visit
newfane
Some things in Newfane require
just a wee bit of prior planning
to be in the right place at the
right time. For example, there’s
Olallie Daylily Garden on Auger
Daylilies at Olallie Daylily Garden
44 manchester life | manchesterlifemagazine.com
rooms at Four Columns on the
green; five beautiful rooms with
private baths at the secluded
Fieldstone Lodge, an estate
overlooking the babbling
brook that runs the length of
West Street; and, for all the
adventuresome souls who drive
around with pup tents and
sleeping bags in their trunks,
there are many quiet and
shaded sites at Kenolie Village
Campground. The campsite
has flush toilets, hot showers,
and laundry facilities. There
are sites for RVs and trailer-
campers, offering all the extra
amenities, too. The newest place
to sleep over in South Newfane
is Treehouse Village Inn—yes,
it has an A-frame treehouse that
was featured on Animal Planet’s
cable television show Treehouse
Masters. There are also five rooms
in the inn.
The Four Columns, Newfane Village, est. 1832
Hole Road in South Newfane—
although there are blooms from
late June through September,
there is a mind-blowing peak
moment around mid-summer
when it is as close to Monet’s
gardens at Giverny as ever
a garden could be. There are
six acres of color, color, color,
and there is no fee to walk the
garden paths. Olallie, too, has
an irresistible pick-your-own
blueberry patch. For a truly
memorable visit, aim to be in
Newfane for the Rock River
Artists Open Studio Tour, held
every summer during the third
week of July. It is also free, and
the self-guided map leads tour-
goers up and down Newfane’s
back roads and country lanes
to 14 of the most inspired
potters, painters, photographers,
woodworkers, and craftspeople
now working in Vermont.
Finding the studios is half the
fun, and visiting one-on-one
with these talented artists
becomes, for some, a once-in-a-
lifetime moment.
If there is one true thing about
Newfane it is this: the town has
all the scenic “photo ops” anyone
would ever want in Vermont. The
iconic white clapboard churches,
the commanding courthouse,
the wooden covered bridge, the
old country store, the maple
trees, the forested hills—in other
words, it is the perfect picture-
postcard visitors seek. Another
truth is that nearly every day in
Newfane begins to feel special for
those who will stop long enough
to tap its historical roots, and
who will readily blend in a little
bit with the community. It’s that
kind of place. Life in this old
shire town is truly as idyllic as it
appears to be. •