savings account, the most sensible way to deal with a job loss in this economy is to wait it out, and the best way to do that is to travel.

Of course the economy wouldn't be in this mess in the first place if we all had healthy savings accounts, and so if you find yourself without a job and with a sadly diminished travel budget, the lovely Rabbit Hill Inn in Lower Waterford, Vermont has good news: its popular "Pink Slip Getaway" contest, which will go on hiatus for Fall foliage season, will continue through April 2010. Send your job loss story -- one page or less -- to Rabbit Hill by the new deadline of January 15th, 2010, and make it a good one. If your story is among the one a month selected, you'll get a two night stay with breakfast, one dinner and a rabbit's foot for good luck.

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Tags: bedandbreakfast, economic crisis, EconomicCrisis, economy, vermont

Free Getaways For The Unemployed From Rabbit Hill Inn

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

A bed and breakfast inn in Vermont is offering a little relief for the unemployed. Rabbit Hill Inn in Lower Waterford, Vermont will give away six getaways to unemployed workers; one each month from April through July and again in November and December. If you or a spouse has been unemployed for more than six months, you can send a letter or email to Rabbit Hill Inn by June 1and six winners will be chosen to win two nights lodging (Sunday through Thursday only), a gourmet dinner for two, candlelit breakfast each morning afternoon tea and a even a rabbit's foot for good luck.

Rabbit Hill Inn is a 19-room country inn with a double AAA Four Diamond rating for lodging and dining. ForbesTraveler.com has deemed it one of the ten most romantic inns in the country.

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Tags: rabbit hill inn, RabbitHillInn, unemployed, vermont

Birchmeadow, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

Today's home looks out over 24 acres of verdant Vermont land. The home itself is large handsome house with a traditional style that belies its age (it was built in 1995). The property includes a heated pool with a pool house and an outdoor cooking and dining area with a beehive oven and grill. There is also a three-bedroom guest house that connects to the mudroom entrance of the main residence. The garage also offers a two-bedroom staff apartment.

The ain home's entrance is dominated by a columned piazza and inside crown moldings, wood floors and many fireplaces offer a classic Vermont appeal. This home includes a formal living room, large kitchen with breakfast bar, a sitting area with a pizza oven and a heated conservatory. The upstairs features a master bedroom suite with a circular study that includes window seats. This estate is listed at $5.95 million.

Experience more lush living in luxury homes and mansions or see the stars living large with celebrity homes galleries at AOL Real Estate.

Gallery: Birchmeadow

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Tags: birchmeadow, dorset, estate of the day, EstateOfTheDay, vermont

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New Chanel Ad: Inside Lagerfeld's VT House

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Estates

Those of you who have been following the saga of Karl Lagerfeld's newest purchase, an 1800s Greek Revival house in Vermont, will recall that he staged a photo shoot there not long after taking possession. The results, and an inside peek at Lagerfeld's Lake Champlain digs, can be seen in the new Chanel Spring / Summer 2009 ad campaign starring leggy blonde German model Toni Garrn (above). The interior looks quite bare as Lagerfeld had not yet moved into the house at the time of the shoot in November. While far from the opulence one usually associates with the Kaiser, the house obviously has an appealingly pared down, classical aesthetic. Perhaps this is emblematic of the designer's somewhat scaled back lifestyle these days.

Tags: Ad campaign, AdCampaign, Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld, KarlLagerfeld, Models, Toni Garrn, ToniGarrn, Vermont

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