One of
the most enchanting inns in the State of Vermont has the
most perplexing name. “Everyone asks where ‘Reluctant
Panther’ comes from, and everyone has a different story,”
says Peter Sharpe who, together with his partner Jeff Ferrar,
owns the 20-room property in Manchester Village. “According
to one version, the panther refers to the rarely seen
catamount (a kind of mountain lion) who is indigenous to
Vermont.
But
what makes the panther reluctant? Peter didn’t know. A
couple we had dinner with offered a story they’d heard about
a dispute over the border of Vermont and New York during
colonial times and the panther-like creature up in the
mountains of Vermont who was reluctant to give up his home
when the New York boundary was extended. Or something like
that. Who cares? The Reluctant Panther makes for a
memorable name.
The
site is memorable too. Until 1897, it was the locale of the
historic Green Mountain Tavern where Ethan Allen and his
Green Mountain Boys planned their campaigns against
intrusive New Yorkers seeking land grants and afterwards the
British enemy during the American Revolution. It was not
until the 1960’s that the Reluctant Panther came on the
scene. At that time, its owners, in keeping with the tenor
of the times, painted the exterior a shade of dazzling
purple. If some locals looked askance at such an outrageous
violation of New England tradition , the oddly colored inn
made for a useful landmark especially for visitors needing
directions around the quintessential New England village.
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Today,
a stylized figure of a purple panther set into the
signpost outside what is now a pristine-white
exterior along West Street and little panther icons
serving as decorative designs on menus, stationery
and such are the sole remaining referents to a
colorful past.
But
when we came down for breakfast on a beautiful June morning,
looked out the window to the garden behind the dining room,
and saw clumps of irises beside a stream at the height of
their “deep purple” bloom along with an abundance of
lace-like lilacs in shades ranging from pale lavender to
blue-violet hanging from heavily leaved branches, the color
purple – for the moment, at least -- was still very much a
part of the Reluctant Panther experience. |
Turning
from the view -- a difficult task given the floral display,
the spray of water shooting up from the center of a sizeable
pond, a little white bridge crossing the stream, and a
backdrop of the Green Mountains in the distance topped by
imposing Mount Equinox -- we were enjoying a full American
breakfast (a welcome rarity in this day of the standard
breakfast buffet) served on delicate Villeroy and Boch china
when Peter Sharpe joined us for coffee.
This is Peter’s
second year at the Reluctant Panther which he acquired in
March 2010. “There is a phenomenon that occurs in Vermont
which we call the Bob Newhart syndrome,” he told us (an
allusion to a popular television series that depicted the
misadventures of a sophisticated New Yorker who takes over a
New England inn), “where people from New York or Dallas or
any cosmopolitan area say ‘Let’s chuck the corporate life
and open an inn in Vermont.’ They don’t realize it’s a
whole different world from staying in great places to
actually running them.
“The previous
owners bought this property at the height of the market in
2005. They had done well in the corporate life, and now
wanted to run a country inn. They looked all over before
settling on the Reluctant Panther which had a lot of charm
and character although it was hopelessly outdated. Then,
within 30 days of buying it, they had a stroke of
extraordinary bad luck – the main building burned to the
ground. They decided to go ahead and rebuild. By the time
they brought it back on line, it was late 2007, just when
the market crashed.”
Peter paused, took a
sip of coffee, then continued, “I’m the third generation of
hoteliers in my family. We had the Carlyle, the Stanhope,
the Gotham and the Roger Williams in New York. My
grandmother had owned the Beverly Wilshire in L.A. So I
knew the business. I live nearby, in Weston and had been
looking all over Vermont for a country inn. |

Peter Sharpe, co-owner of the Reluctant Panther |
“When I saw this
place, I felt it could easily stake out the high ground in
the tourist market. Jeff came on board, and we worked it out
with the previous owners. As soon as we closed the deal, we
began renovation, starting slowly by upgrading the
bathrooms. It was our intent to keep the historic ambience
while adding all the improvements a contemporary property
requires.”
Judging by our
accommodations, their goal has been met. We slept in a room
with antique cupboards standing against walls painted hunter
green. A free-standing gas-fired fireplace, open on both
sides and offering atmosphere as much as warmth, divided the
sleeping from sitting areas. The king-sized bed was deep,
outfitted with fine linens, piled high with luxuriant
pillows and covered with a paisley spread that mixed
autumnal shades of dark green, sienna, persimmon, and burnt
orange. In the sitting area comfortable chairs and ottomans
upholstered in a soft fabric were the color of cinnamon. The
up-to-date bathroom combined black marble surfaces with wood
trim and pewter fixtures in a colonial design. If the
ambience was 19th century, the comfort level was 21st .
Small touches
throughout the inn: beamed ceilings, art reflective of
historic themes (we were fascinated by the collection of
David Roberts drawings based on his 19th century trips to
Egypt and Palestine that hung along a public hallway),
motifs from the world of hunting, fly-fishing, and New
England woodlands all contributed to a sense of time and
place. On the other hand, the dining room was streamlined
with sand-colored walls, simple high-back chairs of black
leather, unadorned white table linens.
“When we took over,
the dining room was in trouble,” said Peter. “We had to
improve the dining experience and, at the same time, reach
out to the community. So we installed a price-fixe menu
during the week which is more affordable and attracts local
traffic. Then we introduced a raw bar – there’s nothing else
like it in Manchester. It’s set up on the patio (accessed
through the dining room) and opens at 3 o’clock in the
afternoon. People come in, order a bottle of champagne to go
with the oysters, and chances are 80% they’ll stay for
dinner. The patio’s floor is Danby marble, the seating is
comfortable, the scenery beautiful. And should there be a
chill in the air, we take out the fire pit.”
Our plans precluded
our staying around for dinner, but apparently the restaurant
has proved a lure. Focusing on locally grown products when
in season and American cuisine, it offers such preparations
as wild mushroom risotto that makes use of local trumpet
mushrooms and black autumn truffles, cornmeal-dusted
soft-shell crabs, roasted beets and house-made ricotta,
dill-scented grilled salmon, and sesame crusted seared ahi
tuna – all eminently appealing choices.
“We don’t view the
Reluctant Panther as a country inn, a bed and breakfast.
Instead we see it as a small boutique luxury hotel,” Peter
said. “From the start, we decided to stake out the top end
of the market.” Mission accomplished!
The Reluctant
Panther39 West Road
Manchester Village, VT 05254
Phone: 800-822-2331
802-362-2568
Photographs by
Harvey Frommer |