Mad River Valley | Vermont’s Snow Globe

The buildings of the historic Joslin homestead in Waitsfield were restored in 1988–1992 as a B&B, The Inn at Round Barn Farm. The property’s most prominent feature, at far right in this photo, is the now-rare 12-sided barn, based on a Shaker design.
Credit: Corey Hendrickson There’s a valley for every pair of hills in Vermont, but seldom do you get the sense of “valleyness” that you do here, where the Northfield Mountains to the east, and the steep spine of the Greens to the west, cradle the realm that lies along the Mad River, this valley’s keel. It’s a remarkably self-contained little world, and under the bright blue dome of a January sky, a snow globe is just what it seems. The two towns of Waitsfield and Warren anchor the heart of the Mad River Valley. (Fay­ston, Moretown, and Duxbury are the other Valley towns.) Tiny Warren, just off the southern end of the stretch of Route 100 that follows the river, is defined by two institutions: The Warren Store, one of those Vermont general stores that sells sandwiches and designer clothes on the same ancient, wood-heated premises, and the posh Pitcher Inn, with its renowned restaurant and wine cellar, and guestrooms each designed by a different architect. Waitsfield, seven miles north, is busier. At its heart is the 1833 Village Bridge, also known as the Big Eddy Bridge, second oldest in Vermont still in use. There was more than a big eddy here in late August 2011, when Tropical Storm Irene made the normally mildly irascible river truly Mad. But the bridge survived—as did the nearby block of shops and restaurants—though one building had to be nudged back onto its foundation. A block away, on the corner of Route 100, the yellow-brick Joslin Memorial Library is a place where, according to a local guide, you’ll find “even the occasional dog.”