Six rooms, a long porch, and maple syrup from the hill out back.
Hollis Guesthouse is a bed and breakfast in an 1840s farmhouse on Pomfret Road, a mile and a half up from the Woodstock village green. Ruth and Dev Hollis have kept the house, the hens and the sugarbush since 2011.
A note from the porch
Come on in. The kettle is on and the back door sticks, so give it a shove.
We bought this house from the Pratt family in 2011, a few weeks before Irene came through and took half the road with it. We spent that first winter learning which radiators knock and which floorboards talk. Fifteen years on, it is six rooms, eleven hens, about four hundred taps on the hill, and a long table where breakfast tends to run late.
We live in the ell off the kitchen, so someone is home from 8 in the morning to 8 at night. Leave your boots by the stove. Ask us anything.
Ruth and Dev
Six doors. Try the handles.
Every room has its own bath, a real mattress, wool blankets from Johnson and good reading lamps. Rates are per night for two, breakfast included. Weekends have a two-night minimum.
Friday and Saturday nights are $30 more. Foliage rates run September 20 to October 25 and on holiday weekends. Vermont rooms tax is added at checkout.
Breakfast is the reason people come back
Served 8 to 9:30 at the long kitchen table, or out on the porch from May through October. Tell us about allergies when you book. Gluten-free pancakes are no trouble.
Syrup to take home is on the sideboard by the door: $18 a pint, $32 a quart. Honor jar, exact change not required.
The year in Woodstock
Fall gets the postcards, but we would argue for every one of these.
Fall
Late September to late October
Color on our hill usually peaks the first two weeks of October. Foliage weekends fill by spring, so we open a waitlist in January. Cider, the corn maze at the farm stand, a fire most nights.
Winter
December to March
Saskadena Six, the little hill that was Suicide Six, is about ten minutes up Pomfret Road and has been running since 1936. Cross-country trails in town, the stove going in the Sugarhouse Room, snow on the porch rail.
Spring sugaring
March into early April
Freezing nights and thawing days start the sap running. Come help Dev walk the lines, then sit up in the sugarhouse for a boil and taste syrup off the pan. Maple Open House Weekend is in late March.
Summer
June to August
Long light, the garden in full flower, calves at Billings Farm and a cold swim in the Ottauquechee. Midweek in June is the quietest week we have, and the best value.
Around here
Drive times from our front steps. Dev keeps a hand-drawn map of the back roads by the door, and he will mark it up for you.
- 4minWoodstock village greenOr a thirty minute walk down Pomfret Road. Shops, the library, the Middle Covered Bridge.
- 5minBillings Farm and MuseumA working Jersey dairy since 1871. Go in spring for the calves.
- 5minMarsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical ParkVermont's only national park, with carriage roads up through the old forest.
- 6minMount TomSwitchbacks from the village to an overlook above the whole valley. About an hour up and back.
- 10minSaskadena SixSmall, friendly ski hill in South Pomfret. Lift tickets cost less than in the big resorts.
- 15minQuechee GorgeEast on Route 4. The river cuts about 165 feet down, and the rim trail is an easy walk.
- 15minVINS Nature CenterRescued owls, hawks and eagles, right next to the gorge.
What guests write in the book
We came for foliage and spent most of Saturday on that porch. Dev drew us a map to the Mount Tom overlook on a napkin and it was better than the app.
The Sugarhouse Room with the stove going in February is the coziest I have ever been. Ruth sent us home with a quart of syrup and the granola recipe.
Our third summer in the Hayloft. Our daughter checks on the hens before we have even unpacked the car.
Quiet road, very good beds, and the charger in the barn meant we never thought once about range. Pancakes were the real headline.
Good questions
Anything else, call the house at (802) 457-2186. Ruth answers between breakfast and the afternoon chores.
Can we bring our dog?
Yes, in the Porch Room, which has its own door out to the yard. One well-mannered dog per stay, $35 per stay. Please keep dogs off the beds and away from the hens.
Are children welcome?
Children 8 and up are welcome in every room. The Hayloft has a twin daybed, so it is the room for a family of three. For younger children, call us. Midweek we can often make it work.
Is there parking?
Free parking on the gravel by the barn, one car per room. Dev plows before breakfast in winter. You do not need all-wheel drive, though it helps in mud season.
Do you have EV charging?
One Level 2 charger in the barn with a J1772 plug and a Tesla adapter on the hook beside it. Free for guests. Put your name on the chalkboard by the kitchen door.
What is your cancellation policy?
Cancel 14 days before arrival for a full refund. For stays between September 20 and October 25 it is 30 days. Inside those windows we refund any nights we are able to rebook.
Check availability
Send us your dates and Ruth will write back the same day with what is open, usually before supper. Nothing is charged until you confirm.
Thank you, it is on the kitchen table.
Ruth will write back today with what is open. Keep an eye on your inbox, and the spam folder, just in case.