High on Mansfield, Stone Hut rebuilding starts

The Stone Hut, built in 1936, burned down last Christmas Eve, after some friends left wet logs leaning against the woodstove. The original structure would have turned 80 this year, and now state forestry officials hope it’ll be ready to rent again this coming ski season.

This week, rafters were flown in to the flank of Vermont’s highest peak, and crews got cranking on the project. Morristown contractor Donald P. Blake Inc. was awarded the construction contract. Work is expected to cost $276,000.

After the state pays a $100,000 deductible, Spaulding said, insurance on the building will pay for all construction, other than some non-code improvements in the plans. Those include extra safety features that the insurance company deemed above and beyond what was strictly necessary, but which state officials wanted to help prevent another accident.

In a way, the collaborative spirit of the Vermont unit of the Civilian Conservation Corps that erected the original Stone Hut in 1935-36 is alive in the re-build.

A woodworking school in Cambridge is taking care of the interior furnishing. Walker Construction is laying down a concrete floor with a modern drainage system; it will be covered by a wood floor very similar to the original, so skiers and riders won’t even know what’s underneath.

A granite-industry stalwart out of Barre, John Pelkey, carefully sandblasted all the soot that had covered the stone walls during the fire, to the point you can barely tell there was fire damage.

Stowe’s Matt Parisi is handling the masonry work, although the exterior looks remarkably unchanged. Spaulding said state officials were happy to see, a few days after the fire, that the walls could be stabilized for the winter.

Ironwood Precision from Johnson is handling the windows, one of those “I know a guy” discoveries after the initial estimate for window replacement came in at more than $50,000. Another local man prepared the roof beams, using spruce logs that he hand-stripped of their bark for that rustic look.

Overseeing the architectural design is Northern Architects of Burlington.

“This is a really local affair,” Spaulding said. “I’m psyched to see this happening.”

Fans of the Stone Hut should have no problem recognizing the new building, which will be as rustic and rugged as the original. That means no electricity and no heat, save the woodstove.

The choice of woodstove was a sensitive point, since it was the source of the fire that gutted the original hut last December. The new one will be steel, not cast-iron, and it will have a glass door. There are also plans to improve the woodshed, to keep the fuel drier.

Jake and Donna Carpenter of Stowe, founders of Burton Snowboards, had the place rented last year when the fire broke out. Their sons and some friends had taken some wet firewood into the hut, placed it against the woodstove to dry out, and then skied away, in the belief someone would be using the place that night. That next guest never arrived, and the hut went up in smoke.

The Carpenters donated $150,000 toward rebuilding the Stone Hut. Including that money, Vermont Parks Forever, a foundation that raises money for Vermont State Parks, has $162,000 in gifts toward rebuilding the Stone Hut.

If the rebuilt hut is ready for the coming ski season, one thing will be different, at least for the first year. The state has put a moratorium on the lottery system used to determine who gets to spend the night at one of Vermont’s most exclusive overnight spots.