A Scituate couple bought a storied Vermont inn during the pandemic

After working within the insurance coverage business for many years, Mary Lou Ricci and Tim Corridor fully modified careers in the course of the pandemic after they purchased a storied Vermont inn.

“I had all the time thought behind my thoughts possibly sometime it might be enjoyable to run a small mattress and breakfast,” stated Ricci, 59, a Scituate native.

“This couldn’t have been furthest from my desires,” stated Tim Corridor, 61, initially from Memphis. “Nevertheless, one might say I all the time needed to start out my very own enterprise, and right here we’re.”

The couple, who’ve been collectively for 13 years and married for seven, determined to promote their insurance coverage firm and purchase The Hermitage Inn, which sits on 112 acres on the base of Haystack Mountain in West Dover, Vermont.

After a two-year multi-million greenback renovation, the 14-room inn, full with a fine-dining restaurant, personal wine cellar, and adjoining tavern, has already earned Wine Spectator‘s Award of Excellence.

The property opened in phases late final yr however that is the primary full ski season that each one elements of the property are open. The inn boasts a trout pond, apple orchards, personal gardens, mountaineering trails, and a coated bridge.

The Hermitage Inn had been sitting vacant since 2018. It was beforehand owned by a personal ski space known as the Hermitage Membership earlier than the proprietor went bankrupt and put the inn up on the market. Ricci and Corridor have been members of the membership.

The property’s culinary program is overseen by James Beard Award-winning Chef Michael Schlow.

“What makes a wise enterprise individual is it is advisable to know what you don’t know,” stated Ricci. “In fact, we don’t know the best way to run a industrial kitchen.”

So Ricci and Corridor reached out to Schlow by way of a mutual acquaintance.

“There’s one thing actually stunning and just a little old style about it,” stated Schlow in a video concerning the property posted on the inn’s Fb web page. “Once I was contacted by Mary Lou and Tim, there was a symmetry within the want to carry The Hermitage to a world-class vacation spot. And right here I’ve the chance to really take part in creating this new imaginative and prescient for what The Hermitage could possibly be.”

The culinary program consists of seasonal menus and native substances. The wine cellar is stocked with vintages from world wide and the wine program affords particular occasions and tastings all through the yr. Friends may also hire out the wine cellar for a one-of-a-kind eating expertise.

Schlow has been visiting The Hermitage Inn because the late ’90s. Corridor and Ricci, who owned a second dwelling close by (which has now turn out to be their major dwelling) have been earlier patrons of the inn as effectively.

“We have been actually excited as a result of we’ve got historical past with The Hermitage Inn,” Ricci stated. “Now we have been arising right here as second owners virtually each weekend and The Hermitage Inn could be our cease on Friday night time. So we have been actually excited to have the ability to be the homeowners of this iconic inn that everyone is aware of and liked within the space.”

The 1842 property was as soon as a working farm earlier than it was remodeled into an inn in 1962, in line with Ricci, after which Jim McGovern took it over in 1971 and through his greater than three a long time of possession, the oenophile earned an esteemed Wine Spectator Grand Award in 1984.

Ricci had earlier expertise renovating houses and regarded ahead to the problem of renovating the inn, she stated.

She advised her renovation staff: “I need you to have the ability to stroll within the entrance door and be capable to see throughout to the again. I need you to have the ability to see the outside from the within and really feel like you might be outside.”

The couple additionally knew they needed to offer a five-star expertise.

The inn affords three Historic Inn Rooms that date again to the 1800s situated above the tavern, seven rooms in a wing known as the Coldbrook Rooms, and 4 rooms within the Carriage Home close to the pond.

“These are high-end rooms,” stated Corridor. “We needed to ensure it’s a luxurious expertise.”

“I needed to maintain it a really impartial palate that’s inviting and heat, so that you’ll see loads of beiges and lotions and grays,” Ricci stated. “It’s very gentle and welcoming, however extra fashionable.”

They turned the property’s outdated sugar home right into a health middle. The inn additionally affords a spa therapy room, sauna, and jacuzzi.

“Now we have plans to place in a swimming pool and pickleball courts,” Corridor stated. “Now we have the trout pond. We inventory the pond every spring with rainbow and brook trout. Now we have fly fishing clinics there, which have been extremely popular.”

They only put in an archery vary. Behind the inn is an in depth path system and in the course of the chilly months visitors can use snow sneakers and cross nation skis or hit the skating rink. In the course of the heat months, there are kayaks and paddle boards for exploring.

“We run it like a household enterprise,  like we did our insurance coverage company,” Ricci stated about inn, which staff about 40 folks and 60 throughout ski season.

The Carriage Home is already offered out for ski season this yr and visitors are reserving weddings and occasions in 2023, Ricci stated.

“My favourite factor is watching folks stroll in our entrance door with eyes huge open saying, ‘Wow, I can’t imagine the modifications and the way stunning the property is in and out’, after which listening to the tales all people has,” Ricci stated.

“We’re increase a enterprise, we’re constructing a model,” stated Corridor. “We would like our model to be nationally and internally recognized. However, extra importantly for me, I really like studying the optimistic opinions we get. I simply love the visitor expertise, making folks pleased.”