One day soon, we’ll have someone who knows how to do more than point, shoot and ask the room to say “cheese!”.  Until then, here are a few room photos. We’ll call them candids.

Room Seven:

Room Seven’s bath:

Room Six:

Room Two:

Welcome to the official Blue Horse Inn blog!  This is where you’ll find the low down on what’s happening in and around the BHI.

Things here have been busy; we’re working hard to get the inn ready for our June 2010 grand opening.  We’ll be posting shots of the different projects around the inn in the coming weeks, but first we thought you might like to know a little bit about us. Here we are at the BHI after a day of ripping out tile and installing shoe molding:

We make the animals do most of the work.

And here’s an article about us from The Vermont Standard that we thought you might enjoy. It was written by our very kind neighbor, Hasse K. Halley.

Woodstock Welcomes Our New Neighbors

The Blue Horse Inn (AKA) Number Three Church Street and (AKA) The Lauren has a new name and four new proprietors: Peter, Anna, Ben, and Keri. These two energetic couples are living their dream with energy, imagination, creativity and a whole lot of savvy business sense. So let’s meet our newest neighbors in Woodstock.

Couple Number One: Peter and Anna Kolchinsky:

Peter Kolchinsky grew up in the Boston area, studied biology at Cornell, and has a PhD in Virology from Harvard. He currently manages a fund that invests in healthcare and biotechnology companies. Peter’s wife, Anna, grew up in Germany, Austria, and France, and came to Boston to attend Wellesley College. She received a Masters degree in TV production at Boston University and worked in film production in Berlin for several years before returning to Boston, where she met Peter. She’s currently earning her PhD in European History at Boston College.
Couple Number Two: Ben Ford and Keri Cole:

Ben Ford was born and raised in Ames, Iowa. He studied philosophy at Oregon State University and then earned a law degree from the University of Oklahoma. After serving in the US Air Force JAG Corps, Ben worked at a private law firm and in Massachusetts state government. He currently works with the State and Local Government Practice Group of the consulting firm Accenture. Ben’s wife, Keri, grew up on a red dirt road in small-town Georgia. She received her bachelor’s degree from Furman University in South Carolina in Philosophy and Asian Studies. She has a Masters in theological studies from Harvard Divinity School and began doctoral work in Buddhist studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Keri is currently the Chair of the Religious Studies department at St. Paul’s School for Girls in Baltimore, Maryland. Keri is also a writer and is currently working on a Southern gothic novel.

Anna and Peter discovered Woodstock through Anna’s participation at the GMHA dressage events. They fell in love with the historic character and natural beauty of the area and, as they met more of the town’s residents, realized that Woodstock was a community that they would like to be part of. Anna and Peter originally hoped to find a vacation home that was big enough to share with friends and family and looked at the inn more out of curiosity than with any real intention to purchase it. But, as it often does, chance overrode plan, and they both fell in love with the property on the first visit. “We loved the idea of having a second home that was also an inn, but we figured our friends and family would try to talk us out of it,” said Anna. So they invited their close friends Keri and Ben up for what they expected to be a reality check. To their delight, Keri and Ben, long-time city dwellers, were immediately taken with the town and the inn, and they, too, embraced the vision of a life filled with New England hospitality, nature, and, adds Ben, “equal parts fly fishing and snow shoveling”. Thus, plans for a second home for two quickly gave way to a new dream and a substantial life-style change for four.

The name for the inn was Anna’s inspiration; The Blue Horse Inn speaks both to her German heritage and her love of art and horses. “One of my favorite paintings is from the ‘Blue Horses’ series by the German painter Franz Marc”, Anna explained, and, of course, horses were what brought the couple to Woodstock in the first place.

Our new neighbors have a vision for The Blue Horse Inn and have already started on renovations to make the house as vibrant from the outside as it is on the inside. They know that 3 Church Street is part of Woodstock’s history and hope to create a place where not only guests but also the community will feel welcome. In addition, they want to provide guests with ample opportunities to enjoy local arts, food, and activities and look forward to collaborating with local artists, craftsmen, and business owners to come up with interesting packages.

Coming from diverse backgrounds and interests, the foursome sees Woodstock as a venue for exploring their particular passions. “I would love for [the Blue Horse Inn] to be the kind of place that a writer just starting on a novel escapes to for hospitality and inspiration”, Keri said, adding that she hopes the new business still allows her some time for her own writing. Anna is excited about introducing her dressage horse Jurist to the local network of trails. Ben, a storyteller and football aficionado, looks forward to evenings of camaraderie with locals and inn guests. As for Peter, “As soon as we get the house in order, I’m looking forward to some fishing.  Ben’s got me beat so far by three perch and a bass and I’m trying to catch up”.

The foursome plans to open for guests in the late spring of 2010. In the interim, they plan to invite local folks in to see the changes, try out some wines, and make new friends. “We’re not in a rush”, Anna explained, “and want to take some time to get to know the town.  Everyone has been so generous with us, sharing advice and stories, and we hope that what we do with the inn will come to reflect the spirit of this wonderful community.”

As for their long-term goals, Peter and Ben are determined to figure out how to maintain the house themselves, from the roof to the plumbing, by the time they retire. Anna and Keri hope their husbands don’t electrocute themselves in the process. Peter, Anna, Ben and Keri can be found busily working at The Blue Horse Inn most weekends, often with friends and family, and invite the neighbors to stop in and say hello.