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West Dover, Vermont, USA
The Inn at Sawmill Farm
Norman2004-08-11 16:50:14
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Converting an 18th century barn and its outbuildings into a first class romantic inn, while keeping the original hand-hewn posts and weathered boards intact is no easy task. And that is precisely the miraculous feat Rodney Williams and his wife Ione performed when they moved from South New Jersey to West Dover Vermont in 1967, and set up The Inn at Sawmill Farm located in the southern rural Vermont town of West Dover.
Rodney at the time was a well-known architect having designed the historic Smithville Village in Smithville New Jersey. Consequently, he had the necessary expertise to understand the challenge and rewards associated with preserving and renovating old structures. Ione, the second member of the original team, is a designer by profession, and for many years she had been extremely successful in operating her own firm.
Together, the combined talents of this enterprising couple were just the right formula to pull this off. The result of which is a perfectly positioned Relais & Chateaux inn attracting couples that seek privacy and at the same time the opportunity to explore scenic back roads, historic towns, picturesque villages, and cultural venues.
When I asked their son Brill, who together with his sister Bobbie Dee Molitor have pretty much taken over from their parents, "Were your parents ever afraid that their dreams would end up in disaster and no one would show up?" He explained to me that their original plan was to build something very simple, basic and to keep it as humble as possible. In fact, initially, their idea was to only build a summer home. They had always loved this area of Vermont as they passed many a winter skiing on the nearby ski hills.
Before they knew it, an inn was opened in the late 1960s' and their daily tariff was $48. This included the meals his mother, Ione, would prepare. You did not have a choice of menu, and whatever his mother decided to
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See photographs from:
United States Gallery
