Located in the Old Bennington Historic District, the Walloomsac Inn is the oldest inn in the State of Vermont. The building was constructed in 1764, with additions and alterations to the roof throughout the late 1700s and 1800s. Five prominent families owned and operated the inn throughout its life; the inn served the stagecoach road until the 1850s. Important figures such as Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Rutherford B. Hayes and Benjamin Harrison have stayed at the inn. Although its name has been changed a few times, it was most recently known as the Walloomsac Inn. Until about 15 years ago, the building operated as a bed-and-breakfast, but today it is a private residence. An unwelcoming sign on the front door informs the public that it is private property and to stay off the porch and property.
The Walloomsac Inn, on the corner of Monument Avenue and Route 9 in Bennington, Vermont.
View of the Route 9 side.
Note the poor condition of the front elevation and Christmas wreath.
The sun came out for a bit, highlighting the colors of the building.
Route 9 view.
At least the first floor is occupied by the owners.
From Monument Avenue.
Can you imagine such a beautiful house suffering a fate of deterioration and neglect? It’s incredibly sad; such an important landmark in the Old Bennington Historic District and in the State of Vermont should be saved and loved! The loss of this building would be catastrophic. It breaks my heart, and I’ve only passed by the building a few times.
However, I do not know the entire story. An article (Ethan Allen, page 14) talks about the cost of code upkeep and zoning laws that would prevent the building from operating as an inn once again. Readers, are any of you Bennington residents? What is the latest news on this building? Perhaps the owners truly love the building and just do not know what to do. If that is the case, the town should certainly take an interest and develop a solution. Thoughts?
For additional historical information, read the Bennington Museum’s writeup.
Wow…what an incredible historic inn!! Is the building listed on the NRHP or does it have any type of local landmark designation status? Just wondering if the owners had looked into the potential for tax credits. The legal zoning issues remind me of a similar controversial situation with a historic inn in Hillsborough (NC). Looks like there is great potential!
Hi Megan, the building is listed on the NR as part of the Old Bennington Historic District. I do not know any other details in terms of zoning. Tax credits would be wonderful, but, as we know, it’s likely more complicated from that. I’m hoping someone from Bennington will read this and fill me in on the details.
This also looks like a candidate for engagement with the owners followed by publicity and creative thinking in terms of helping them figure out how to do maintenance for little or no cost — like having Boy Scouts come paint (or was it whitewashed?) to earn a badge, or if there’s a local tech college having students there come do supervised carpentry or masonry repairs.
If I ever win the lottery, my dream is to establish a SWAT Team that would travel the country and swoop in on places like this and make necessary repairs. Otherwise this could turn out to be another of those sad stories where, because of the luck of the draw when it comes to ownership, economy, knowledge-base, local commitment, etc., the building might not survive. (I’m thinking of several properties, but notably, Philadephia’s Church of the Assumption (1849) that I’ve been posting about; it was purchased by a nonprofit working on a shoestring [apparently] that can’t afford to care for the locally landmarked church, wants to tear it down and claims it doesn’t have the money for maintenance or demolition.)
SWAT team. I LOVE IT! I think some of us flamingos have similar dreams. I really wish that educational institutions with HP degrees would do more in the community, hands-on work. It’s few and far between.
I thought the same thing while getting my degree. Buildings and groups with no funds in need of expertise and students with expertise looking for class projects — [potential] match made in heaven! I kept saying it and it seemed to make no difference, so I decided to try and make the difference. I called some local nonprofits and sites to ask for a wishlist and then created a PROJECTS notebook that I put in the HP office. My thought was that students could go look for ideas/connections when they needed a topic/project idea for a class, and that the office (or a student appointee) could be a community contact and keep the notebook updated after I was gone. I suspect that instead the notebook is gone.
It’s why I have the “bulletin board” on my site — so I can try and play matchmaker that way.
I too, am fascinated by the Walloomsac Inn. I found this article published in the Bennington Banner by Hinda Mandell on Sept 1, 2005. It goes into depth about the people living there, and the history of the inn. The article was entitled “The Keepers of the Key”. It was in Bennington Banner archives and I had to pay $2.95 to read it. It was well worth it – just fascinating!!!! I don’t think I can post it here because it is copyrighted
Hey Kaitlin,
Nice work here on the Walloomsac. My mother stayed there back in the early ’70s when it was still open. Very eerie tale involving condemned sections, strange noises, no sleep, etc. A real hair raiser. She and her sister shared a room at the end of a hallway where it met a separate section of the Inn. This section was closed and so the wall in their room was shared by another room that could not be rented. They spent the whole night listening to crashing and banging coming from the room adjacent. She described these noises as furniture being slid across the floor. Really loud. My aunt has confirmed all this. They cowered all night and asked the proprietor about it that morning. The individual mentioned that there was no possible way that anyone had been in the room adjacent or that anyone had been moving furniture at any time during the night. They promptly left. And so I’ve lived with this tale for some years now but have yet to actually visit the building. I searched around a few years ago and found some photos. But thanks for the update. And yes, what a gem. It’s a shame that something this old, with so much history is fading fast from deterioration and neglect. Right there in front of everyone. Anywho, I really enjoy your site. And thanks again for all your help at last year’s SIA Fall Tour.
Hey Seth,
Thanks for visiting PiP! And especially for sharing your family stories of the Walloomsac Inn. At the very least, hopefully this post will help to gather or to inspire collections of stories about the building. Hope all is well with you!
Seth,
Really interesting story! Strange though, when Arlene Berry was asked if the Inn was haunted, here is her response:
It’s not, Arlene said. Sharron and Laura (Arlene’s twin identical nieces) seconded that. However, Arlene remarked that the twins’ mother, Kathleen Kaiser (Arlene’s sister), used to hold fake séances as a child in the inn. While she was just a kid, fooling around, it was enough to scare people staying at the Walloomsac. Walter Jr. finally made her stop when “she used to scare the dickens out of the guests,” Arlene said.
Perhaps she does not want the attention a haunted in would generate? Who knows. Does your mother have any pictures of the inside?
Donna, thanks for mentioning the Bennington Banner article and for this tidbit here. Fascinating! I would love to see photos of the interior, too, if anyone has them.
Kaitlin,
I am so glad I found your site. I LOVE IT!!!! Great work!!! PLEASE PLEASE put up any pics of the inside if you get any!!!
thank you, Donna! I’m so glad that you enjoy Preservation in Pink. I’ll be sure to follow up on the Walloomsac if I find any other information.
The people that own the Inn don’t want any help with rebuilding the structure or fixing it up. Believe me…I think everyone in town would love to see this place refurbished and brought back to its original glory. Nothing can be done until the family changes their mind. It’s not the ideal situation, but please don’t think the town doesn’t want to help or assist in some way.
I was just driving through Bennington yesterday looking for the Walloomsac Inn to show my cousin where I had stayed about 24 yrs ago. We were in a hurry and turned on to the road to NY instead and I acually thought maybe it was torn down. I am glad to hear it was not but I really cant believe there is nothing that can be done to preserve it. The family wont have anywhere to live if it falls down in the next hurricane. How can they let such an extraordinary historical piece of history disolve. The inside was really amazing and I swear you can feel like your living in the 1800s when you are there. They were acually closed for the season when I knocked on the door and begged for a place to stay because every hotel was full that Columbus day weekend back in I think 1986. They were kind enough to let us stay and it was the best place I have ever stayed in my life complete with old fashioned tub. I would love to be the proprietor of a place like that. Hopefully someday I can get to stay there again. Lorraine
Hi Kaitlin,
I’m a historic preservationist in Windham County and I just came across your great website. I too miss having people to talk to about historic preservation.
The Walloomsac has been breaking my heart since I was a child. I just drove by it last weekend, sigh….
I had to laugh at the pink flamingo thing. There are 2 of them in my backyard. We share a property with my landlord, whose girlfriend decided that after the backyard was destroyed by Irene’s wrath that she wanted to cheer things up. There are also some other local friends who move around a pink flamingo from yard to yard as a joke.
Looking forward to reading more of the website!
Paula
Hi Paula,
I know your name well! So glad you came across the blog. Stop by anytime for preservation chatter. And I’m glad to hear there are flamingos everywhere serving such good purposes as cheering up the flooded landscape. I even have a pair of Christmas flamingos – it never stops!
I have lived in north bennington///bennington area all my life 52 yrs and the last25 yrs I have wanted to walk inside and view the inside of the walloomsac inn..I always wanted to se a part of history…how many rooms are there? what does it look like on the main floor? questions? so many of them…. if they would let 1 person come into their place to takepictures for everyone that wanted to see inside that would be great!!!!they could post it on this web
please contact me if any oics are taken in the inside..so I can viewthanks!!!
Deborah, I’d love to see the interior as well! Crossing my fingers…
I live in Bennington–born and raised. Actually, I live just down the hill from the Walloomsac Inn.
To answer your question: the owners were offered by the Historical Society to have it fixed up, and they refused because they didn’t want “charity.”
It’s sad, really, that they would let their own feelings get in the way of restoring this building, but instead it’s just going to rot because they don’t see that it’s not about them.
Sad, indeed. Thanks for the update and clarification.
I too love this place. Take pics everytime I am in Bennington. Have some of the barns, a couple of the inside when it was still an Inn, and an advertisement book I acquired off Ebay a few years back. I do so wish I had lived back then to see the grandeur of the place. The Berry’s so need so swollow their pride and let the Historical Society help before it is too late … if it isnt already! If I can get access to a scanner will scan my pics & post them.
I am so excited to hopefully inside pictures!! Please, please find a scanner!! Thanks!!!
I grew up in Bennington. I briefly knew one of the daughters, the art student. She was really nice. I remember her telling me that everybody asks about the restoration, but a person in the family felt strongly that everything on the building was the “original” and did not want to change or remove the “original” pieces. And the not taking charity comment sounds right too, they are a very humble and sweet family.
I was there August 13, 2012 (4 days ago from today) and was shocked and in awe of the building. We had lunch down the road and the lady there said the reason the owner did not fix up the building was because she would not be able to afford the increase in property tax and would lose the building. I can’t believe that could be true! Government regulations are often a hurdle in trying to restore but in this case I would think there would be something to help them. It is a beautiful place and I’m so glad I was able to see it. I would have paid just to set foot inside. I was told there was a ballroom on the second floor.
I stayed for one night in the inn in 1985 driving from NY to Burlington. It was a definite throwback to the late 19th century but in remarkably decent condition on the inside. It was like stepping into a time capsule–nothing faux or cutesy for sure. It was all real. I believe there were other guests but I don’t recall actually seeing them. They didn’t serve food but I arrived late enough that it didn’t matter. I still remember it as a neat experience. Hopefully the building will be there when preservationists finally get access.
the walloomsac inn was the subject of my utter fascination when i was growing up; as i knew it, it was a bonafide haunted house. according to the lore, my parents had stayed there one night on a lark in the 70′s. my mom, who felt a strange vibe from the inn and was compelled to keep the light on when she went to sleep, woke up in the middle of the night to see a man dressed in green and wearing a green hat pointing at the light. she was dumbfounded but got the impression that he wanted her to turn it off. so she did and the little man was then gone. she woke my dad up immediately of course. she described the man to him and he, being a history buff, said that it sounded like someone from the green mountain boys (militia men from vermont who fought in revolutionary war times, and actually began in 1770 in bennington!) well my mom is greek, and had no idea about the existence of those guys! the next morning after they left and went to have breakfast at a local cafe, the cafe owner said she was impressed that they made it through the night, and that she had heard it was haunted and she wouldn’t have ever stayed there herself. i will never forget the first time i saw it, when i was 18. an incredible building and presence. there is definitely something special about the walloomsac inn!
What a magnificent wooden building. It is a great pity that it is now in so bad condition!
Oh I know, so sad. It’s a big topic in the community, as you can see from the comments.
back when the bicentenial wa going on the owners were offered money to restore the inn and turnede it down I have been in side and when you enter it is like walking back into history
I really hope the owners have a change of heart about accepting help to get it restored… They knew it was a historic place when they bought it… it’s pretty selfish to NOT try & restore it. Most places around here have that in the buying contract that you HAVE to do your best to restore it, or it gets taken over by the state & you lose.
Just so you know, the building under those clapboards is made of brick. Most of the deterioration is in the facade of wood.