PROCTORSVILLE, Vt. – Before moving to Vermont, Massachusetts residents Mike and Julie Wood were already enamored with the bucolic New England state. They got married in Vermont, escaped to Vermont’s countryside whenever they had the chance, and in December 2010, made the decision to purchase the Golden Stage Inn in Proctorsville.
“The best decision ever,” Julie exclaimed. “We immediately fell in love with the magic of innkeeping.”
By increasing the services and amenities offered at the inn, the couple grew the business into a viable income and lifestyle, while raising their two youngest children in the idyllic setting of rural Vermont. They renovated the attached barn into a sizeable yet cozy owners’ quarters, and Julie admits, “We have absolutely loved living here. We are surrounded by employees and guests who have been an essential part of our love affair with innkeeping.”
In July, on the inn’s Facebook page, Julie shared a post revealing that she and Mike, after much consideration, conversation, and meditation, listed the inn for sale. “Alas, after thirteen years…we are getting pooped,” the post read in part.
Julie has mixed feelings about the transition. “In one sense, we are conflicted. We love what we do. We love our guests. [But] we have started imagining what’s around the next corner.”
Mike has been able to maintain his CPA career, and will continue to work with clients. Julie, on the other hand, is weighing options and keeping an open mind. She is considering a potential career in writing or teaching, perhaps another entrepreneurial business, or renovating an antique home.
Mike and Julie will take their time finding the right buyers for the special place that has been their home for over a decade, and they have been told selling an inn can take several months to a year or more. In the meantime, Julie said the inn is not going anywhere, and they will “savor every breakfast, every guest greeting, every employee shift just that much more.”
“We have always been grateful for our guests, our employees, and our lifestyle, but now this gratitude is infused with a sweet nostalgia we’ve not felt before,” Julie expressed.
On Sept. 14, from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., the Golden Stage Inn will host the Vermont Golden Honey Festival for the 12th year. Part farmers market, part craft fair, the festival features local produce and hot food vendors, artists and crafters selling their unique creations, beekeepers, and bee-themed items like honeybee print fabrics, honey gin, beeswax balms and soaps, and more. Friends and cohosts Craig and Jess Goodman of Goodman’s American Pie in Ludlow created their signature honey apple pizza for the inaugural event, and will be there as always, serving from their 1940s tow truck/mobile wood-fired beehive pizza oven.
The Woods are not planning to move too far from the inn, and plan to remain in the Okemo Valley area, the adopted home they treasure.