Fox Hall (Westmore, Vermont) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
|
|
Fox Hall
|
|
 |
|
 Location in Vermont
Location in the United States
|
|
| Location | Fox Hall Ln. off Peene Hill Rd., Westmore, Vermont |
|---|---|
| Area | 1.5 acres (0.61 ha) |
| Built | 1900 |
| Architectural style | Colonial Revival, Shingle Style |
| NRHP reference No. | 84003468 |
| Added to NRHP | September 27, 1984 |
Fox Hall is a really old and special house in Westmore, Vermont. It was built around 1900. A mayor from Yonkers, New York, had it built as a summer home. It was the very first big vacation spot on the beautiful Lake Willoughby. The house looks unique because it mixes two styles: Colonial Revival and Shingle style. The Shingle style is quite rare in northern Vermont. This amazing house, and its old icehouse, became a protected historic place in 1984. It's listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Contents
Discovering Fox Hall's Design
Fox Hall sits high up, looking over the northern part of Lake Willoughby. It's on a flat area above the lake's western side. You can reach the house by going down Fox Lane. This is a private road that turns east from Peene Hill Road. It's just south of Vermont Route 16.
What Does Fox Hall Look Like?
The house is made of wood and has 2-1/2 stories. It has a special roof called a gambrel roof on the sides. The outside walls are covered with overlapping wooden boards. The front of the house faces the lake. It has a wide, central dormer window with a cross-gable roof. On each side of this dormer, there are round parts of the house. These round sections have cool, bell-shaped roofs.
A porch stretches across the whole front of the house. However, only the middle part of the porch is covered by a roof. Inside, the house still has its original wooden details. Most of these are simple and classic. The most fancy parts are found on the main staircase.
The History of Fox Hall
The town of Westmore was quite far away and hard to get to for a long time. That changed in 1852 when a road was built. This road went along the eastern shore of Lake Willoughby. It's now known as Vermont Route 5A. This new road helped more people move to the area. It also started bringing tourists to enjoy the lake.
From Private Home to Summer Camp
By 1883, Westmore even had a hotel in its center. In 1899, John and Ava Peene started buying land. John Peene was the mayor of Yonkers, New York. They bought land on the northwestern shore of the lake. Fox Hall was probably finished by the next year, 1900.
After John Peene passed away in 1919, his wife Ava sold the house. Sadly, the person who bought it never paid her. This person tried to run a summer camp for kids there. But it didn't work out very well.
Later on, other owners also used the property for summer camps. One famous group, Keewaydin, even had a girls' camp here for a short time. The last summer camp at Fox Hall closed in 1975. Since then, it has also been a bed and breakfast. Today, it is a private home.
