History

Edson Hill Road climbs one of the oldest sections of the original Town of Mansfield, later absorbed into Stowe. At one time there were about 30 farms and homes spread from the Mountain Road in the valley, as far as Wades pasture, long overgrown, to a mile above the Manor. Old furrows in the woods and cellar holes are all that remain.

The original plan for the manor called for a Georgian Colonial mansion by the famous architect, Bottomley. Later, architects Samuel Van Allen of Newport and Wigham of Philadelphia traveled through Canada to study the French provincial style. The result is the Manor, completed in 1940 and enlarged to its present size in 1954.

The brick walls came mostly from the remains of the once famous Sherwood Hotel in nearby Burlington, which was destroyed in the 30s. Old fireplace tile was imported from Holland; some hardware was made by Stowe's Edmund Wells; the brass and the original shingles came from Williamsburg, Virginia. The hewn face of the Manor was broadaxed by Noe Lemaire of Stowe. Most of the living room beams were hewn for Ira and Ethan Allen's barn, which stood in North Burlington for over a century.

The original manor property, built by Vernan Reed, served as a gentleman's estate and retreat for about ten years when it was purchased by Lawrence and Dorothy Heath.