N.E. Wanderer: October 2017

The sprawling Mountain View Grand

On the Northwest side of the New Hampshire where the White Mountains begin to descend into the Connecticut River Valley, the Mountain View Grand stands as a monument to the Grand Hotels of New Hampshire's past.

The inn opened to guest 140 years ago, in 1866. As the story goes, a stage coach en route to Montreal hit a hole in the road and overturned during a storm a half mile from the Dodge Farm. The passengers needed shelter from the rain and went to the farm where Mr. & Mrs. William Dodge took them in for the night. The next morning when the passengers got up, they found stunning views of the surrounding mountains. This was the impetus for the Mountain View House.

The hotel operated until 1986 when it was shuttered and remained idle for about 15 years. My first encounter with the resort was when I was traveling along Route 115 in New Hampshire many years ago and looking north across the valley where I saw this enormous structure that piqued my curiosity. I wondered what this imposing edifice was that could be seen from such a great distance away, so I drove north up Route 3 and eventually came to Mountain View Road. It seemed logical that this would lead to a place with expansive views, and I might get to a point where I could again see this building. About a quarter mile up the road the woods disappeared and I came to an opening in which the mystery building was the centerpiece.

The vacant building loomed over a nicely kept 9-hole golf course, but the hotel itself was in a state of disrepair. I pulled up in front of the hotel and wandered around peaking in windows thinking, if I were a multimillionaire, I'd buy this place and bring it back to life. Well, someone beat me to it, and following a $20 million renovation the hotel was brought back to life in 2002. Since then, I've always wanted to stay there. In Summer 2017, this goal was finally achieved when my family visited for four days.

The most distinguishing feature is the central tower above the lobby that now houses the resort's spa. The next most distinguishing figure was the veranda across the front of the building. It was the perfect place to relax and drink in the mountain views that evidently give the resort its name. It was also a great place to enjoy one of their delicious desserts.

The tower

Their trademark "Brake for Mousse" dessert

Given the size of the building, one would have thought that there would have been an opulent lobby with crystal chandeliers. Instead there was an understated lobby with a few stuffed chairs and a small front desk area. We checked in and headed to our room on the second floor.

While the room itself was nice, with two queen beds and a big marble bathroom, the room didn't live up to the Mountain View Grand's namesake. We were on the back of the building overlooking the roof of the lower floor (the kitchen I believe). From our vantage point, we could kind of see a mountain through the trees in the back, but the blue tarp on the back roof kind of distracted you. In re-looking at the web site, it appeared we were in the Classic Room with "northern views of our property," rather than the Grand View Guest Rooms with "stunning views of the southern valley..." If you go, be sure to book a room on the front of the building so you can get the full mountain view experience. Another unique feature is the manually operated elevator, said to be the oldest in the state. The bellmen are happy to give you a ride upon request.

If the room was slightly disappointing, the resort was not. They had a full list of programs every day, hosted by the activities staff. This included indoor and outdoor pools, fitness center, game room, golf course, a farm with tours, walking/mountain biking trails, a huge chess/checkers set on the front lawn, tennis courts, basketball court, playground for little kids, an activities field for lawn games and a pair of bocce courts, not to mention the fire pit with nightly S'mores. Apparently they also have a movie theater in the building, but it was closed for renovations. As such, you were never lacking for something to do at the resort.

Life-size chess/checker set

Evening s'mores at the fire pit.

Ashton in the cannonball contest

One of our first activities, was a swim in the outdoor pool. It was big and the water temperature was just right. The deep end was about 8 feet and the shallow end was quite large, so the pool never really felt very crowded. If you wanted, you could order a drink from the poolside bar or food from the golf club house upstairs from the pool.

Another highlight was the resort tour. This 45-minute tour covered the history of the property and some of the dignitaries who graced its halls many years ago. Part of the tour went down into the wine cellar. An interesting tidbit is that you can actually reserve a table in the wine cellar for a memorable dining experience. Just remember to bring a sweater, because the cellar is kept at 55 to 60 degrees. After all, one wouldn't want the 6,000 bottles of wine housed here to spoil. Rumor has it that the most expensive bottle of wine in the cellar costs a paltry $8,000.

Dining available in the wine cellar

The first night at the resort we went out for pizza in downtown Whitefield. Of course "downtown" might be a an overstatement. There is a town green surrounded by big old buildings, but most of the the buildings are either vacant, somewhat dilapidated or just need work. You can see by the architecture that this town once had a heyday, but I think that was back in the mid-1800s when lumbering was the big industry. The only two buildings that weren't really in need of repair were Dunkin Donuts (in the renovated rail station) and Subway. Besides those two places there was really only one other place to eat downtown - Sunny's Pizza. Sunny's was a small "hole-in-the-wall" kind of place with about half a dozen tables inside and a couple on the sidewalk outside. The pizza was good enough, but the ambiance left a little to be desired.

One morning during our stay, we took the farm tour. As indicated earlier, there is an on-site farm that provides many of the eggs used by the resort, but also was home to sheep, goats, llamas and alpacas. If you got there early enough you could help collect the eggs, which we did.

Sheep and chicken barn

Getting down on the farm

During the farm tour we learned that llamas and alpacas are excellent guards for smaller animals. Kudos the llama stood watch over the chicken coop and sheep, while Gustavo the alpaca dominated the big barn. It was interesting to watch the "chain of command" in the barn. When the barn doors were opened, none of the other animals went out until Gustavo stepped out to survey the property. Once he was out, the others followed.

Kudos staying alert for predators

Another nice thing about the farm is that they offered various classes. Bethany took a soap felting class one morning while Ashton and I participated in the ax-throwing contest. Surprisingly, there were a fair number of people who signed up for ax throwing. Each person was given three opportunities to throw and while I hit the target once, you can be assured that I won't be joining any traveling lumberjack show any time soon.

Ax throwing champions! (Well, not really)

The resort had activities and programming every day. Each morning you'd get the day's schedule and you could choose from many different activities. Ultimate Frisbee, poolside golf (chipping Velcro balls onto a floating green in the pool), Bocce, tennis, golf, scavenger hunt, mountain bike rentals, basketball, Whiffleball and lawn games, were just some of the options. You could probably do something different every day for a week.

The resort is just about halfway between Littleton and Lancaster, NH. We went to Littleton one day to experience Chutter's Candy Store. If ever there was a mecca for the sweet tooth, this certainly would qualify. Their claim to fame is having the longest candy counter in the world. Their 112-foot counter is stocked with glass jars brimming with colorful candy. If that wasn't a big enough sugar high, our next stop was Bishop's Ice Cream where they've been making their own ice cream since 1976.

Chutter's Candy Store

Longest candy counter in the world

Another night we headed north to Lancaster. Now this may be insensitive, and maybe we just didn't give it a chance, but if you're looking for a town with seemingly very little going for it, you might consider Lancaster, NH. We drove up there to find a restaurant and discovered a couple of pizza places, but very little else in the way of dining options. We grabbed a pizza, went into a small store that sold outdoor apparel, but that was about it unless you needed groceries or a pharmacy.

Back in Whitefield, if you opted not to eat at the resort, the options were rather sparse. Besides Sunny's, Dunkin and Subway, the only other viable option was Grandma's Kitchen. If you were just passing by, you'd probably just keep going, given the lack of curb appeal. But Google gives it a 4.5 Star rating, so we gave it a try. It's a bare bones mom & pop kind of place. The food was ok, but it had the ambiance of someone's old garden shed. We sat in the screened porch area, which unfortunately was downwind of the dumpster, so we got the occasional whiff of rotting garbage. It puzzled me why the dumpster was placed about 10 yards from the building when there was a large dirt parking lot that would have accommodated it at a more tolerable distance from the dining room.

Overall the Mountain View Grand was a wonderful experience. We might just have to go back to participate in all the activities we didn't have time for the first time.

Parting Shots.