Trapp Family Lodge

Coordinates: 44°27′55″N 72°44′41″W / 44.465243°N 72.744706°W / 44.465243; -72.744706

The front of the Austrian-style main building of the Trapp Family Lodge

The Trapp Family Lodge[1] is a 2,400-acre (9.7 km2), four-and-a-half-star resort located on Trapp Hill Road in Stowe, Vermont, United States.[2] The lodge is managed by Sam von Trapp, son of Johannes von Trapp.[3]

History

The Trapp family, largely fictionalized in The Sound of Music — based loosely on The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria von Trapp[4] — left Austria shortly after its annexation by Nazi Germany in 1938.[5] Baron Georg von Trapp and his wife Maria settled with their family in Vermont in 1942.[6] After the Baron's death in 1947, the family expanded and operated their home as a 27-room ski lodge. It was destroyed by fire on 20 December 1980, forcing 45 people, including Baroness von Trapp, to flee in their nightclothes. The body of a 30-year-old guest was found later in the rubble.[7] A new Austrian-style lodge with 93 rooms was opened in 1983.[2]

By the time Maria von Trapp died in 1987, thirty-two family members shared ownership of the lodge. Johannes von Trapp instigated a merger to eliminate the interests of other family members in 1994. Family members were displeased by the terms of the merger and fought back with legal proceedings about the amount to be paid to them in exchange for their shares; a controversy which had to be resolved by the Supreme Court of Vermont.[8]

Facilities

The Lodge offers a mountain biking trail, gym, tennis court and sleigh rides. It has a restaurant, access to cross-country skiing and maple sugaring.[9]

The meadow at the Lodge was one of the principal sites for the annual Vermont Mozart Festival.[10]

In 2010, the Lodge began to brew beer, under the name Von Trapp Brewing, producing approximately 60,000 US gallons (230,000 l; 50,000 imp gal) annually. The brewery produces traditional German- and Austrian-style lagers. In 2016, the Von Trapp Bierhall opened down the hill from the Lodge, serving food and drink.[11] The beers are sold on-site, as well as at restaurants and bars throughout Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts.[12] The current year-round offerings are Helles (4.9% ABV), Vienna (5.2), Pilsner (5.4) and Dunkel (5.7). The seasonal beers are Weissbier (5.2), India Pale Lager (5.5), Oktoberfest (5.6) and Trösten (6.0).[13]

Family cemetery

A cemetery in the grounds of the Lodge contains the graves of several family members, including Maria.[14]

Cross-country skiing

During the winter of 1968–69, Johannes von Trapp, then president of Trapp Family Lodge, Inc., came up with an idea to start cross-country skiing trails at the Lodge. Today, there are 45 kilometres (28 mi) of groomed trails and 100 kilometres (62 mi) of un-groomed trails throughout the Trapp Family Lodge property.[2]

Sources

  1. ↑ "Trapp Family Lodge - Resorts in Stowe, VT". trappfamily.com.
  2. 1 2 3 "Sam von Trapp back in family business". Trapp Family. Retrieved 2008-12-26.
  3. ↑ Clifford, Stephanie (December 24, 2008). "Von Trapps Reunited, Without the Singing". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-12-26. He returned to Stowe to put the inn’s finances in order, and ended up running the place. He tried to leave, moving to a ranch in British Columbia in 1977 and staying a few years, then moving to a ranch in Montana. But the professional management in Stowe kept quitting. 'Now I’m stuck here,' he said.
  4. ↑ "The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria Augusta Trapp - Read Online".
  5. ↑ "Music: Family Life in Vermont," TIME magazine (July 18, 1949)
  6. ↑ "Tribute to Baron von Trapp Joined by Country He Fled". New York Times. July 14, 1997. Retrieved 2009-01-05. In 1942, the Baron and Baroness von Trapp wife bought a farm in Stowe and built the lodge, which burned in 1980, and was rebuilt. Some family members have continued to run the lodge as an inn and ski resort.
  7. ↑ "Trapp Lodge Sued by Widow Over Husband's Death in Fire". New York Times. November 8, 1981. Retrieved 2008-12-26. A $5 million lawsuit has been filed by the widow of an Illinois man who was killed when fire destroyed the famous Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe. The lodge was destroyed Dec. 20th, 1980, forcing 45 people, including Baroness Maria Von Trapp, to flee in their nightclothes.
  8. ↑ In re 75,629 Shares of Common Stock of Trapp Family Lodge, Inc., 169 Vt. 82, 725 A.2d 927 (1999)
  9. ↑ "Trapp Family Lodge". Retrieved 7 April 2012.
  10. ↑ "Vermont Mozart Festival calls it quits". Stowe Reporter. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
  11. ↑ "Prost! Von Trapp Brewing’s new Bierhall offers good cheer and beer" - StoweToday, September 14 2016
  12. ↑ "von Trapp on Tap". wcax.com.
  13. ↑ "Our Lagers" - Von Trapp Brewing's official website
  14. ↑ "The von Trapp Story from Stowe, VT". trappfamily.com.
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