Picture, if you will, an upscale four-season resort community in the gently rolling hills of eastern Vermont. It is August, and life here typically hustles and bustles through summer months, but this year ’tis even more so: outdoor facility uses are at or near all-time highs. The 1300-plus members and their families are keeping the golf courses and swimming pool as busy as ever. Youth tennis and golf programs have waiting lists. Demand is so great that members make reservations to use the pool. That is the 2020 edition of life at Quechee Lakes.

Pandemic? Schmandemic!

Into this pristine setting now strides a new general manager brimming with enthusiasm, thrilled to be part of what is already a certifiably good thing, excited to be in a rural, four-season environment, and optimistic about what the future holds for his new domain.… Read More

Whether you’re visiting the area this fall, just moved here, or are an established resident, exploring the region’s historical features is high on many to-do lists. How about considering staying close to home, and exploring what’s in our own backyard? Along with the beautiful drives, the hiking, biking and shopping the Quechee area offers, are several historical points of interest to enjoy. Here are just a few to pique your interest.

Billings Farm & Woodstock

Farming was always, and remains, an important element in the Upper Valley.… Read More

He’s the guy who plays the guitar on his front porch; the one who passers-by wave and honk at; and the yellow house owner who calls his porch sessions “traffic jams” because sometimes people stop, roll down their car windows and listen for a while before giving him the thumbs up and moving on.

He’s Dave Clark, and he’s proudly been a resident of this picturesque Vermont village for 22 years. “Located on the corner of Quechee Main Street at the cemetery, pretty much everyone in town knows us,” said Dave of his wife, Helen, and him.… Read More

Sheltering-in-place and the consequences of Covid-19 impacted people in dramatically different ways. Without minimizing how devastating the pandemic was (and still is) to millions of people around the world, as with every major life event, silver linings are there for those who look for them. Some people just hunkered down and perhaps welcomed the slower pace; others found themselves going bonkers trying to homeschool their kids while working full-time from home with no social outlets. Regardless of where one found themselves along the sanity spectrum, how some people responded to counter the negative impact in their lives is evident among the stories and submissions to follow.… Read More

Imagine that you were a member of a wealthy family living in one of the major East Coast cities, notably New York or Boston, in the late 1800s or early 1900s. It’s summertime, and living in the city is not easy. Hot, stifling days before air conditioning, horses in the street, sewer systems that lack modern wastewater treatment applications, smoke from factories… well, eventually the heat, the smells, the brick and concrete take their toll, and you dream of mountain air, fresh breezes, and beautiful vistas. You know that a relatively easy train trip away, central Vermont holds all you dream of, and with cost not an issue, your mind is made up.… Read More

When the Quechee Lakes Landowners’ Association, Inc. (QLLA) was incorporated 50 years ago, it not only reflected the thousands of open, pristine acres on which it currently sits, but also the man behind its inception, L. John Davidson.

With a dream of preserving traditional values in a self-contained commercial establishment on that land that belonged primarily to local farmers and millworkers, Davidson realized that the farmlands, trails, hills, forests, wildlife and Ottauquechee River provided the perfect setting for his vision.

But before he became the visionary developer of one of the largest and most successful developments in New England, Davidson knew he had some hard work to do, for when he arrived in the village of Quechee in the mid-1960s from his home state of Massachusetts, he was shocked and saddened by what he saw.… Read More

The Magic of Renovating a 100-Year-Old Barn

What is it about an old barn that is so enticing? Is it the beauty of its unrefined, naturally battered old walls and rusting roof? Is it the way it takes our mind back in time to a more primitive, simple era when life was more provincial?

There is something magical about an old barn, whether it is a working barn (storing hay, farm equipment or housing animals), an abandoned barn or one like my own, a barn reincarnated as a home.

While walking the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in Spain a few years ago, I had an epiphany.… Read More

When asked out of context, Dave Courtney doesn’t recall the exact year he started working at the Quechee Ski Hill, but he does know that he recently retired in 2018. However, I’m not meeting with Dave to talk about his long, Quechee-based ski career. Dave and I are meeting to talk specifically about an exciting offshoot of his many years on the hill. Dave’s son, Will Courtney, who skied the Quechee Hill with his dad since he was three years old, was hired this year to be a member of the US Alpine Ski Racing Team as an assistant coach and strength and conditioning coach.… Read More

The modern roads and bridges that crisscross the Quechee/Hartford/Woodstock area allow visitors and residents easy access to almost anywhere they wish to go. Want to go to dinner in Woodstock? Maybe attend the Quechee Balloon Festival? Or get to Northern Stage in WRJ for a performance? If you allow a bit of time to find a parking spot, or compensate for possible inclement weather, the actual travel is usually fairly easy and pleasant. Of course, being so familiar with quick travel, minor inconveniences get us frustrated.

Imagine the frustration, then, that might have occurred with those making trips throughout the area 100 or more years ago.… Read More

Agriculture and farming has a long tradition in the Upper Valley and throughout Vermont. Until tourism became an economic engine for the area and the state, farming was the major industry. Even in places such as Hartford, Quechee, and Woodstock – where mills, transportation, and trains drove the economy – farming played a critical role in the lives and survival of early Vermonters. Orchards, grain fields, and livestock once covered the terrain and still play a major role in the lives of the residents and visitors to the Green Mountain State.

In his book The Natural and Political History of the State of Vermont, founding father of Vermont, Ira Allen, accurately describes the state’s people, and farmers, and their ingenuity in the following manner: “I am really at a loss in the classification of the inhabitants – they are all farmers, and again every farmer is a mechanic in some line or another, as inclination leads or necessity requires.… Read More