CENTRAL VERMONT COMES ALIVE

The warm weather of spring and summer has brought Vermont alive once again, and Barre-Montpelier and Maplecroft B&B are perfectly located in the heart of Vermont to take it all in. A drive in any direction takes you through lush green mountains and colorful meadows, by peaceful rivers and streams crossed with covered bridges, and through picturesque towns and villages with church steeples on village greens where you'll find antique and craft shops, galleries, cafes, gourmet restaurants and more.

Maplecroft Bed & Breakfast is a grand 1887 Victorian home built by Scottish immigrant and prominent Vermonter George Mackie. Maplecroft features a circular tower, carved wood trim, high ceilings and comfortable period furnishings. Lovingly renovated, George Mackie's "Scottish Castle" is the perfect place from which to enjoy Barre-Montpelier and all that Central Vermont has to offer. Maplecroft Bed & Breakfast offers three well-appointed guestrooms and two comfortable suites with TV's, one with a full kitchen. Each guestroom and suite has either a king or queen-sized bed and a private bath, and both suites have an additional queen-size sleeper sofa with an upgraded mattress. Common areas include a period parlor with fireplace, a comfortable period dining room, an elegant music room with a well-tuned grand piano, a comfortable den with TV and a wraparound porch. The entire house is Wi-Fi accessible.

Barre's unique history alone makes it worth a visit to Central Vermont. Barre literally and figuratively grew out of the abundant granite in the surrounding hills, attracting immigrants from Europe and Canada who came to make a living, and for some their fortune, like George Mackie who built his “Scottish Castle” that is now Maplecroft B&B. Visit nearby Rock of Ages Quarry & Visitor's Center and see huge blocks of granite lifted out of the ground. Then walk overhead inside the nearby factory and watch skilled artisans as they cut, sculpt and polish the local granite. Visit Hope Cemetery, one of Barre's most visited attractions, to view the sculpted monuments to young Italian stone cutters, many who died of silicosis caused by the granite dust leaving widows and young children behind. Stroll down the hill from Maplecroft and see world class granite sculptures and the famous “Barre Blocks”, Victorian era commercial buildings built of brick with granite or granite-trimmed facades, including the original Barre City Hall that is still in use and the Barre Opera House, built by Italian immigrants and still a popular venue for the performing arts. If art is your thing, don't miss Studio Place Arts (SPA), one of Vermont's premier art galleries and studio spaces with a variety of exhibits and classes for all ages. Be sure to venture up to the 3rd floor which houses the Chris Jeffrey Stained Glass studio where the stained-glass transom over Maplecroft's front door was crafted. Across from SPA is Depot Square with the original train depot which has been restored and now houses a Vermont gift shop and tourist information center. Nearby on Granite Street is The Old Socialist Labor Hall with its rich history of socialism and anarchism which came to Barre with the original European immigrants.

The Barre area offers a variety of summer events. The Green Mountain Opera Festival in June attracts aficionados from Boston, New York and Montreal. The Thunder Road International Speedbowl serves all five senses every Thursday night through the summer and is a must-do for stock car enthusiasts and curiosity seekers alike. Wednesdays in Barre are filled with activities beginning with the afternoon Granite City Farmer's Market in City Hall Park, followed by the Authors by the Park Series at the Aldrich Public Library, and finally The Summer Concerts in the Park series with musicians performing an eclectic mix of music including jazz, folk, bluegrass, blues and contemporary. The Green Mountain Motorheads Car Show in June and the Barre Heritage Festival and Homecoming in July are two favorite summer events, both held in historic City Hall Park and on historic Main Street.

If you enjoy outdoor activities, it is hard to rival Central Vermont. Nearby Millstone Hill Touring Center provides 70 miles of trails through stunningly beautiful abandoned granite quarries for hiking and world-class mountain biking. Hubbard Park, directly behind the golden-domed Vermont Statehouse in Montpelier, is filled with hiking trails crisscrossing its 185 acres of wooded hills. Onion River Sports in downtown Montpelier holds mountain-bike races on the Morse Farm trails throughout the summer and organizes group road bike rides on weeknights. Avid hikers can also enjoy hiking nearby Camels Hump and Smugglers Notch, part of Vermont's famous Long Trail which runs along the spine of the Green Mountains.

From Maplecroft's original granite steps, it's just a short walk to Main Street Barre's shops and restaurants , the Vermont History Center, the historic Barre Opera House, the Aldrich Public Library and the historic Old Socialist Labor Hall, the Local Agricultural Cooperative Exchange (LACE) and Studio Place Arts Gallery and art school. Barre is also home to the Rock of Ages Granite Quarry and Visitor's Center, the Vermont Granite Museum and Stone Arts School, and the Hope Cemetery walking tour of locally-carved granite memorials. The Millstone Hill Touring Center with 70 miles of cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, biking and hiking trails, is just a short drive away. Both Norwich University and Goddard College are nearby. Downhill and cross-country skiers, snowboarders and snowmobilers find that Maplecroft offers a quiet alternative to Stowe and the Sugarbush, and Mad River Glen ski areas as well as a convenient stopping place on the way to Montreal. Montpelier, the Vermont state capital, is home to the beautiful Vermont State Capital building, the Vermont Historical Society Museum and numerous fine shops and restaurants. It is also home to the New England Culinary Institute and its fine student-staffed restaurants. The Barre-Montpelier area also offers limitless opportunities to enjoy hiking, walking, mountain and road biking, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.

Within an hour's drive from Barre you can also enjoy such well known sites as Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory, the Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Visitor Center & Cafe Shelburne Farms and the Shelburne Museum, the King Arthur Flour Baker's Store and Baking Education Center, the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory, numerous maple sugarhouses and wineries, Burlington and Lake Champlain, and Vermont's Northeast Kingdom.

Maplecroft Bed & Breakfast is a favorite of visitors to Norwich University in nearby Northfield, only 15 minutes away. Visitors, alumni and parents of Norwich University students enjoy Maplecroft's relaxing atmosphere, its close proximity to the Norwich campus and the restaurants and attractions in the Barre-Montpelier area. Maplecroft B&B has also become a popular lodging choice for participants in the 10-day residency programs at the Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpelier, and for alumni, students and their parents and visitors to Goddard College in nearby Plainfield.

Visit us at Maplecroft Bed & Breakfast and experience Vermont from its heart.