A Brief History
There are few places where today’s traveler can enjoy fine dining and lodging at a setting as rich in history as Marshland Farm. The house, which is now “The Inn,” was built by Colonel Joseph Marsh in 1793.
Colonel Joseph Marsh, IV and his wife Dorothy Mason Marsh, arrived at the
mouth of the White River in 1772, amidst the Land Grant controversies. He
came to this area from Lebanon, Connecticut as a member of the 1777 convention
that declared “New Connecticut” an independent state and changed
the name to Vermont. In 1778, he was elected the first Lieutenant Governor
of Vermont and served in the State General Assembly from 1779-1789 and was
the chief Justice for Windsor County for twelve years. In 1793, at
the age of 67, Marsh built a home… “opposite where the Quechee
River breaks into little islands.” The frame, windows and doors
were brought on rafts from Connecticut. So impressive was his house,
it was referred to as “The Baronial Mansion.” The Lieutenant
Governor called it “Marshland.”
The Lieutenant Governor’s house stayed in the Marsh family for two
more generations. Joseph’s grandson, Daniel mortgaged the property
to Judge John Porter. Judge Porter and his wife, Jane, took possession
of Marshland, complete with widow Marsh in residence in 1846. After
over half of the century at Marshland, both the Porters died in early 1900’s. Marshland
Farm was sold to close out the Porter’s estate. The Leightons
purchased the farm and used it as a lumber mill for over forty years. According
to letters, it seems that “Marshland” was back in the Marsh family
in the mid-1940’s. Charles Dempster Marsh sold the property in
1948 to Stuart George. Mr. George returned the property to its original
use as a dairy farm. The farm had three owners over the next twelve
years, all of them being dairy farmers.
In the 1960’s, the Hartland Dam was enlarged, changing the flood plain
of the Ottauquechee River. All of the properties on the plain had to
be either moved or sold at auctions. Any buildings remaining were to
be burned. Logan Dickey, who owned Marshland Farm at the time, moved
the house and the barn, (one of the longest in Vermont) off the flood plain
by using railroad ties. He continued to operate “Marshland” as
a dairy farm.
The Delaware-based Quechee Lakes Corporation purchased the farm consisting
of approximately four hundred acres from the Dickeys in October of 1968.
The house became the first of many Q.L.C. office locations throughout the
village. By 1975, the demand for overnight accommodations in Quechee
had drastically increased. To meet the need, the corporation converted the
farmhouse into a seventeen-room Inn. Three years later, a Washington
lawyer, Michael Yaroschuk, and his wife, Barbara, purchased the five and
one-half acre lot and Inn in March of 1978. After seven years of Yaroschuk’s
management, and after Michael’s death in March of 1985, The Quechee
Inn was sold to Baron Capital Corporation on April 29, 1985. On January
30, 1995, Rodger W. Perry and his family of Simsbury, Connecticut purchased
the Inn. The Quechee Inn joins other fine inns, resorts and small hotels
that are proud of their history and individuality as part of Rodger’s
Pinnacle Hospitality Group. After a two-year nomination process, Marshland
Farm was designated a National Historic Site on September 3, 1998.
