Luxury Hotels Atlas / Places / United States / Barnard / Twin Farms
Twin Farms
Barnard, Vermont, United States · Independent · Apex Luxury
Sinclair Lewis bought this Barnard farm for $10,000 on impulse in 1928, after journalist Dorothy Thompson agreed to marry him only if he found her a Vermont farm with orchards and delicious air. Twin Farms became their warm-weather base, and Thompson, an early opponent of Hitler, gathered European refugees here through the 1930s. Today it is an all-inclusive 300-acre retreat with a private ski slope and interiors by Jed Johnson, with Hockney, Twombly and Johns on the walls.
- 20 rooms
- Opened 1993
- Neighborhood: Vermont/Barnard
- Rooms from 900 sq ft (84 m²)
About Twin Farms
- Nobel Prize-winning novelist Sinclair Lewis bought the Barnard farm for $10,000 on impulse in 1928 after journalist Dorothy Thompson agreed to marry him only if he found her a Vermont farm with orchards and 'delicious air.'
- Twin Farms became the warm-weather base for Lewis and Thompson, America's most prominent female journalist and an early opponent of Hitler, who gathered European refugees at the farm through the 1930s.
- Interiors by the late Jed Johnson, whose clients included Andy Warhol, incorporated works by David Hockney, Cy Twombly, and Jasper Johns into the resort's art collection.
- The 300-acre all-inclusive retreat offers a private ski slope for the exclusive use of guests, one of the only country-house resorts in America with on-site alpine skiing.
- Forbes Travel Guide has rated Twin Farms Five Stars for over eighteen consecutive years, and the MICHELIN Guide awarded it Two Keys in 2025.
History
The farmhouse at the center of Twin Farms was built around 1795, when the Vermont countryside was still being settled by families from southern New England who pushed north into the forested hill country between the Connecticut River Valley and the Green Mountains. The property in Barnard — rolling pasture, old orchards, stonewalls, birches and maples — changed hands over the following century before passing into the ownership of E.F. Connett, a New York landowner who maintained a summer retreat on the 300-acre farm.
In 1927 Nobel Prize-winning novelist Sinclair Lewis first met journalist Dorothy Thompson at a dinner party in Berlin celebrating her birthday and her divorce; he proposed immediately, over and over again, until she finally agreed the following year when his own divorce was finalized. She told him she would marry him if he bought her a farm in Vermont with sweeping lawns, orchards, and "delicious air." In September 1928, newly married and arrived from Europe, they visited Connett's Vermont property and Lewis, on impulse, offered $10,000 on the spot for a farm that Connett accepted without negotiation. The couple named the property Twin Farms, after its two farmhouses on opposite sides of a valley, and moved in without electricity.
Twin Farms became the warm-weather base of one of the great literary and journalistic partnerships of the twentieth century. Lewis wrote here; Thompson, the most prominent female journalist in America and a fierce early opponent of Hitler, gathered European refugees and intellectuals at the farm through the 1930s as the continent darkened. The couple's marriage unraveled through the late 1930s; Thompson filed for divorce in early 1942 and was awarded the farm. She remained at Twin Farms with her third husband, Czech painter Maxim Kopf, until his death in 1958; Dorothy Thompson died in 1961 and is buried in a Barnard cemetery. Lewis had died in Rome in 1951, never having found another place that felt like home.
After Dorothy Thompson's death the property changed hands several times, eventually operating as Sonnenberg Haus, an inn known for fine dining, until Hawaii businessman and art collector Thurston Twigg-Smith acquired it in 1973 as a family retreat. By the late 1980s the Twigg-Smiths could visit only a few weeks a year and decided to share the estate as a bed-and-breakfast. The first nine rooms of Twin Farms opened in 1993, with interiors by the late Jed Johnson, whose clients included Andy Warhol; the art collection included works by David Hockney, Cy Twombly, and Jasper Johns. The resort grew steadily through additional cottages, a spa with glass-brick steam rooms, and finally a private ski slope for the exclusive use of guests.
Today Twin Farms occupies 300 acres with 28 individually designed cottages and suites, all-inclusive dining under chef Nathan Rich in a farm-to-table idiom, and a 20,000-bottle wine cellar. Forbes Travel Guide has rated it Five Stars for over eighteen consecutive years. The MICHELIN Guide awarded it Two Keys in 2025.
The setting
Barnard, Vermont — rolling farmland between Woodstock and Killington. 1 mile from Silver Lake. 8 miles from Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park.
Restaurants and bars
- Twin Farms Dining Room — Restaurant · Chef Nathan Rich
Experiences
- The Onsen — Private 104°F salt water onsen in the Shou Sugi Ban House in the woods, advanced reservation required.
- Wine cellar — Wine cellar of 15,000 bottles from which guests choose a vintage.
- Alpine Skiing — Six groomed private trails closed to the public, reached by Viking tracked UTV or touring equipment, when weather permits.
- Ice Skating — Skating on Copper Pond, smoothed by a mini Zamboni, with skates provided.
- Art History Tour — Guided tour of the ca. 1795 Main House and its works by artists including Milton Avery, Jasper Johns, William Bailey and David Bates.
- Bicycling — Cruisers, hardtails and pedal-assist mountain bikes on multi-use trails, including a hybrid ride nine miles to Woodstock.
Amenities
- All-inclusive
- Spa
- Skiing
- Snowshoeing
- Canoeing
- 20 individual cottages and rooms
- Sauna
- Steam room
- Hot tub
- Fitness center
- Tennis
- Pet-friendly
- Adults-only
Awards
- Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star (2026)
- MICHELIN Two Keys (2026)
- Andrew Harper Members Choice (2025)
- Condé Nast Traveller Readers' Choice Awards (2025)
- Vermont's Leading Resort 2025 (World Travel Awards) (2025)
Open Twin Farms in the atlas for live weekend rates, photos, and the full folio.