Glimmerstone Mansion Closing March 8, 2014

My name is Mary Jane Abbate and I am the owner and primary Chef of the Inn at Glimmerstone Mansion on Route 131 in Cavendish, Vermont.  I purchased this national historic property on October 21, 2010 and began a historic restoration that has truly been a labor of love.  The Inn opened for overnight accommodations in January of 2012 and our pub opened to the public on May 25 of that same year.  Our casual fine dining restaurant opened shortly after in September, 2012.  It has been a long journey and I have met so many wonderful people from all around the world and so many more that live just up the road in the surrounding towns who have come in for dining and music.  It is with great sadness that I announce the closing of Glimmerstone Mansion.

Starting a business along with restoring a 169 year old property by myself has been wonderful but a very difficult thing to accomplish; after all, I am not located in the hub of the Okemo Resort and the town of Ludlow. My buildings are over 8,000 square feet and have offered a variety of 4 dining areas (a comfortable English Style pub, a casual dining room, our outdoor garden patio or in our newly restored barn) making for some steep overhead expenses.   Although I have tried to keep my prices, quality and quantity of each plate moderate and within the average for our area, it has been difficult to sustain the expenses to maintain this property functioning as a business.  Newly unanticipated costs looming because I offer live music, insurance premiums and difficulty finding staff for our growth (and we were growing indeed) are a challenge that make it near impossible to continue to grow to have a thriving business. Both of my daughters have been working at Glimmerstone and together with the staff that we have trained and seasoned, we have made it work thus far but I continue to be a perfect model of the difficulties one suffers when trying to open a small business in this difficult economy.

Glimmerstone will officially close to the public for dining after our last dinner service on Saturday, March 8, 2014.  We will be open on Friday and Saturday evenings from 4:30-9pm with our pub remaining open until 11 pm and we will offer live music each Saturday night until this final date.  I will see out all of my booked overnight reservations and plan to refund all of those individuals who have not used gift certificates purchased or received.

Glimmerstone will become my permanent residence and I will be placing a temporary sign out in front of the yard to identify this change so that the general public will have knowledge.  I thank each and every person who helped contribute toward the short success that the Inn at Glimmerstone Mansion has had and hope that for the time that we were open to the public that this beautiful historic property was enjoyed by all.

I thank you all for your understanding.