Events

Ben Cosgrove Concerts

Through the generosity of The Windham Foundation and in partnership with Brattleboro Music Center, we commissioned a piano composition by traveling composer-performer Ben Cosgrove inspired by our 1849 Dutton Farmhouse property and its iconic surroundings, including Scott Farm Orchard. The artist, whose music explores themes of landscape, place, and environment, stayed at Dutton in different seasons throughout 2024-2025 to develop his piece and performed two concerts in May 2026 - a house concert at Dutton and a larger public concert at BMC - featuring the piece. These were truly one-of-a-kind concert experiences that delivered a unique sonic exploration of our southern Vermont landscape.

Cosgrove wrote a moving essay about his new composition explaining his process and inspiration available here. BCTV also recorded the house concert, which is available to view above.

Snow Golf: Chip, Drive, & Putt for Preservation

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to hit a golf ball in the snow? So did Rudyard Kipling! According to the U.S. Golf Association and historical accounts, Kipling invented Snow Golf right here in Vermont at his Dummerston home - Naulakha - following his introduction to the game by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle of Sherlock Holmes fame. As stewards of Naulakha, we’re excited to bring the game back to life right where it was born for our fun annual winter fundraiser with our friends at Brattleboro Country Club, happening every year in late February.

Players enjoy golf challenges at Scott Farm ranging from Chipping Skeeball to Tic-Tac-Toe to Blind Pick-A-Club and beyond. Prizes are awarded for top scores, best dressed, most honest, and more. Snacks, drinks, food, and our pop up Scott Farm bar make it a perfect winter day.

“Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn” talk with author Thomas C. Hubka

We partnered with Vermont Humanities and Next Stage Arts to bring noted scholar Thomas C. Hubka to speak virtually on his seminal book on one of Northern New England’s most unique and distinct forms of architecture. This engaging talk highlighted the essential components of the stately and beautiful connected farm buildings made by nineteenth-century New Englanders that stand today as a living expression of a rural culture, offering insights into the people who made them and their agricultural way of life. It featured numerous local examples as well as our own Amos Brown House in Whitingham, VT. See the full recording above.

Scott Farm Historic Farmstead and Orchard Tours

We’re not just historic overnight rentals. Scott Farm, our Certified B-Corp working farm, is keeping Vermont’s rural agricultural traditions alive, along with 130 varieties of heirloom apples. We generally offer two walking tours of this very special place as part of Dig In Vermont’s Open Farm Week each August.

The first explores the historic core of the 571-acre farm to learn more about the history of this beautiful and significant landscape, which has been in active cultivation since 1791. From its early days as an all purpose farm, to the construction of the oldest buildings in the 1850s, to the farm's current role as Vermont's premiere heirloom apple orchard, visitors learn how Scott Farm has developed over the years while maintaining it's irreplaceable sense of place.

The second tour is a stroll through the heirloom apple orchard itself to learn about the history of these unique and historic fruits. We discuss orchard ecology, what it takes to manage the farm, and why preserving these heritage varieties is so important. Both tours offer exclusive behind-the-scenes access to the buildings and landscapes of the farm not normally open to the public.

Sugarhouse Open House

On April 1, 2023, The Landmark Trust USA continued our annual property Open House tradition by swinging open the wooden doors of The Sugarhouse for members of the community to explore this beautifully restored icon of Vermont culture.

Partnering with the Vermont Maple Sugar Makers Association’s Maple Open House weekend allowed even more maple sugar lovers to experience the history of the old workhorse that served as Scott Farm’s home of maple syrup production until the 1970s. It was converted into our coziest historic rental property in 2004.

For more information about The Sugarhouse or to book as a short-term vacation rental, please visit our Sugarhouse webpage.

Naulakha Estate and Rhododendron Tour

Each year on the first weekend in June, The Landmark Trust USA invites the public to tour Naulakha, the Dummerston house and gardens of author Rudyard Kipling. Watch a video of a past tour here. Visitors take a self-guided tour when its spectacular rhododendron tunnel is likely to be in bloom. We also offer a special Cocktail Party for a more exclusive experience with the property. The 2027 event will be held June 4-6.

Each Spring, usually in March, we release tickets to see the authentically restored main house where Rudyard Kipling wrote The Jungle Books and Captains Courageous. Visit Kipling's Carriage House where Kipling’s coachman Matthew Howard lived, and the Naulakha Stable, once home to Kipling’s horses Nip and Tuck. Wander the grounds to see the flowers in bloom and the clay tennis court located below Naulakha, among the oldest in Vermont!

“The Many Meanings of Maple in Vermont” Presentation

We were pleased to partner with the Vermont Humanities Council to present this informative and interactive talk by Champlain College professor Michael Lange on how and why maple helps us shape who we are as Vermonters. See the full recording below.

Heirloom Apple Day at Scott Farm

Scott Farm, a property of The Landmark Trust USA, holds its annual Heirloom Apple Day each Indigenous Peoples’ Day weekend. Heirloom Apple Day is a celebration of apples of all shapes, colors, and tastes and their histories and includes free tastings, talks, food vendors, pick-your-own, the Scott Farm Market, and more.

Kids' activities include apple paint prints, corn hole, and Jenga. The event also provides an opportunity for local Brattleboro area nonprofits and producers to share their important messages and products.

Don't forget you can still enjoy these treats with a Gift Box shipped direct to you. Make plans now to join us for Heirloom Apple Day 2025!

Kipling Young Writers Award, Just So Stories

The Landmark Trust USA invited 4th through 6th graders from Windham County, Vermont, to submit their original pieces of creative writing for our annual Rudyard Kipling Young Writers Award. The categories included Narrative (non-fiction), Narrative (fiction), and Poetry. The competition encouraged young writers to show their creativity and take inspiration from Kipling’s stories, although the entries need not follow Kipling’s style. The Landmark Trust USA first launched the Rudyard Kipling Young Writers Award in 2016. Read selected stories here.

In addition, more than 7,000 Vermont students have visited the Vermont home of author Rudyard Kipling over the years to hear a special, free performance of Kipling’s Just So Stories by actor and storyteller Jackson Gillman.

The teachers often discussed Rudyard Kipling and his Just So Story style with their students, asking each child to write their own story inspired by the book.

Dutton Farmhouse Open House

On May 14, 2022, The Landmark Trust USA welcomed the public to tour Dutton Farmhouse, a historic Greek Revival-style farmhouse in Dummerston, VT. The LTUSA beautifully restored this 1849 farmhouse as well as four other Vermont properties.

The property has sweeping views of Scott Farm Orchard, where the apple trees were in bloom, as well as the Connecticut River Valley and Mount Monadnock on a clear day.

The open house also shared the results of a study done by Bill Flynt, the Trust’s board president, and Eric Gradoia to confirm the age of the historic building. Flynt and Gradoia are historical consultants who practice dendrochronology, a method of dating houses by studying tree-ring patterns in the timber used to build them. For more information about Dutton Farmhouse or to book as a short-term vacation rental, please visit our Dutton Farmhouse webpage.