Sleigh Ride in the Mad River Valley

A picture postcard Valentine’s Day package awaits you…

A snow covered landscape, a beautiful room with a double Jacuzzi tub in its ensuite bathroom, a sleigh ride to whisk you through the snow, and a delicious dinner at The Common Man restaurant.

We have two all inclusive packages:

• The Logan Suite for any 3 nights including the 14th of February  - just $999 inclusive
• The Mountain Room for any 2 nights including the 14th of February – just $649 inclusive

Your package includes:

The Logan Suite Master Bathroom

• Your beautiful room and a delicious breakfast each morning
• A wondrous sleigh ride with views over the Mad River Valley
• Dinner at The Common Man Restaurant on the 14th
• 6 Roses – that you can take home with you
• A bottle of Champagne and two souvenir Champagne flutes
• Lake Champlain chocolates
• And most of all – a peaceful get-away among the snow covered Green Mountains of Vermont

Ski & Stay “Passport*” packages for Sugarbush & Mad River Glen start at $110 per person per day, plus tax (2-night minimum weekdays, 3-night minimum weekends) and we’ll be pleased to customize a package with your choice of room and days of skiing.

The best value packages are:

• 4-day inclusive weekday package including Ski the Valley “Passports*” for two for 4 consecutive week-days of skiing and 4 week-nights of B&B
• 3-day inclusive weekend package including Ski the Valley “Passports*” for two for 3 days & nights.

Pricing for both packages, including taxes, is just:

• Queen Room Package: $899
• King Room Package: $999
• Suite Package: $1,049

Our King Room ensuite bathrooms have double Jacuzzi tubs.

You can add another weekday day (or more) at Mad River Glen to any package for just $35 per person per day if you stay an extra night at our regular rates. The Lincoln Peak base at Sugarbush is just two minutes away by free shuttle bus from our front door and you can come back anytime during the day.

*The Passport also includes skiing at Ole’s cross country resort, and specials and freebies at some restaurants and stores.

Check our Winter Activities page for more information on a winter holiday at West HIll House.

Offers are good for one pair of ski tickets per night stayed. Note ski conditions cannot be guaranteed! (The packages are not available on Presidents Week, and weekend packages require a minimum of 3 days & nights. Note that 7 days advance notice is required for all Ski the Valley passport packages.)

Photo credit Sugarbush and EKrylov.

We’ve found it! The Pot of Gold is in the Mad River Valley!

November brought us 11″ (28cm) of snow for our Thanksgiving Day guests to enjoy and 60°F (15°C) weather a few days later. November also brought us this magnificent rainbow on the 30th. While we can’t guarantee you a rainbow or a pot of gold when you visit West Hill House B&B, Sugarbush or Mad River Glen, we can guarantee you beautiful scenery and warm Mad River Valley hospitality.

Christmas finery

Picture yourself doing your Christmas shopping and enjoying Christmas music in the quiet serenity of the green mountains of Vermont.

Saturday, December 3 marks the 13th annual Country Christmas Open House in the Mad River Valley. Over 30 local shops and services are offering special discounts which will make your pocketbook happy and may offer free refreshments which will make your tummy happy. Pick up a punch card at any merchants displaying the Participating Merchant sign then visit 5 businesses and have your card punched at each. When you leave your card with the 5th business it will be entered for a prize drawing. Check out the list of participating merchants and services.

On Friday, December 9 The Vermont Symphony Orchestra presents Holiday Pops “Fun and Games”  at the Barre Opera House, just under one hour from West Hill House. Favorite Christmas music with a twist as they take a look at the youthful side of the holiday. Fun for everyone. Tickets required.

Thursday, December 15 the Warren United Church will host the Vermont Symphony’s Brass Quintet and Counterpoint for a perfect mix of brass and voices to ring in the season. Free admission although tickets are required.(802-496-9714).

And of course the area also offers skiing and riding at Sugarbush, skiing at Mad River Glen, and cross country skiing at Ole’s and Blueberry Lake. Dog sled rides, sledding, skating, and moonlight snowshoe tours are just some of the other ways to enjoy a white Christmas in Vermont – oh and you can also curl up with a warm beverage and watch the movie White Christmas.

A Wilson Bentley snowflake photograph

OK everyone… IT’S SNOWING HERE TODAY! 

Time to think about getting those skis tuned up and making those ski holiday reservations.

Vermont photographer, “Snowflake” Bentley, was the first person to photograph snowflakes. Check out the website dedicated to his works.

Also check out our skiing specials.

Come relax and enjoy Vermont hospitality in the peaceful surroundings of the the Mad River Valley in the heart of the Green Mountains. Our regular cancellation policies apply and a cc is required to hold the reservation. Proof of status may be requested upon check in.

This ‘Thank You’ Special is valid for the nights of Nov 9 – 13, 2011. Call to reserve. See you soon.

Hop in your car and come to Vermont

Here in the Mad River Valley we eagerly await the arrival of those of you who are coming to enjoy the many activities this area has to offer. Whether you come in your 1941 Oldsmobile, your mini-van or your little red sports car, come with a smile and you’ll have a great time!

True, much of Vermont has been extremely hard hit by flooding and a number of town have been isolated due to damaged roads and bridges. Many of our local businesses and farms have suffered significant losses. But take note, Vermonters are a tough and determined lot and we are all working hard to get our beautiful state cleaned up. Here in the Mad River Valley  the road crews have been hard at work since the rain stopped and neighbors are helping neighbors with clean up.

If you are traveling to The Mad River Valley along Interstate Highway 89 you will want to take exit 10 (only – not any other exit). Please don’t rely on your GPS just now, it may not be up to date with certain rural road closures or detours.  Highway 89 is operating normally throughout Vermont and for those of you traveling from MA, we understand the Mass Turnpike/I93 is operating normally.

I87 in NY appears to have some areas where there are detours.  Also if you are coming this way, plan your route through Vermont taking account of the latest updates from 511.Vermont, as there are currently road closures on Route 4 east of Rutland, Route 7 north of Rutland and Route 100 south of Warren. Taking the ferry across at Crown Point then Route 17 through Bristol then over the Lincoln Gap looks best at the moment.

As always check the Directions on our website for the latest guidance.

The mountains are still beautiful, the leaves will still be exhibiting their magnificent colors come foliage and you will find innkeepers, restauranteurs and shopkeepers happy to welcome you to their little piece of beautiful Vermont.

See you soon!

Route 100 near Jamieson Insurance, David Dion Realty and Alteris in Waitsfield VT

Well, it has been quite an amazing 24 hours! As with most of you, we were hooked on the weather channel keeping up to date with the progress of Irene. Our trusty garden rain gauge measured 6″ of rain between 8:30 yesterday morning and the same time this morning. We forgot to put the gauge out on Saturday evening when the rain started. The winds were not too extreme so with the exception of a few limbs, all our trees are still with us.

Being on the mountain side, our B&B was certainly not hit as hard as those of you along the coast in the direct path or our friends and neighbors in the lower elevations in the towns of Waitsfield and Warren.

The Mad River Valley did get an enormous amount of flooding. The Mad River lived up to its name. The lovely Pitcher Inn’s kitchen and wine bar, Tracks, were flooded with 4′ of water and they are now digging out – literally. Many farmers lost their crops under copious amounts of water–hopefully their animals are all safe. All this after finally getting crops in following huge flooding in May. Lots of roads and bridges are washed out so travel is quite disrupted. Nearby towns including Montpelier, our state capital, were again inundated.

We trust that our guests and friends up and down the eastern seaboard–both in the US and Canada–are safe.

Admiring the Gardens

Our pond on canvas

Sickle Tree in 2009

The Sickle

The Sickle Tree today

Last week West Hill House lost part of an old friend. Our Sickle Tree dating from before the Civil War was deemed unsafe and had to be largely removed.

A Sickle Tree illustrates the tradition of farmers hanging their sickle in a tree on the property when they went off to war, then retrieving it on their return – if indeed they did. While we have no specific records we assume it was a member of the original Allen family who had the house built around 1856 who never returned to resume work on the farm.

Since we bought West Hill House in 2006 Adam Whitney of Whitney Tree Service has been carefully pruning dead limbs. As you can see on the right of the top photo the tree has not been in good shape for many years. However when Adam inspected it this year he advised that the tree was largely dead and was being dramatically weakened by various fungal growths. So as the tree is right beside West Hill Road and there was a danger that it could fall across the road at any time, we took the difficult decision to have it largely cut down.

The base of the tree up to the fork where the sickle was imbedded has been retained, so the history is preserved even if the grandeur of the original tree has now been lost.

Of course the property still has many maple tree that date to the same era and probably earlier, that still surround the house on the east and south sides, as well as on the north side of the barn.

You can see more photos on our Facebook Page, and many photos of the maples tree on and near the property in the fall in our photo albums.