The Wilburton Inn: Far from Ordinary
- Jill Stoodley
- Aug 11
- 9 min read
Updated: Sep 9
The absolute last thing on earth I expected when we drove up the driveway of our Vermont Airbnb was an astonishing 18 x 36-foot Egyptian sculpture and massive fire pit worthy of a studio backlot, just steps from our front door.
The trip from Massachusetts had already been full of unexpected emotions, with more to come that week. And over a month later, the Wilburton, with its sprawling turn-of-the-century Gatsby-style mansion and other-worldly art installations, still has an indescribable pull.
Can't Wait to Check out the Wilburton? Here's All You Need!
The Wilburton Inn
257 Wilburton Drive
Manchester Village
VT 05254
802-362-2500
The Wilburton won 2025's Trip Advisor’s Travelers Choice Award, was named among the Top 10 Hotels in Vermont by US World News & Report, and has earned a spot as one of the top 10 dog-friendly hotels in New England by USA Today, among many other impressive accolades. Their press page is jam-packed!
The drive to Vermont started out on a good note. We’d actually left our house on time for a change, miraculously all packed up and ready for the week-long vacation with my extended family. I was happy, upbeat, looking forward to the road trip and so excited to see my family — the first time since 2019 nearly all 25 of us would be together in the summer for an entire week.
I wasn’t paying close attention — just following the GPS and singing along to Supergrass in vacation mode when I realized it was taking us to Route 89.
We’d originally headed out in a different direction, but a stop along the way changed our trajectory. I hadn’t looked at the new directions in advance.
I hadn’t prepared for this.
When we passed what used to be the Golden Pineapple gift shop, my heart dropped.
I thought I could push back the tears — as long as we didn’t actually pass through Hillsborough or the Corner Store. My husband assured me we wouldn’t, so I kept driving.
But neither of us realized were heading right toward them.
It had been four years since we passed this way — somehow both an eternity and the blink of an eye. The roads and the scenery had changed but the Corner Store was still on the left, next to the little motel and the stretch of road where Diamond Acres used to be so many years ago. If we’d turned right and driven 10 miles west, we’d have come to the house on Highland Lake nestled in the rocks …
Our RockNest.
... the summer house our grandparents bought for our family 40 years ago when there were only 11 of us — my grandparents and parents, my sister, our aunt and uncle, and their three girls who grew up with us like sisters.
... the house that over the years welcomed five grand-daughters' husbands and 11 great grandchildren with open arms and built the foundation for indelible family bonds, merry Christmases, and endless summers.
When our grandfather passed away at 96 in 2021, we made the heartbreaking (but necessary) decision to sell the house, and we hadn’t been back to the area since the day we cleaned it out. Being so close hit me like a freight train.
Trying desperately not to let our daughter hear from the back seat, I sobbed silently as we passed along the achingly familiar route. The house was now miles behind us in Washington, New Hampshire, but the lake stretched seven miles, ending with the small dam in Stoddard where our grandfather used to take us in the boat, puttering slowly into the shallows after an excursion to the marina. Our view from the highway was just a tiny little patch of water that most wouldn’t even recognize as a lake from that angle. But I knew it was Highland Lake.
Our lake.
... with sunset tea parties in the motorboat.
... with water skiing, swimming from dawn till dusk in the “deep end,” floating lazily on the Shamu raft, sandcastles, excursions to our tiny little island a few hundred feet from the shore.
... teen years with Depeche Mode in my headphones and Stephen King's latest novel in my lap while the boat rocked with the waves, nights on the porch playing Nertz with our husbands, family dinners and movie nights with our parents and grandparents. And watching our children enjoy it all as much as we did.
Our childhood. Our children’s childhood. Our family.
Within seconds, we’d passed through Stoddard and it was all behind me.
I had about an hour and a half left in our drive to Vermont to pull myself together. Despite my husband’s offers to take over the driving, I pushed on, holding his hand and hoping to find a path back to my vacation mindset.
When we finally arrived at the resort a few hours later, I was utterly floored for the second time that day. But this time, by golden 18-foot-tall Egyptian pharaohs.
There were no other guests around that specific part of the compound, no one to ground us in reality, and our little car felt even smaller staring up at the enormous statues. Just the three of us in the remote Green mountains, no sounds, no people. Was I dreaming, had we stumbled into an alternate reality? It was haunting. Transcendent.
How had my family not mentioned this? Why wasn’t my phone buzzing from cousins who’d already arrived, and how in the world wasn’t this the first thing on everyone’s mind? My love for the unique and peculiar, my passion for an interesting story — I couldn’t possibly ignore this immensity. Even now, a month after returning home, I’m still so drawn to them. And I find it hilarious that most of my family went about their business for the majority of the vacation like they weren’t even there.
See the Wilburton for Yourself! Here's all you need...
The Wilburton Inn
257 Wilburton Drive
Manchester Village, VT 05254
802-362-2500
The Wilburton won 2025's Trip Advisor’s Travelers Choice Award, was named among the Top 10 Hotels in Vermont by US World News & Report, and has earned a spot as one of the top 10 dog-friendly hotels in New England by USA Today, among many other impressive accolades. Their press page is jam-packed!
There are no words to describe the Wilburton Inn.
It’s a one-of-a-kind mix of old-world charm, ethereal art installations from the owners' patriarch, and traditional luxury. With eight properties including smaller vacation houses, renovated villas for larger parties, and the palatial century-old mansion that greets you as you pull in, there is a space for any configuration of family gathering.
The grounds are exquisite and the mountain views are breathtaking, perfect for weddings and up-scale events. The Levis family (proud owners for nearly four decades) has been working tirelessly over the years to lovingly update their many properties with modern appliances, thoughtful amenities, and added luxuries. While I was completely drawn in by the art installations scattered across the expansive landscape, I can sort of understand how my family went about their business without focusing on the pharaohs.
The pool area (half-way between the two houses we rented) is beautiful, stocked with floaties and family games like oversized chess, checkers, and Jenga. Innkeeper Melissa Levis visited us at the pool, offering our three littlest kiddos more pool toys — it was such a pleasure to chat with her. We had a full tennis court behind our Reunion House, and the kids loved playing volleyball and badminton right across our lawn.
To be with my girls again, all five of us by the pool — swimming, laughing, joking — truly restored a piece of my soul. To see our parents and aunt and uncle in their sunglasses and swimsuits, smiling and happy together, and to watch our children (ages 4-22) interact seamlessly like no time had gone by — there are no words to describe how much I missed this.
Don’t get me wrong, we’ve all stayed very close. We share Christmases together and gather at each other’s houses at least a few times a year, but the space to comfortably host 25 people is limited, and often as soon as we all settle into a comfortable routine, it’s time to turn around at the end of the day and head for our separate homes in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island.
The two houses we rented on the Wilburton property (The Reunion House and The Strawberry Hill Villa) were spacious enough for dinners and gatherings together, with plenty of bedrooms for all 25 of us, and it was wonderful to be able to meet up so easily. It meant everything to see our kids pile into cars together and venture out sans adults to the nearby town to hang out the way we used to drive to the movies together in the old house as teens. It was fantastic to have so many amazing restaurants and things to do only a few minutes away in Manchester. We had a blast on the ropes courses and alpine slide at Bromley Adventure Park, and the Dorset Marble Quarry was amazing.
It’s been hard over the past few years to think of being anywhere without our grandparents. I’d originally felt that trying not to dwell on these things during this vacation was probably best — but as much as the ache in that moment driving near the old house was unbearable, in a way it brought them with us on the trip. I felt so connected with them the entire vacation, even down to the raspberry bushes near the pool that reminded me so much of our walks with our grandmother down the long mountain road at RockNest. To this day, 40+ years later, whenever I taste a really fresh raspberry it still reminds me so deeply of her.
For whatever reason, we didn’t typically have campfires at our New Hampshire house through the years — except for one memorable evening when our kids were still little. That night outside on the RockNest beach with the crackling fire and the music blaring on the radio became one of my all-time favorite memories with my family. So, to me, it seemed essential to have a new campfire, this time among the ancient ruins. I mean, for the photo opp alone, how could anyone pass this up?
We had smores, our daughter played guitar amidst the chaos of all of us settling in, some of us sang. It was a short moment, but I will treasure it forever.
Nothing will ever replace our RockNest or our grandparents and the memories we all shared. It was an agonizing decision to sell the house. And the reasons were complicated, as life usually is. But it was the right thing to do to keep us all together. Finding the Wilburton gave my mother and her sister (and their husbands) a little bit of much-needed peace and relief knowing that while we had to say goodbye to one lifetime of joy and happiness, they’d helped lead us into the next 50 years of memories and family ties. My mother often quotes her mother as they moved their family here from England when she was two: “Home isn’t where your house is, it’s where your family is.” This couldn’t be more true.
As I write this piece, my family just booked a week next summer at the Wilburton, this time our houses are even closer, sharing a driveway. This summer hasn’t even come to a close yet, but I’m already counting down the days to our return.
And as I learn more about the owners’ history, their own ties to family, their unabashed zest for life, music, art, I’m so inspired by their family legacy and comforted knowing they’d understand ours.
I can't wait to chat again soon with family innkeeper Melissa Levis, Wilburton's head of marketing and public relations, to learn more about her family's nearly 40-year history with the Inn and share more of her family's story. The fascinating historical details on their website alone were enough to keep me (and my family members) intrigued for hours!
Sneak Peek: it turns out, the Egyptian pharaoh statues were created by Vermont artist Judith Brown, inspired by Egypt's policy to recycle car parts! If you look closely, you can see license plates in the statues!
See for Yourself!
The Wilburton Inn
257 Wilburton Drive
Manchester Village, VT 05254
802-362-2500
In addition to the eight properties on the family estates, Inn patriarch, psychiatrist, Holocaust survivor, and author, Dr. Albert Levis founded the Museum of the Creative Process, which unites psychology, morality, science, and art. His outdoor sculpture park, including the pharaohs I was so drawn to, are part of this institution (pictured below, with his daughter, Melissa Levis).
We're Not the Only Ones Who Love The Wilburton!
While you can find a few of their eight properties listed on Airbnb (no surprise, they're a SuperHost), we highly recommend booking through their personal website. The family of innkeepers prides themselves on being anything but a typical rental platform. With their distinct brand and warm hospitality (they've been so helpful and accommodating with our family), the resort specializes in family reunions, destination weddings, wellness retreats, and holiday celebrations. And they're no stranger to praise — The Wilburton won 2025's Tripadvisor’s Travelers Choice Award, was named among the Top 10 Hotels in Vermont by US World News & Report, and has earned a spot as one of the top 10 dog-friendly hotels in New England by USA Today, among many other impressive accolades. Their press page is jam-packed!
The Wilburton is absolutely not your traditional vacation spot. Its decor is eclectic, the collections of art, quirky and unconventional, and its mountain views are exquisite, transformative. From its Great Gatsby-style mansion with the Downton Abbey wing, murder mystery and Bridgerton-themed weekends, and cabarets, to its vacation houses, villas, and concerts at the nearby family farm, their destination property is a unique kind of magic — truly unforgettable.
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Jill Hodgson Stoodley
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