Irene visited Farmhouse Inn

It has been challenging time for us and many in our community. We give our humble and deeply heartfelt thanks to everyone who helped us in so many ways and in doing so, have been critical to our recovery following a flash flooding of the Ottauquechee River during Hurricane Irene.

The farmhouse basement was flooded with seven feet of rushing muddy river water that permeated everything in the basement with silt and left five inches of muck on the basement floor. Luckily, the water only lapped at the joists but did not rise high enough to enter the first floor. Water was over a foot deep in the garage but only inches deep in the barn. We were forced to close for the foliage season because of damage to the heating, water, electrical, and fire suppression systems that are all in the basement. The fields were covered with sand, silt, and gravel, portions of the driveway and parking area were eroded into a big rocky muddy hole, and the garden was completely washed away except for the rhubarb, mint, and one fence post.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Irene visited Farmhouse Inn

Video by Hannah

shortly before the flood crested.

The water rose another foot

covering the concrete pad

in front of the barn.

We are grateful to and empowered by scores of friends, neighbors, family members, and many people we have never met before who appeared from near and far to pump water, muck out the basement bucket by bucket, deliver food and water and equipment, grade our fields, offer kind words and moral support, taking care of laundry, providing showers, lending earth moving equipment from shovels to tractors, helping us to close our financial gap, and picking up in other areas of our lives whenever we needed help - including the understanding of those with room reservations that we were forced to cancel.

There is more work to do but progress is being made daily to reopen. Water, power, and partial heat have been restored. The oil tanks luckily did not leak, and have been righted. A hot water tank is expected soon and the furnace and ductwork are being worked on now. Control panels for the fire suppression and alarm systems are on order. There are no more holes in the yard, grass is peaking through the bare spots, water is flowing freely again through the stone culvert, and the garden has new soil and compost. With some more good luck, we expect to be open for Woodstock’s Wassail Weekend (December 9-11).

We could not have considered reopening so soon without the help that we received. The generosity of this community is unmatched and we would like to do what we can to help others in the area who will take longer to recover. From our reopening until the first anniversary of Irene on August 28, 2012, we will donate five percent of our "Inncome" to the Sustainable Woodstock Flood Relief Fund.

Vermonters are as tenacious as rhubarb and mint. With hard work and lots of diesel, roads were restored quickly and the area was ready to welcome foliage visitors. We are looking forward to seeing you and are sure that you will enjoy your visit to Woodstock!