Churchill House Inn and Ski Touring Center

Brandon, Rutland County, Vermont

“Churchill House Ski Touring Center, RD 3, Brandon 05733. Tel. 247-3300/ An imposing century old farmhouse offering the ardent ski tourer excellent variety. Over 22 miles of trails; access to the 40 mile Vermont Ski Touring Trail. Sales and rental equiptment along with instruction and guiding. Country cuisine, warm fires, and high bedsteads await at days' end. ” - Vermont Winter Vacation Guide, 1979

Churchill House Inn pre 1970s rennovation and the Churchill House Inn today

Photos from the Churchill House Inn website www.churchillhouseinn.com

Location: 3128 Forest Dale Rd, Brandon, VT 05733

Directory listings:1975-1993

Known operators: Roy Jackson

Today: The Churchill House Inn is still open seasonally from May through October

History

The Churchill House Inn was built in 1871-1872 using lumber from their own mill to construct the 20 room structure. The Inn, which served guests from Rochester who would come to have their grain milled and stay to enjoy an evening of dancing, was owned and operated by members of the Churchill family for a century until it was sold in 1972. According to the current Churchill House website, "the inn was subsequently modernized ands reconfigured...and has since seen four families of innkeepers come and go."

A 1987 Boston Globe article entitled "The Accent is on Adventure" by Christina Tree explains how in 1974 "the enterprising owners of Churchill House in Brandon, Vt., noticed that they were one of the eight inns spaced a day's hike apart along Vermont's Long Trail." This clearly applied to cross country skiing, too, because in 1975 the Churchill House posted its first listing in a cross country ski directory. For almost two full decades that followed, the Churchill house offered cross country skiing at their facility complete with equiptment sales, rentals, repairs, inn to inn tours, and--of course--lodging.

The Churchill House Inn remains open today but has since stopped its cross country skiing operations and has switched to seasonal operation from May through October. The Churchill House Inn trails are now part of the Catamount Trail network secton 15.

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See the full listing of directory entries for The Churchill House Inn and Ski Touring Center here.

Read a description of section 15 of the Catamount Trail system here or view map here.