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]
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.
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 [update] , 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 [update] , 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]
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]
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 [update] , there were 67 kilometres (42 mi) of groomed trails and 100 kilometres (62 mi) of un-groomed trails throughout the property. [6]
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]
A cemetery in the grounds of the lodge contains the graves of several family members, including Maria and Georg. [18]