Trapp Family Lodge

Background

The Trapp family was largely fictionalized in the 1959 musical The Sound of Music, which was loosely based on the 1949 book The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria von Trapp. The musical was adapted for the 1965 film The Sound of Music, which won five Academy Awards including Best Picture. Maria and her husband, Baron Georg von Trapp, had left Austria shortly after its annexation by Nazi Germany in 1938 and settled with their family in Vermont in 1942. Baron von Trapp died in 1947.

History

In 1950, the family began operating their expanded home as a 27-room ski lodge.

The facility was destroyed by fire on December 20, 1980, forcing 45 people to flee in their nightclothes, including Baroness von Trapp. The body of a guest was found later in the rubble. A new Austrian-style lodge with 73 rooms was opened in December 1983.

After the death of Maria von Trapp in 1987, 32 family members shared ownership of the lodge. Johannes von Trapp, her youngest child, served as President of the corporation. Family members were concerned about Johannes' unauthorized acquisition of a ranch in New Mexico with corporate funds, and sought to sell their shares. Departing family members were displeased with the share price proposed and fought back with legal proceedings about the amount to be paid to them in exchange for their shares; the lawsuit reached the Vermont Supreme Court. The court awarded an additional $2.2 million, plus interest, to the family members who filed the lawsuit.

, the main lodge had 96 rooms and suites; the facility also featured "100 timeshare guesthouses and 14 fractional-ownership villas".

In February 2025, the facility's name was changed from Trapp Family Lodge to von Trapp Family Lodge & Resort.

, leadership of the facility includes Kristina von Trapp Frame, director and executive vice president; Walter Frame, director and chief operating officer; and Philip Haigh, hotel director. Kristina is the daughter of Johannes von Trapp.

Facilities

The lodge offers cross country skiing and mountain biking trails, fitness center, tennis courts, pools, and wagon and sleigh rides. The lodge houses a restaurant, lounge, and gift shop. As a working farm, they produce their own maple syrup, raise Scottish Highland cattle, chickens, pigs, and grow their own vegetables for use in their restaurants.

The meadow at the lodge was one of the principal sites for the annual Vermont Mozart Festival.

Cross-country skiing

During the winter of 1968–69, Johannes von Trapp, then president of Trapp Family Lodge Inc., came up with an idea to start cross-country skiing trails at the lodge. , there were 67 km of groomed trails and 100 km of un-groomed trails throughout the property.

von Trapp Brewing

Main article: von Trapp Brewing

In 2010, the lodge began to brew beer, initially under the name Trapp Lager. Now named von Trapp Brewing, it annually produces approximately 60000 USgal of traditional German- and Austrian-style lagers. In 2016, the von Trapp Bierhall opened down the hill from the Lodge, serving food and beverages.

Family cemetery

A cemetery in the grounds of the lodge contains the graves of several family members, including Maria and Georg.

References

References

1. "Lodging".
2. Ransom, Candice F.. (2002). "Maria Von Trapp: Beyond the Sound of Music". Carolrhoda Books.
3. Trapp, Maria A.. (2001-12-24). "The Story of the Trapp Family Singers". William Morrow Paperbacks.
4. "Music: Family Life in Vermont," ''TIME'' magazine (July 18, 1949)
5. (July 14, 1997). "Tribute to Baron von Trapp Joined by Country He Fled". The New York Times.
6. (June 25, 1968). "Addition to Trapp Family Lodge Nears Completion". The Burlington Free Press.
7. (December 21, 1980). "'Sound of Music' inn gutted by fire, 1 dies". [[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]].
8. (November 8, 1981). "Trapp Lodge Sued by Widow Over Husband's Death in Fire". The New York Times.
9. Blumenthal, Ralph. (December 19, 1983). "Trapp Family's Hills Are Alive Once Again". [[Rutland Herald]].
10. (1999). "In re 75,629 Shares of Common Stock of Trapp Family Lodge, Inc. (97-175); 169 Vt. 82; 725 A.2d 927". [[Vermont Supreme Court]].
11. (January 18, 1999). "Trapp Lodge Loses Payment Appeal". [[Rutland Herald]].
12. Muther, Christopher. (March 7, 2025). "The hills are alive … with the sound of rebranding and renovation at the Trapp Family Lodge".
13. "Our Manager".
14. "Trapp Family Lodge".
15. (2010-12-23). "Vermont Mozart Festival calls it quits". Stowe Reporter.
16. McCormack, Lisa. (September 27, 2007). "Sam von Trapp back in family business".
17. Marshall, Hannah. (2016-09-14). "Prost! Von Trapp Brewing's new Bierhall offers good cheer and beer". Stowe Today.
18. "The von Trapp Story from Stowe, VT". trappfamily.com.