Owner considers demolition for Stowehof Inn

A week after the publication of a Stowe Reporter article detailing the sale of the property, its uncertain future and apparent neglect despite no application for its demolition filed in March, a paralegal for Stackpole and French, Burkard’s lawyers, reached out to zoning administrator Sarah McShane.

“We are working with the owner of the Stowehof Inn, who would like to obtain approval to demolish the existing structure,” wrote Britney Aube. “The plan is to return the site to its natural state, so there is no new development proposed.”

Aube sought to verify with McShane that the building didn’t qualify as a historic building under town code and to learn more about what information was needed when applying for a demolition permit. McShane replied that she could not make a determination without an actual application, but affirmed Aube’s general assumptions.

When asked to comment, Stackpole and French attorney Ed French said that his office is currently “completing preliminary work” on plans for the structure’s demolition.

Burkard is also apparently exploring the Stowehof’s viability for historical preservation, however.

Laura Trieschmann, a historic preservation officer with the state of Vermont, said she had completed a site visit at the Stowehof in July, and was invited to do so by a preservation consultant that she assumed was hired by the property, but declined to comment further.

Architect’s jewel

The Stowehof was a landmark building designed by Larry Hess, an architect whose Austrian alpine aesthetic did much to form and solidify the look of post-war Stowe.

Built in 1949, the inn features hand-cut wood salvaged from nearby farms, included seven fireplaces and a jutting roof structure held up by a massive beam, and originally featured a sod roof, among many other particular amenities.

Hess settled in Stowe with a common dream at the time of living a freer life in the budding resort town, where he and others mingled with the old guard but would ultimately come to define Stowe’s future. He contributed to updates of the Octagon and the Toll Road while designing many residences, including the home of IBM CEO Tom Watson, and expansions to Stoweflake Resort, according to Stowe historian Barbara Baraw.

The Stowehof was sold to then-Stowe Mountain Resort owner C.V. Starr in 1968, who kept it as a private club rechristened the “Starrhof” to entertain visitors and guests associated with AIG, where Starr was an executive, according to Stowe Reporter archives.

In 1976, the inn was purchased by Peter and Moa Bartholomew, who reopened it to the public and doubled in size with an expansion designed by Hess himself. The Bartholomews kept steward over the inn until selling it to the Grimes family in 2000, who ran the inn until selling it briefly to Saltaire management in 2016 before it was ultimately bought up by Burkard as part of his over 200-acre Edson Hill estate.