The Four Columns Inn

A Greek Revival inn on the Newfane village green, reopened in June 2025 with a serious culinary program and an 1832 tavern attached. The Four Columns Inn is one of southern Vermont's older restaurant-with-rooms operations and the relaunch puts it back into the small set of country inns in the state where the dinner is the reason you came and the bed is a bonus.

Fifteen rooms, a spa, and a green-on-the-village-green location that makes most of the property's appeal walkable from the porch.

The setting

Newfane sits in southeastern Vermont, on Route 30 between Brattleboro and the Stratton-Manchester corridor. The village green — common, white church, county courthouse, the inn — is the kind of New England town center that gets put on calendars. Brattleboro is fifteen minutes south on Route 30; Mount Snow is forty-five minutes west on Route 9; Stratton is about an hour northwest.

The drive in along Route 30 follows the West River through small villages and covered-bridge country. The inn fronts the green directly — its four columns are the namesake.

The building

A Greek Revival main house (the four columns are the front portico) attached to an 1832 tavern, the two combined into a single property. The bones are clapboard and timber; the materials palette runs to lime-washed oak, painted plaster, and clapboard porch. The 2025 relaunch was a significant restoration — original detailing preserved, mechanical and bath systems modernized behind the period framing.

Public spaces are organized around the tavern bar (the older end of the property) and the inn's parlor and dining rooms (the newer Greek Revival end). The mood is romantic-country with neo-Victoriana accents.

The rooms

Fifteen rooms across the main house and adjacent buildings. Bed configurations are mostly kings and queens; several rooms have working fireplaces and clawfoot or freestanding tubs. Bathrooms have been redone with tile and brass; bedding is heavier than chain standard. Some rooms face the village green; others face the property's gardens and the spa wing. Rates start around $285, which for a relaunched country inn with a serious dinner program is mid-pack for southern Vermont.

Food & drink

The dining program is the property's main cultural bet. The kitchen runs a regional New England menu with Vermont and Hudson Valley sourcing, with both a tasting and a la carte service in season. The 1832 tavern operates as a casual bar room with a shorter menu. Both rooms are open to non-guests on a reservations basis; weekend tables in foliage and ski-week book out. Breakfast is included for guests.

On the property

The amenity stack is built for foliage, ski-side-trip, and summer stays.

• Spa with treatment rooms
• Restaurant and 1832 tavern, both open to non-guests
• Spa, gardens, and a small property pond
• Skiing forty-five minutes west at Mount Snow; cross-country in town
• Hiking and fishing in the West River corridor in summer
• Open year-round

Who it's for

• Couples doing a foliage or ski-adjacent weekend with serious dinner ambitions
• Repeat southern Vermont visitors who knew the prior Four Columns and are checking the relaunch
• Wine-and-dinner-set travelers — the cellar and the tasting menu are the main draws
• Architects and design visitors who notice the period restoration

Who it's not for

• Skiers who want ski-in/ski-out at Mount Snow — the inn is forty-five minutes from the lifts
• Families with young children who need pool-and-bunk-bed configurations
• Travelers who price-shop southern Vermont at the $200 mark

Nearby

The Newfane village green, the courthouse, and the Williams General Store are out the front door. Brattleboro — the southeastern Vermont small city with restaurants, the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, and the Latchis Theater — is fifteen minutes south. The West River and the Townshend Reservoir handle warm-weather paddling and fishing. Mount Snow and Stratton handle the winter lift program. Adams Farm and Dummerston covered-bridge country are within twenty minutes. For dinner outside the inn, the Whetstone Station in Brattleboro and the bar at Hermitage in Wilmington are the standard alternatives.