An 1854 Lodge You Reach by Crossing a Covered Bridge
$750,000
Newfane sits in Windham County, in southern Vermont's ski country — 5.74 acres of established homestead land along the Rock River, reached by crossing a picturesque covered bridge.
Formerly the Three Penny Lodge and now known as the Cardinal Lodge, the property has spent recent years as a successful Airbnb with a live-in caretaker — proof the six-bedroom layout works as well for guests as it would for a big family. The ground floor keeps single-level living easy with a bedroom and 3/4 bath just off the living room, while the upstairs bedrooms and guest wing open up serious multi-generational space. Recent updates carry real weight here: a brand-new standing seam roof, two new furnaces, central air, a new woodstove insert, a 4-year-old septic system, and a generator. 6 bd / 5 ba, 3,259 sq ft, built 1854, on 5.74 acres.
Listed at $750,000. Listing courtesy of Kerry Mulverhill, Red Maple Realty LLC.
Homestead Potential
Water & Infrastructure
The Rock River runs along the property, and the screened porch puts you close enough to actually hear it — that's not a small thing when you're picking a place to live. The pond adds a second water feature that pulls double duty: wildlife watching in summer, ice skating once the Vermont winter sets in. Worth confirming the well and septic serving the house, though the septic system is only about four years old, which takes one of the usual due-diligence questions off the table before you even ask it.
Crop & Income Potential
The classic Vermont barn is the standout here — space below for storage or workshop use, and real potential for animals if that's the direction you want to take it. Fruit trees and berry bushes are already established in the landscaped backyard, which means a head start on food production most buyers don't get on day one. Windham County's short growing season favors cold-hardy varieties, and whatever's already planted here has clearly been through a few Vermont winters and made it.
Sustainability
Two new furnaces plus a new woodstove insert give you real fuel-source flexibility for Vermont winters — wood heat when you want it, forced air as backup, and central air for the handful of hot summer weeks. The generator is worth having in a river-adjacent property like this one, where a storm-related outage is more a matter of when than if. A brand-new standing seam roof is the kind of renovation that pays for itself in decades of not thinking about it, and it's already done.
The Boundaries
Worth getting a current survey before closing, mainly because river-adjacent parcels like this one can have boundary lines that shift a little with the water over the decades. Vermont's shoreland protection rules likely apply to work near the Rock River, so it's worth a call to the state before planning anything close to the bank. And since the barn sits close to the property's working history, a quick check with the Town of Newfane on setback and any short-term-rental permitting will save you a surprise if you're planning to keep that side of the business going.
Beyond the Property Line
Local Flavor & Small-Town Character
Newfane's town common is one of the most photographed in New England — a white-steepled church, the 1825 Greek Revival county courthouse, and a cluster of inns arranged around a classic Vermont green. The Sunday Newfane Flea Market has been running since 1968 along Route 30, drawing dealers and browsers from across the region every week from May through October. It's a town that still runs on a slower clock, where the general store and the courthouse anchor daily life the way they have for two centuries.
Agricultural Resources & Neighbor Networks
University of Vermont Extension maintains a presence throughout Windham County, with programs covering small-scale livestock, orchard care, and cold-climate growing techniques suited to properties like this one. The Windham County Natural Resources Conservation District offers guidance on riverbank stabilization and conservation practices for properties bordering waterways like the Rock River. Nearby Brattleboro's food co-op and farmers market give small producers in the area a real local outlet, not just a hypothetical one.
Outdoor Recreation & Natural Surroundings
Stratton Mountain and Mount Snow are both roughly a half-hour away, putting downhill skiing, snowboarding, and mountain biking within easy reach in every season. The West River and nearby Townshend State Forest offer hiking, kayaking, and some of the best fall foliage driving in southern Vermont. Grafton, about 20 minutes north, is home to Grafton Village Cheese and the kind of preserved-in-amber Vermont village character that makes weekend visitors want to move here permanently.
Listed on Zillow
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