Views over the Vermont countryside from the antique window at the top of the grand staircase.
beautiful again, it had to be current and relevant to today.”
Archival photographs served as guides for her updated design schemes. In the formal dining room, originally painted blue, she lined the walls with blue floral wallpaper from Schumacher and filled the mahogany cabinets with delft china. In the walk-in safe, still filled with Darling’ s documents and personal correspondence, she unearthed old wallpaper— two whole rolls of it— and, through photos, determined it had once lined the walls of the Egypt Suite( named for its views of the nearby area known as Little Egypt). Six long panels were framed and placed on the walls of the suite, which she rechristened its original name with a bronze plaque on the door.
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Altogether, the renovations took two years—“ and every day there was an oh shit moment,” Jim laughs— but at last, they completed their marvelous manor. The new innkeeper moved into the apartment in the back of the house, ready to take on her role. The first guests arrived that autumn, just as the driveway pavement was drying. Marci and Jim returned to their lives in California.
And that was that. Or so they thought. Six months later, Marci received a call from the innkeeper.“ She didn’ t like it— it was too much work,” she recalls. She was throwing in the towel.“ She gave us nine days’ notice.” For the second time, Jim and Marci raced across the country to save Burklyn. Only this time, there was no choice in it:“ We had to take over,” Marci says.“ It couldn’ t stop. There were reservations, events. There was no hitting the pause button.”
As adept as the couple were at making a beautiful inn, they had almost zero experience in hospitality.“ I was a busboy in Caesar’ s Palace when I was sixteen,” Jim says, with a laugh. No time to lament, they dove in headfirst. Marci, an excellent home cook, expanded the breakfast menus, and even started opening the dining room for dinner. Their kids got involved too: Madison managed the housekeeping team and worked in the restaurant. Jaya took over as events manager and, working with Hilary, still back in California, ran social media accounts. And Michael, the middle son, who had been working for years in the family real estate business, came on as the second-generation innkeeper.
The group effort freed Marci and Jim to consider what else they might do with Burklyn. They hired a professional chef and opened the dining room to the public, first with a series of popular pop-ups and eventually as a full-time restaurant. Jim, an oenophile, crafted an impressive wine list. Meanwhile, Michael realized he had a talent for hospitality and the gift of gab.“ I tell the staff to come grab me if I am talking to someone for more than five minutes, because otherwise I will chat with the guests all night,” he says.
Michael’ s gusto for the innkeeping life has finally allowed Marci and Jim their retirement. Well, call it semiretirement. Many evenings you’ ll find them passing through the parlor, saying hello to guests, checking in on the kitchen staff, reviewing the reservations for the week. Innkeeping may have never been on their life list— not even after they bought Burklyn— and yet somehow, they’ ve comfortably landed right in the midst of it. Often, they’ ll make like guests themselves, walking through the gardens and the apple orchard or sipping a glass of wine on the porch and watching the painterly views over Lake Willoughby Gap. In these moments, all the hard work doesn’ t just feel worth it— it feels like the making of their golden years.“ In a lot of ways, it’ s hard to believe we’ re here, that we achieved all of this, especially during this time of our life,” Marci says.“ But it’ s been one of the most rewarding experiences of our life— and a true honor.” n
Archival photographs showed the dining room painted a royal blue. Marci honored that palette with Pyne Hollyhock floral wallpaper from Schumacher.
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