A Slice of Local History, Reborn
Submitted: May 29, 2011
Stayed: May 2011
One does not visit a destination such as a lodge for a mere "place to sleep"; a chain hotel will serve very well for that. If you want to experience the full flavor of a less-traveled locale,tucked cozily as a bird's nest into the wooded hillside above the road (you feel like a gleeful child surveying passers-by from your secret treehouse), to wander its grounds and feel its whistle-stop-on-rural-railway history, to drink in watercolor views of trees and sky and water from the front porch, to be within a half-hour of Vermont's largest city but wake up to birdsong and the muted rush of the river, then come here for a restorative stay at Elderberry Lodge.
Georgia, part of one of Vermont's northernmost counties but perched at the edge of bustling Chittenden county, is convenient to the interstate and a favorite with anglers, boaters, bicyclists and nature-lovers of all kinds. Elderberry Lodge, facing the Lamoille River-fed Arrowhead Mountain Lake, sat vacant for many a year, a once-comely dwelling fading into the derelict past before Peter and Deborah found it and committed,as they have done for several older houses in the area, to restoring it to beauty and purpose. Oral history proclaims it a likely mail pick-up for the railway (a post-filled leather bag hung on a hook near the tracks was caught up and brought along by the passing train), and the tracks wending through the woods behind the house are reminiscent of a bygone era. Inside, the lodge is clean and open, but featuring intimate, charming old-fashioned spaces harmonizing with the way we live now. Elegant simplicity, with the full menu of modern comforts one would expect in thoughtfully-designed lodgings, its every soft light and conversation-friendly chair speak tranquility and welcome.
Those of us who watched this once-neglected two-story come back into its own feel a certain tenderness, stepping across exquisitely-fitted, softly-polished two-tone hardwood floors, admiring the graceful turn of re-purposed banisters along stairways, studying the shining high-end fixtures of the modernized baths and recalling how the dust and debris and much-bandaged hands and sore muscles presided for months where soft color, warmth and comfort now reign. This couple has an obvious reverence for vintage buildings, a gift for history-conscious restoration, and we locals are grateful. Another labor of love for Deborah and Peter, freshly restored and ready for you to fall in love with it in your turn.
Recommended for:
Age 55+,
Adventure Seekers,
Pet-friendly,
Girls Getaway,
Sightseeing,
Romantic Getaway
Helpful votes: 4/4
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