Big House in the Vermont Woods

April 12, 2015 8:02 PM

Do you know of a place that could house lots people for a week in the Northeast?

We need a place for my grandmother's 90th birthday party that will house 37 people in at least 20 rooms in Vermont or Western Massachusetts or Western New Hampshire summer 2016. We could stay for 4 to 7 days. It could be a very big house or a couple of houses or many little cabins. Our other requirements include that it has to be furnished and have at least one area where all could gather. Attempting to rent out places by the room gets too expensive. Does this place even exist?

posted by mutt.cyberspace to Travel & Transportation around Vermont (12 answers total)

My family did a very similar thing at Cottage Place on Squam Lake in Holderness, NH. We had the lodge plus some of the other cottages. The lodge was the gathering place for everyone. We didn't have quite as many people as you did, but we also didn't fill it up. It may not qualify as western enough for your Western New Hampshire needs though.
posted by brainmouse at 8:10 PM on April 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

Check out the 1896 House in the Berkshires. I haven't stayed there, but I did check it out, and my SO and I had a meal in the tavern there and walked around. It's kind of a neat, unusual complex of high-end and low-end accommodations, so it might meet your needs exactly. It's a couple of old inn buildings, a couple of restaurants, and some motel-style places and cottages. It was clean, cute and nice when we were there in February, and it's in a good central location for reaching lots of Berkshires attractions.
posted by Miko at 8:27 PM on April 12, 2015

The Common Ground Center in Starksboro, VT has a quirky collection of cabins that apparently sleep 83, plus an "eco lodge" with six rooms.
posted by pintapicasso at 8:28 PM on April 12, 2015

This is not Western, but in the White Mountains. For our family reunion, we rented the Bear Brook House (scroll down) of Will's Inn in NH. We had more than 34 people so we rented a few more rooms/suites from the inn and assigned them to families we thought might prefer to have a bit more private space. The main house was the gathering place. That was 4 years ago and at the time the Bear Brook House was in very good condition. And in case you are looking for a dinner venue, we had a nice event dinner at The Wentworth in Jackson, NH.
posted by bread-eater at 9:01 PM on April 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

Did you check AirBNB?
posted by devnull at 12:41 AM on April 13, 2015

Or VRBO?
posted by tmharris65 at 2:11 AM on April 13, 2015

I've had great results with renting via www.vermontproperty.com over the years.
posted by Otter_Handler at 2:56 AM on April 13, 2015

Maple Cake, and old renovated farm house that is literally around the corner from me, may meet your criteria.

My neighbors own and operate the place after it was left to them by another neighbor. Iirc.

There was a time a few years back when it was a group home for some Vermont Law School students and I think there were at least 20 living there.

The place is beautiful and it has a huge kitchen with 2 of everything -- refrigerators, dishwashers, sinks, etc. the kitchen is the windowed gabled end in the picture.

Not pictured is an beautiful old barn and lots of great Vermont scenery.

Good luck.
posted by terrapin at 5:05 AM on April 13, 2015

My family regularly has large get-togethers in Grafton, VT. The Grafton Inn is where we stay and they have larger houses that you can rent in addition to rooms at the inn. It's a lovely setting and we actually celebrated my grandfather's 90th birthday there in recent years!
posted by boofidies at 8:15 AM on April 13, 2015

Pierce's Inn in Etna, NH.
posted by redlines at 1:00 PM on April 13, 2015

There is the Woolman Hill retreat in Western Mass. It's secluded but close to town.
posted by apricot at 5:19 PM on April 13, 2015 [1 favorite]

Tyler Place, possibly.
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:32 AM on April 15, 2015