Horses, steam locomotives and steam boats were the method of travel. The 3-story building was purchased after foreclosure July 2013. The building was in serious decay. As the owner I was asked by several people why I would ever buy such a building. The warm history and lakeside docks were the main attraction for the building purchase. The building had been sitting closed up for over a year with no
buyers and no successful bidders at foreclosure auctions. The upper two floors had apartments, that were closed due to code violations for at least ten years. The first floor was a long time bar. The building was understood to have a rich history in the area dating back to its original opening in 1903. The building is called the Lake Bomoseen Inn but is known by all as “The Dog.” The building originally opened as a Hotel, and became a well-known bar frequented by local residents and Castleton College students. Many years ago, the building contained the longest bar in Vermont. Students from Castleton College developed a tradition of “Walking the Dog” in senior year of College where they would walk a gauntlet of students across the bar top. This tradition started in the 1960’s and continued until the building closed. Throughout the renovation, people have walked up to me and related stories of how the building impacted their life. A man in his late 80’s walked up to me and described how he worked in the kitchen as a teen with his uncle and slept in a back room during work season. I came upon a woman and her husband with her RV parked in the back. She related attending Castleton University in the 1960’s and wanted to reminisce fond memories to her husband. I will occasionally find people posing for pictures in front of the building. Even when I contacted the power company and the cable company, both operators told me their fondness of the building and noted how many people met their partners there. The atmosphere apparently also had a dedicated raucous group of local patrons. The property came with waterfront dock spaces which was a major reason for the property Purchase. The building apartments have access to the docks for summer use on the lake. The poor condition of the building quickly became apparent and it was stripped to wood framing. Grey aluminum siding was removed and the wood siding restored. The first floor is no longer a public bar. The floor maintains an open plan with the bar used as a kitchen and entertaining feature. Given the fondness by many people for the building, there are plans to also rent the first floor to use for events such has family reunions, catered functions or even business meetings with a maximum of 50 persons. A modern fire sprinkler system and smoke detection is added required for legal use of the apartment floors and for occupant, along with new egress upgrades. A complete new electrical system is with all modern safety and code compliance. The plumbing systems needed complete replacement to provide sanitary conditions for long term residents. The building was uninsulated. Adding insulation to the roof would increase practical snow load on the structure. Furthermore, a structural engineer determined all the floors did not have proper load capacity. Nearly every floor and roof framing member has been reinforced. The upper floors had some serious sagging. The floors were jacked to the maximum extent possible and beams were added while existing beams were reinforced. Proper foundations for basement supports were added. Truly the building is renovated from the bottom up. The building has a well for water that was noted to have a low flow history. Water storage tanks and ultraviolet sterilization were added to ensure adequate supply for the modern plumbing and appliances. A secure video door entry system is added with secure locking doors at each apartment. High efficiency heat pumps are used for each apartment unit with new storm windows for protection of the restored original windows. Each apartment includes a full bathroom, fully appliance kitchen with dishwasher and a washer/dryer. The porch is renovated for a relaxing area to sit outdoors. The original building did not have a porch railing, and one is not required today if the porch is less than 30 inches above the ground. I hired a local excavator company to bring fill in so we could forego installing a railing around the porch. An illegal stair at the rear of the building was removed and replaced with a private balcony for each apartment floor.
