View from the back of the Inn of Lake Champlain

The Inn at Shel­burne Farms

The Inn at Shel­burne Farms in Shel­burne, Ver­mont lies along the shores of Lake Cham­plain just south of Burling­ton. This is an out­stand­ing his­tor­i­cal prop­erty. Built in the late 1800’s by a wealthy young cou­ple, William and Lila (Van­der­bilt) Webb, it was a model agri­cul­tural estate. This meant that the own­ers applied inno­v­a­tive agri­cul­tural and land use prac­tices that are becom­ing pop­u­lar again today, like sus­tain­abil­ity and grow­ing their fruits and veg­eta­bles in their own gar­dens and nurseries.

Phew! Sounds so dry but in real­ity this place is mag­i­cal. The manor house and barns are gor­geous and the set­ting on Lake Cham­plain is incom­pa­ra­ble. If you stay at the Inn you will enjoy the grandeur and glam­our that the Webb fam­ily expe­ri­enced. Mary Lynn and I were for­tu­nate enough to take a tour of the prop­erty given by William Webb, a great grand­son of William Webb. He was thor­oughly charm­ing and delight­ful and shared some ter­rific anec­dotes with us. It was so hard to leave. Next stop: Saratoga Springs and on to Michi­gan and then Los Ange­les and SoCal.

www​.Shel​burne​farms​.org/