Bunking with one of Mr. Sikorsky’s Birds
“You slept right next to WHAT? 2/3ds of a helicopter? in a ‘cottage,’ you say? How can that be?”
Such were the questions we were asked by friends, and we pulled out photos to show them.
But first, backing up a bit, we were invited to the wedding of our friends’ daughter, at Winvian Resort in Litchfield Hills, CT. There is a main complex of several buildings, including a spa, but what is fascinating is that there are 19 other buildings called cottages, each one different, each one the product of a different designer with a different chosen theme. The cottages are named and grouped by ‘tiers,’ in increasing rates for occupancy. Tier 1: Golf, Industry, Music, Secret Society. Tier 2: Artists, Camping, CT Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Hadley, Helicopter, Library, Log, Maritime, Stable, Stone, Treehouse. Tier 3: Beaver, Charter Oak, Greenhouse, Woodlands.
Three examples: The Treehouse, for example, is just that: It sits up high off the ground. The Charter Oak has a silo, which is the bedroom, at one end of the cottage. Woodlands has a natural stone waterfall and sinks crafted from tree trunks.
Winvian is about two hours by car from both New York City or Boston, on 113 acres surrounded by the 4000-acre White Memorial Foundation, where hiking, horseback riding, snowshoeing, and biking by season are available, to name a few of about 30 indoor and outdoor total activities available by going online.
My wife and I stayed in the Helicopter Cottage. I paced off the length of the building at about 46.’ All but 42’ of that are occupied by most of a vintage about 1990 according to an airport chart left in it, of a Sikorsky U.S. Coast Guard helicopter from nose back to a cutoff of the tail. In the body are a DVD, TV, and bar setup. The entrance is on the right side of the body with steps leading into it. An observer’s position behind the cockpit has a seat and open window where visitors may sit and have their picture taken. I noted that the helicopter must have been last operated in the late 1990’s era from the date on a U.S. Terminal Procedures Publication (called Approach Plates) for the Northeast states left at that location’s little table.
Directly opposite that is the visitors’ bed in an inset, and other amenities such as a Jacuzzi, half bath, shower, and double vanity are arranged along the left side.
The wedding took place over two days, some of it outside, some inside a clear plastic covered tent, and a delicious breakfast was provided in the main house each morning.
Interested in flying in? Robertson Airport (3600’ runway) is not far, and we were told Oxford Airport (5000’) is about 25-30 minutes away. Also, for anyone with access to a chopper, a helipad is about 5 minutes down the road from the inn. Winvian’s mailing address is 155 Alain White Road, Morris, Connecticut 06763, and phone is 860-567-9600, or, go online.
by Herb Hill