Scenic and Sublime: Vermont’s Champlain Valley

Against a historical backdrop of prosperity and reinvention, the cultural institutions and the unique identity of the Champlain Valley draw visitors from around the world to its galvanizing beauty and fabulous material culture. Join the Decorative Arts Trust as we explore northwestern Vermont, where a harsh winter will give way to luxuriously long summer days, allowing ample time for exploration and relaxation in equal measure. Beckoning us are verdant valleys and the glittering shores of Lake Champlain. Nestled between the Green Mountains and the Adirondacks, it was named for the first French explorer who came there in 1609. The Champlain Valley is multicultural: Native, French, and British, often in conflict, and sometimes allied. The richness of this hybridity serves as the foundation for a summer Sojourn where we dig deeper than maple syrup, ski resorts, and dairy farms to reveal a special corner of New England where decorative arts and architectural traditions tell the stories of a region shaped by three centuries of Vermonter visionaries.

This program is sold out. Please contact ccarlisle@decorativeartstrust.org to join the waitlist.

Wednesday, July 16 

Arrive in Burlington and settle into the Hotel Vermont, where modern comfort meets rustic charm.  After a warm welcome, we take to the water for a cocktail cruise on Lake Champlain, offering a first taste of Vermont’s natural splendor. The evening continues with an illuminating lecture by Philip Zea, President Emeritus of Historic Deerfield, co-author of Rich and Tasty: Vermont Furniture to 1850, and our key decipherer of Vermont material culture for the duration of the tour. Our evening concludes with a farm-to-table dining experience where local flavors take center stage.

Included: R, D

Thursday, July 17

We chart a course to the east across the Green Mountains, with our exploration beginning in Richmond at the Old Round Church. This rare 16-sided architectural gem has stood since 1813 and was built by self-taught architect William Rhodes to serve five Protestant denominations. In Barre, the Vermont Historical Society’s Vermont History Center is housed in an 1891 Romanesque Revival school building and its open storage invites us to closely study artifacts and treasures that the institution has collected since its founding in 1838. After a visit to the nearby Hope Cemetery, an outdoor museum of stonework showcasing the artistry of Italian immigrant sculptors, we continue to Montpelier where we lunch at a beloved local restaurant overlooking the Winooski River. Vermont State Curator David Schutz guides us through the grand Vermont State House—a masterpiece of Greek Revival architecture with a glittering gilt dome and well-preserved interiors featuring mid-19th-century lighting fixtures, furnishings, and paintings. A stop at the Vermont Historical Society Museum, housed in a French Second Empire building known as “The Pavilion,” deepens our understanding of the state’s history from 1600 to the present. The day concludes on a sweet note with a behind-the-scenes tour of the first Ben & Jerry’s Factory, where we indulge in Vermont’s most famous frozen treat before returning to Burlington for a leisurely evening.

Included: B, L

Friday, July 18

A scenic drive brings us to Middlebury, a charming village known for its eponymous liberal arts college and deep literary history. Our first stop is the Henry Sheldon Museum, the oldest community-based museum in the United States. Inside this beautifully preserved 1829 Neoclassical brick house, we step into 19th-century Vermont through period furnishings, rare manuscripts, and delicate textiles collected by businessman, historian, and educator Henry Sheldon. A short walk takes us to the Congregational Church of Middlebury, a striking white clapboard church built by Lavius Fillmore in 1809. The magnificent five-tiered spire, soaring 135 feet high, was designed with a flexible frame enabling it to withstand the gale-force winds that occasionally buffet Vermont. Its rectangular interior reaches upward to a cross with a central dome supported by handsome ionic columns, each cut from a single tree on the town green across the street. Lunch awaits at the historic Middlebury Inn, where we dine in an elegant setting that has hosted travelers since 1827. Afterward, we will explore the Middlebury College Museum of Art. Its permanent collection forms one of the finest private collegiate art museums in the country and includes Asian and western art from the 4th millennium BCE to the present. En route back to Burlington, we enjoy a private visit at the Rokeby Museum, a National Historic Landmark that was once a key stop on the Underground Railroad and contains 200 years worth of family belongings. As we tour the 1814 farmhouse and outbuildings, we hear firsthand accounts of the abolitionist Robinson family and the freedom seekers they sheltered.

Included: B, L

Saturday, July 19

Our final day is a deep dive into the astounding collections on view at Shelburne Museum, founded in 1947 by Electra Havemeyer Webb, daughter of the well-known New York collectors Louisine and H.O. Havemeyer. Webb set in motion an institution that came to house one of the finest collections of waterfowl decoys in the country, to say nothing of quilts and embroidery, ceramics, glass, dolls, and circus posters. Add in a handful of the most important French paintings in America (courtesy of Electra’s parents), Vermont furniture, and a major collection of American paintings, and you have Shelburne Museum. The museum campus comprises 39 structures, historic and contemporary, housing 100,000 objects set among 22 gardens—a rare amalgam designed to provoke wonder, engender learning, and delight. We are welcomed by Director Tom Denenberg and accompanied by the museum’s superb curatorial staff. Our visit includes lunch and a special Object Study of the works of Marie Zimmermann, another trailblazing woman in the early 20th century. Zimmermann, a designer and maker of jewelry, metalwork, and woodwork in the Arts and Crafts style, continuously experimented and refined her approach, building a repertoire of pieces that harmoniously integrate various media. We are privileged to study the private collection of a local descendant, and our appreciation will be deepened by the accompaniment of Kim Ahara, decorative arts historian and co-author of The Jewelry and Metalwork of Marie Zimmermann. Afterward, we continue to Shelburne Farms, an education nonprofit located on a grand agricultural estate built by Eliza Osgood Webb, the youngest daughter of William H. Vanderbilt, and her husband William Seward Webb. Together they purchased 33 local farms containing 4,000 acres along Shelburne Point and hired legendary landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted to transform the land into a cohesive whole. We explore the spectacular campus before stepping onto the North Porch of the Inn at Shelburne Farms for sunset drinks with stunning lake views. The Inn is housed within the Webb’s estate, a Queen Anne-style country house designed by Robert Robertson. Our journey culminates with a farewell dinner in the elegant East Dining Room, where Gilded Age grandeur provides the perfect setting for our final evening together.

Included: B, L, D

Sunday, July 20

Guests depart for Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport or continue travels at their leisure.

Included: B

Philip Zea became President and CEO of Historic Deerfield, Inc. in Deerfield, MA, in 2003, retiring in 2021. He was employed previously by Historic Deerfield for 18 years, concluding as Deputy Director and Chief Curator. He then relocated to Virginia as Curator of Furniture at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation before returning northward to serve from 2001 to 2003 as Vice President for Museums and Collections at the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (now Historic New England) in Boston. Phil has consulted for many museums on the topics of early furniture, clocks, base metals, folk portraiture, engraved powder horns, and historical interpretation. Phil is currently working on a book for Historic Deerfield (expected 2026) entitled Art of Independence: Engraved Powder Horns in the Revolutionary World, which defines all aspects of this unique artistic expression—one of the few original art forms of colonial America. 

Registration fee: $3,500 per person, which includes hotel accommodations, plus all lectures, tours, breakfasts (B), lunches (L), receptions (R), dinners (D), and transportation referenced above. Participants may elect to make an additional donation to the Trust’s Emerging Scholars Program through registration.

Not included in the trip cost: Airfare, airport transfers other than specified above, alcoholic beverages other than when provided, personal expenses, and trip insurance. Please do not make your airline reservations until you have received written confirmation of your registration from the Trust.

Single supplement: The single supplement is $750.

Membership: All participants must be members of the Decorative Arts Trust. Click here to see membership levels and benefits.

Itinerary: The schedule, sites, and events outlined in this itinerary are subject to change as necessary.

Participation: The program is limited to a maximum of 25 participants and requires a minimum of 15. We will organize and maintain a waiting list on the basis of the time requests are received. The Trust’s itineraries are planned with care and attention to detail to ensure a memorable and rewarding experience for all participants. This itinerary includes standing for long periods of time, walking on uneven surfaces, and ascending and descending stairs without handrails. Please consider if this program is suited for your health, physical condition, and individual circumstances.

Cancellations and refunds: All cancellations received by May 2, 2025, are subject to a full refund less a $250 administrative fee per person. Participants canceling between May 3 and June 20, 2025, will receive a 50% refund. Refunds will not be made after June 20, 2025.