Trapp Family Lodge

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von Trapp Family Lodge & Resort
Von Trapp Family Lodge & Resort logo.jpg
Trapp Family Lodge 2014.jpg
Main entrance in 2014
Trapp Family Lodge
Former namesCor Unum
Trapp Family Lodge
General information
Location Stowe, Vermont, U.S.
Address700 Trapp Hill Road
Coordinates 44°27′56″N72°44′43″W / 44.465452488°N 72.74522805°W / 44.465452488; -72.74522805
Opening1950 (original)
December 17, 1983 (1983-12-17) (rebuild)
DestroyedDecember 20, 1980 (1980-12-20) (original)
Owner Trapp Family
Technical details
Floor count4
Other information
Number of rooms96 (main inn) [1]
Number of restaurants4
Parkingyes
Website
www.vontrappresort.com

The von Trapp Family Lodge & Resort, formerly the Trapp Family Lodge, is a 2,600-acre (4.1 sq mi; 11 km2) resort located in Stowe, Vermont. [1] It was also formerly known as Cor Unum (Latin for "One Heart"). [2]

Contents

Background

The Trapp family was largely fictionalized in the 1959 musical The Sound of Music , which was loosely based on the 1949 book The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria von Trapp. [3] [4] The musical was adapted for the 1965 film The Sound of Music , which won five Academy Awards including Best Picture. Maria and her husband, Baron Georg von Trapp, had left Austria shortly after its annexation by Nazi Germany in 1938 and settled with their family in Vermont in 1942. [5] Baron von Trapp died in 1947.

History

The family cemetery in 2022. Maria's grave is at the center. Trapp Family Cemetery.jpg
The family cemetery in 2022. Maria's grave is at the center.

In 1950, the family began operating their expanded home as a 27-room ski lodge. [6] The ski lodge was later expanded in 1968 to fit 20 more rooms. [7]

The facility was destroyed by fire on December 20, 1980, forcing 45 people to flee in their nightclothes, including Baroness von Trapp. [8] The body of a guest was found later in the rubble. [9] A new Austrian-style lodge with 73 rooms was opened in December 1983. [10]

After the death of Maria von Trapp in 1987, 32 family members shared ownership of the lodge. Johannes von Trapp, her youngest child, 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; the lawsuit reached the Vermont Supreme Court. [11] The court awarded an additional $2.2 million, plus interest, to the family members who filed the lawsuit. [12]

As of 2007, the main lodge had 96 rooms and suites; the facility also featured "100 timeshare guesthouses and 14 fractional-ownership villas". [6]

In February 2025, the facility's name was changed from Trapp Family Lodge to von Trapp Family Lodge & Resort. [13]

As of March 2025, leadership of the facility includes Kristina von Trapp Frame, director and executive vice president; Walter Frame, director and chief operating officer; and Philip Haigh, hotel director. [14] Kristina is the daughter of Johannes von Trapp. [13]

Facilities

The lodge offers cross country skiing and mountain biking trails, fitness center, tennis courts, pools, and wagon and sleigh rides. The lodge houses a restaurant, lounge, and gift shop. As a working farm, they produce their own maple syrup, raise Scottish Highland cattle, chickens, pigs, and grow their own vegetables for use in their restaurants. [15]

The meadow at the lodge was one of the principal sites for the annual Vermont Mozart Festival. [16]

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. As of 2008, there were 67 kilometres (42 mi) of groomed trails and 100 kilometres (62 mi) of un-groomed trails throughout the property. [6]

von Trapp Brewing

In 2010, the lodge began to brew beer, initially under the name Trapp Lager. Now named von Trapp Brewing, it annually produces approximately 60,000 US gallons (230,000 L; 50,000 imp gal) of traditional German- and Austrian-style lagers. In 2016, the von Trapp Bierhall opened down the hill from the Lodge, serving food and beverages. [17]

Family cemetery

A cemetery in the grounds of the lodge contains the graves of several family members, including Maria and Georg. [18]

References

  1. 1 2 "Lodging". vontrappresort.com. Retrieved March 8, 2025.
  2. Ransom, Candice F. (2002). Maria Von Trapp: Beyond the Sound of Music. Carolrhoda Books. p. 91. ISBN   9781575054445.
  3. Trapp, Maria A. (December 24, 2001). The Story of the Trapp Family Singers (1st ed.). New York: William Morrow Paperbacks. ISBN   9780060005771.
  4. "Music: Family Life in Vermont," TIME magazine (July 18, 1949)
  5. "Tribute to Baron von Trapp Joined by Country He Fled". The New York Times. July 14, 1997. Retrieved January 5, 2009.
  6. 1 2 3 McCormack, Lisa (September 27, 2007). "Sam von Trapp back in family business". vtcng.com. Retrieved March 8, 2025.
  7. "Addition to Trapp Family Lodge Nears Completion". The Burlington Free Press. June 25, 1968. p. 9. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
  8. "'Sound of Music' inn gutted by fire, 1 dies". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . AP. December 21, 1980. p. 6. Retrieved March 8, 2025 via newspapers.com.
  9. "Trapp Lodge Sued by Widow Over Husband's Death in Fire". The New York Times. November 8, 1981. Retrieved December 26, 2008.
  10. Blumenthal, Ralph (December 19, 1983). "Trapp Family's Hills Are Alive Once Again". Rutland Herald . Rutland, Vermont. The New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved March 8, 2025 via newspapers.com.
  11. "In re 75,629 Shares of Common Stock of Trapp Family Lodge, Inc. (97-175); 169 Vt. 82; 725 A.2d 927". Vermont Supreme Court. 1999. Retrieved March 8, 2025 via Justia.
  12. "Trapp Lodge Loses Payment Appeal". Rutland Herald . Rutland, Vermont. AP. January 18, 1999. p. 8. Retrieved March 8, 2025 via newspapers.com.
  13. 1 2 Muther, Christopher (March 7, 2025). "The hills are alive … with the sound of rebranding and renovation at the Trapp Family Lodge" . The Boston Globe . Retrieved March 8, 2025.
  14. "Our Manager". vontrappresort.com. Retrieved March 8, 2025.
  15. "Trapp Family Lodge". trappfamily.com. Retrieved April 7, 2012.
  16. "Vermont Mozart Festival calls it quits". Stowe Reporter. December 23, 2010. Retrieved April 7, 2012.
  17. Marshall, Hannah (September 14, 2016). "Prost! Von Trapp Brewing's new Bierhall offers good cheer and beer". Stowe Today.
  18. "The von Trapp Story from Stowe, VT". trappfamily.com.