Guest post and photos by Gary Irish

Edited and formated by Bernie Paquette

Heritage in Historic Homes: Jericho & Underhill, Vt. Part II: Accommodations

Businesses transitioned into what we know today as bed and breakfasts.

The loss of both the Beach House at the Corners and the Dixon House in Riverside marked the beginning of a transitional period in local accommodations. As mentioned in the previous article, the Folsoms continued the hotel business in the Corners in the house located at 2 Plains Road for a short time.

In Riverside, a new hotel was built in 1893 by Edward Sinclair, an architect and building contractor, at what is today 389 Route 15. But while this did serve the area as a hotel, it is likely there was another reason for Mr. Sinclair to build it as well. The various features of the building, including decorative porches and turrets, were said to have been included by Mr. Sinclair as examples of what he could provide to people interested in his services as a building contractor! The hotel was operated by Ed and his wife Ruth until his death in 1933, although by the 1920s it was only in operation from May 1st to November 15th.

By the early 1900s, people were able to travel longer distances by train, and automobiles were replacing horses, so in most cases, there was no longer a need for the hotels of earlier years. But there was still the need to accommodate people coming to the area as tourists, and tourist homes or guest houses, somewhat similar to today’s bed and breakfasts, were beginning to pop up.

Fair View House, River Road, Riverside. This is one of those instances where the letterhead says "Underhill" but it is actually in Jericho.

One of the earliest of these was the Fairview Lodge, located in the brick house at 37 River Road, just west of Park Street, and operated by Frank S. Jackson in the early 1900s. Thomas and Carrie Bruce, who moved to Jericho in 1905, also ran this business, first as Fair View House, and later as Riverside Inn. They also ran an auto livery in connection with this business.

Fair View House, River Road, Riverside.

In the early 1920s, as the U.S. government was establishing their proposed military camp and artillery range near Underhill Center, local residents formed the Mt. Mansfield Civic Club, to assist the military authorities and to be of assistance for the reception, comfort, and entertainment of the soldiers who would be in town during June, July, and August, and further to accommodate relatives and friends who would likely be visiting.

A canvas was made of both Underhill Center and the Flats, resulting in over 100 rooms being available if needed, along with parking camps for automobiles. This spilled over into the Riverside section of Jericho as well. Including Mrs. F.P. Tillison, Mrs. Eunice Hackett, Mrs. J.D. Santimore, and Mrs. E.S. Sinclair's hotel, this provided 23 rooms at the Flats, with an additional 47 rooms in private homes. In doing this, it brought to light the opportunity to advertise the attractive scenic features of the towns for the tourist and summer guests.

One of these in Riverside was the Central House at 6 Park Street, operated by Mr. & Mrs. J.D. Santamore. Mrs. Santamore also operated the telephone switchboard, located in their home. In those days, if you wanted to make a phone call, you picked up the receiver and "rang central" on your crank phone; this gave rise to the name of their business. They also advertised it as being "Telephone Central". They offered meals, lodgings, and lunches (the latter probably for people hiking on Mt. Mansfield, or perhaps going on a picnic), along with ice cream, soft drinks, candies, and cigars.

Another business was the Way Side Inn, operated by Mrs. F.P. Tillison, which offered among other things pure maple products, fresh eggs, cigarettes, with chicken dinners a specialty.

At the upper end of the Flats was the Humphrey Homestead, by this time being operated by Eunice Hackett, daughter of Amos Humphrey. If you wanted to "leave the jazz of the busy life", she offered comfortable beds and airy rooms, along with afternoon tea served on a spacious lawn or on open porches attended by attractive country maids, and of course food - chicken dinners, waffles with pure maple syrup, pies, cakes, doughnuts, garden vegetables, and country milk.

A somewhat different stop was the Fern Crest Camp, operated by Mrs. L.C. Fowler, who offered a comfortably furnished cottage in a desirable location (although I have not been able to determine its exact location) for parties wanting quiet and seclusion, but with easy access to stores, R.R. Station, post office and bus lines and only five miles from the base of Mt. Mansfield and three miles from the U.S. Artillery Range. However, if meals were desired, they had to be obtained "nearby".

At 3 River Road in Riverside was located the Deerhead tea room and gift shop operated in connection with the Riverside Filling Station by Mrs. Lillian Cross. She offered overnight accommodations for a limited number of guests, along with a first-class dining room offering home cooking.

This photo probably dates to the mid-1930s. The house on the right is what was the Deerhead Tea Room. The garage was started by Will Cross, and later operated by his son Earl. The house was where Will and his wife Lillian lived, and where she operated the tea room. In the very right edge of the picture, you can just see a hint of another house - that is where Earl Cross lived. And if you look on the left of the picture, under the Ford sign, you can see the B&L railroad tracks, just approaching the Route 15 crossing.

A 1920s vintage map contains an advertisement for the Chapin House “six miles east of Essex Jct. on Route 117.”

This would be what we know today as the Chittenden-Hasbrook house at 267 Route 117. They advertised “a quiet, restful place in a beautiful maple grove, large airy rooms, well furnished, modern plumbing, cold mountain spring water, excellent home-cooked food, and plenty of it.” There were two good golf courses, 4 and 11 miles distant, and all of this could be had for $4.00 per day or $20.00 per week, for both board and room.

These types of businesses transitioned into what we know today as bed and breakfasts. After the Hotel Sinclair closed, Mrs. Sinclair maintained it as her residence until she sold it to Mr. & Mrs. Clifford Fuller in 1952. They operated it as a nursing home variously called The Towers or Rest Haven until about 1964, and then it became a private residence until the 1980s when it was converted to the Sinclair Inn Bed & Breakfast by Jane and Scott Smith.

In 1989, it was operated as Sinclair Towers Bed and Breakfast by Alfred and Blanche Royce. The bed & breakfast was operated by Andrew and Jeanne Buchanan from 1993 until 2002. It was then operated as the Sinclair Inn Bed & Breakfast again by Nancy Ames and Jim Svendsen. In 2003, it was renamed Sinclair Inn, operated at that time by Sally and Bruce Gilbert-Smith. It was then operated by Don and Nimmie Huber until August 2013, when it was sold to Thomas Matteoli and Daniel Klopfstein, who are continuing the bed and breakfast.

Hotel Sinclair in Riverside, now the Sinclair Inn

At least by 1962, Fred and Grace Fenn were operating Mountain View Tourist Home in their home at 143 VT Route 15, which continued until 1965. An interesting aside about this home – although I have not thoroughly researched this, it appears that this was a “kit” home, perhaps from Aladdin Homes of Bay City, Michigan.

Former Fred Fenn home, 143 Route 15

Eaton House Bed & Breakfast was operated by David and Suzanne Eaton in their home at 592 Brown’s Trace from 1981 until the mid-1990s. For a time in the early 1980s, they, along with Todd and Sheila Varnum, also operated Vermont Bed and Breakfast, a bed and breakfast referral service.

Milliken’s B&B was started at 65 VT Route 15 by Walter and Jean Marie Milliken about 1983, operating for about five years.

The Saxon Inn on South Orr Road was started by Howard and Anne Reeves in December 1985, as a conference center and bed and breakfast. It was sold to Sam Piper, who also started Jericho Metal Works in 1992, manufacturing nails and other metal products, including games using those nails. The business closed about 1994.

Henry M. Field House bed and breakfast was started about 1991, by Mary Beth Perilli and Terry Horan at 73 VT Route 15, and operated only a few years.

Bechard’s Mill Brook Bed & Breakfast, operated by Robert and Claudia Bechard, opened in October 1992, at 2 Field’s Lane, continuing until the late 1990s.

Mrs. B’s Bed and Breakfast opened June 10, 1998, operated by Frances and Steve Boucher in their home at 189 VT Route 15.

Mrs. B's Barn, now the Unitarian Church, 195 Route 15, 2002

Later that summer they opened Mrs. B’s Gift Barn, a gift shop offering Vermont-made products, gifts, including apparel, pewter, pottery, and antiques in their nearby barn. Their first guest was Gerhard Raener, an Austrian tourist who was driving along Route 15 taking a scenic route from New York on his way to Maine when he noticed Mr. Boucher hanging out the B&B sign, and after stopping to inquire why the business was not in his guidebook, found that it was their opening day. They operated from May to early January each season for about six years.

The 1804 Potter House at 2 Plains Road was operated by Mike Mumley from about 1997 to 2009, in the same house where the Folsoms had operated their hotel a century before.