Ski Inn History: How to buy prime real estate and charge affordable rates When the first ski areas opened in the U.S. skiers' accommodations consisted of log cabins and farm houses with oil lamps. More comfortable accommodations were needed. One day Larry and his wife Harriet came back from a day skiing on the new mile long chair lift. "Sure beats the rope tow, honey" he said, and as they entered the farm house old man Peterson was at the door. "Hear they're finally gonna gettus some' that tele and lectricity up here you folks have in the city" he said. "More 'those city slickers been up 'ta here today wantin' me to sell my pasture land. But y'know, I won't sell it to 'em." Harriet asked, jokingly, "Would you sell it to me and Larry?" Old man Peterson mused for a moment. "Well, ain't that just the thought. I bet you folks would take good care of it." Next spring old man Peterson got a telephone. Back in the city, Larry & Harriet got a surprise phone call. "When you folks commin' up 'ta buy my land?" the caller said. "You can have it for $50 an acre." Two months later in the summer of '41 the Ski Inn was under construction. And so was state route 108. The state decided to build an improved road to the new ski area - right in front of Larry and Harriet's new piece of property!

Our accommodations during construction starting in May 1941.

"Hey! Burt is getting us green wood! When I put that nail in sap squirted me in the eye!"

Things moving right along by June.

By August - really starting to take shape! Notes on back of the picture read: "This appears to be about the best position to photograph the house. I stood on the heap of logs to take it. When the grounds are cleared up the road will show and part of the practice ski slope. We will need a picture something like this for our letterheads and advertisement."

Mid October. Trees are are bare; the aforementioned pile of logs appear in the foreground. See our '40 Ford.

We are just about to start removing the new window stickers from the windows.
Hope nobody forgets not to use the doors else they'll be in for a big surprise.

All done! Now we can take a break.

The day we opened: December 7, 1941. Pearl Harbor Day!

The guests love it. We are all having a blast.
Larry got drafted in 1943. During his medical exam, the army found Larry had a back injury and rejected him. Larry was very interested in meteorology and participated in the war effort by making regular weather reports to the Air Force from the Ski Inn via short wave radio. Click here to view a chart he used to identify frozen precipitation.

Harriet & Larry in 1954.

Circa 1964. Only $3 per person for a night's sleep!

Harriet & Larry taking a break from serving dinner, circa 1976.

April 1996. Much has changed but the same picture hangs on the wall to the right. The red sofa under the picture came from the first shopping mall in the country in 1945: Shoppers World on Rte. 9 in Framingham, Massachusetts. In those days Jordan Marsh (now Macy's) delivered all the way to Stowe, Vermont!

Ski Inn in 1996.