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Woodstock/Quechee By Nancy and Richard Woodworth Picture the perfect Vermont place and you're likely to picture Woodstock, the historic shire town portrayed by the media as the picture-perfect New England village. Picture an old river town with handsome 19th-century houses, red brick mill, waterfall and covered bridge and you have Quechee, the emerging hamlet being restored to reflect Vermont as it used to be. Join them with Rockefellers, Billingses, Pearces and other old names and new entrepreneurs, and you have an unusual combination for a chic, changing dynamic. Carefully preserved and protected, Woodstock has such an impressive concentration of architecture from the late 17th and 18th centuries that National Geographic magazine termed it one of the most beautiful villages in America. That it is, thanks to its role as a prosperous county seat following its settlement in 1765 and to early popularity as both a summer and winter resort. Vermont's first golf course was established south of town around the turn of the century and the nation's first ski tow was installed on a cow pasture north of town in 1934. That also was the year when Laurance S. Rockefeller married localite Mary Billings French, granddaughter of railroad magnate Frederick Billings. The Rockefeller interests now are Woodstock's largest landowner and employer. They buried the utility poles underground, provided a home and much of the stimulus for the Woodstock Historical Society, bought and rebuilt the Woodstock Inn, acquired and redesigned the golf course, bought and upgraded the Suicide Six ski area, opened the Billings Farm Museum, and built a multi-million-dollar indoor sports and fitness center. The Marsh-Billings mansion and 550 acres of surrounding gardens and woodlands, including Mounts Tom and Peg, have been given to the National Park Service for preservation as the new Marsh-Billings National Historical Park, paying tribute to Woodstock’s and the nation’s conservation efforts. Entrepreneur Simon Pearce, the Irish glass blower, has provided some of the same impetus for neighboring Quechee. He purchased an abandoned mill as a site for his glass-blowing enterprise, powered it with a 50-year-old turbine using water from the river outside, added more craftspeople and a restaurant, and sparked a crafts and business revival that has enlivened a sleepy hamlet heretofore known mainly for its scenic gorge. In this inspirational setting of old and new, entrepreneurs are supported, arts and crafts are appreciated, and nature flourishes. Material excerpted from Inn Spots & Special Places in New England, by Nancy and Richard Woodworth. Copyright 2004. Wood Pond Press E-mail feedback to: Home
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