The Grafton Inn and Phelps Barn

Directly across the street from the Turner Interpretive Center is the magnificent Grafton Inn and Phelps Barn . The Inn is the cornerstone of our quintessential village in rural Vermont.

In 1801, Mr. Enos Lovell, convinced that people were looking for a place with good food and lodging, converted his two-story private home to a Vermont inn. The building still stands as part of The Grafton Inn. As the village of Grafton prospered, so did the Inn, and by the time it was taken over by Hyman Burgess in 1823, it had doubled in size.

By 1841, the Inn had become the center of activity for the town, so much so that even court was held there. In the year 1861 with Abraham Lincoln as president, the Inn fell on unstable times. Ownership changed eight times. During the Civil War, William and Sophia Stratton operated The Grafton Inn, but not much is known about what transpired in the Inn during this critical period in American history. Most of the records were lost when the schoolhouse in which they were stored burned down in 1936.

The most colorful period in the Inn’s history is the 35-year era of the Phelps brothers, Francis and Harlan. In 1865, Francis bought the Inn for $1,700 and sold a half interest to his brother Harlan. Harlan caught California gold-rush fever and returned to Grafton with $4,500 – a modest fortune in those days. Investing every penny in the inn, he likely became the inn’s first true benefactor. Harlan added a third floor and the porches, making the building look much the same as it does today. While Harlan successfully managed the inn, brother Francis and his wife, Achsa, handled the rest of the Inn’s operations.

Popular among the literary set (Kipling was a visitor in 1892) and the “in” place for local social events, The Grafton Inn was still patronized mostly by commercial travelers who knew it as a “good place to stop.” There were notable exceptions. Ulysses S. Grant came to the Inn on December 19, 1867, while campaigning for his first term as President. The Inn has played host to other famous guests: Daniel Webster, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Ralph Waldo Emerson.

By 1903 the Phelps brothers had died and their widows sold the Inn to Norman Blodgett who ran it for 27 years. Not much is known of the Inn’s history during these years, but we know they were not good years for Grafton. By 1920 the population had shrunk to 476, 1,000 fewer people than had been living in the town a hundred years before. Come 1929 and the crash that ushered in the Great Depression, Innkeeper Blodgett (probably anticipating what lay ahead) sold out. Harry and Cecelia Dutton, who took over, were able to keep the Inn open through the worst of the thirties – no mean feat. Not much happened at the Inn during these bad times – as not much happened anywhere else. People “hung in there” and waited for prosperity that was “just around the corner.”

By 1937 the Duttons didn’t feel like hanging in there any longer. Neither did a lot of innkeepers who followed them. Ownership passed to the Perrys, the Dettmers, the Wristons, and the Walkers. The Dettmers acquired the Homestead property and added it to the Inn’s facilities, and the Wristons built the pool area. But they were all fighting a losing battle. The slick new motels and the chains were taking over. The small old-fashioned independent hotel just couldn’t compete. Times were changing and the Inn – along with hundreds of other small inns – had had their day. Another era was coming to an end.

In “the good old days” people put up with the most primitive facilities, as there was no other choice. Suddenly they demanded and received modern plumbing, private bathrooms, hot and cold running water and central heating. The Inn, sadly lacking in most of these amenities, went into decline. It could stay open only during the summer months. Revenues dried up. The cost of “modernizing” was prohibitive.

By 1964 the Inn was in a sad state of repair and in dire financial straits. The end was in sight. Then the Windham Foundation came along and a new age for the Inn – and Grafton – began.

As the creator of the Windham Foundation, Dean Mathey has influenced life in Grafton more than any other individual throughout the town’s history. A man of many talents – financier, philanthropist and super-star athlete, he gave of himself generously in expressing his love for this tiny community.

Dean’s involvement with the town began just like that of many present day visitors: he came to savor the peace, quiet and rural beauty. But having had a longstanding appreciation of historic architecture, he was distressed to see that several fine buildings (the Inn included) were falling into disrepair. Never slow to develop a good idea, in 1963 the Windham Foundation came to be. And what good fortune for The Grafton Inn! About a year after it had been purchased by the Foundation in 1965, a major renovation was completed, and no expense was spared in giving it the finest modern conveniences while meticulously preserving its country-inn character. Elizabeth and Mathew Hall, 1st cousin to Dean and the Windham Foundation’s first president, were largely responsible for purchasing everything from the antiques to the linens, and their tasteful choices still dominate the décor of the inn today.