Lon and Nancy decided to become innkeepers "someday" more than a decade ago while we were career Army officers. It was not until our second daughter was born in 1999 that we decided to give up our jobs in corporate America and "just do it."

After looking at nearly every upscale

country inn in northern New England,

the search ended at Sunset Hill House. Six months later, after several trees of paperwork and dealing with agencies that we didn’t even know existed, we (and our bankers) took over Sunset Hill House – a Grand Inn – in March 2000. Here, we enjoy serving our guests, raising our two daughters, and being active in our community.

See our news story! Our own Nancy is named Innkeeper of the Year!"

Sunset Hill House—A Grand Inn traces its history to the

Grand Resort Hotels of the New Hampshire White Mountains.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, residents of Boston, Hartford, New York, Philadelphia and other eastern cities would arrive by train and horse-drawn coach to stay for weeks or months at the old resort hotels which were generally referred to as "houses" despite their huge scale. There, the wealthy and influential and their families exchanged the humidity, heat and pollution of coal-age America for the cool mountain air of New Hampshire (and Maine, Vermont and upstate New York too).

Sunset Hill House in Sugar Hill, New Hampshire, was particularly well-situated as a House due to its location high atop Sunset Hill Ridge which has been long-recognized as having the best accessible mountain views in New England. Construction began in 1880 after the railroad came to neighboring Lisbon Village (Sugar Hill Station) and by about 1910, Sunset Hill House could accommodate over 350 guests, 300 staff and all the animals needed to transport and feed a small town.

With the coming of the automobile, increased ability of urban travelers to make "day-trips," and the imposition of the graduated income tax, the age of the grand resort hotels began to close. One of the last to succumb was Sunset Hill House. Finally, in the fall of 1973, due to an aging physical plant as much changes in its clientele, the main hotel welcomed the last of perhaps a million guests. Later that year practically everything of value was sold at auction and the main building torn down in 1974.

The present Sunset Hill House is no longer "a grand hotel," but rather "a grand inn." It was also built beginning in 1880, but not for guests. Instead, it was servants’ quarters. About 1900, management realized that many of the servants enjoyed a better view than most of the paying guests, and was converted to guest accommodations. In period advertising it was touted as being quieter while still convenient to the goings on at the main house. Like the original hotel, it shared in then-cutting-age-modernity featuring such exotic luxuries as private bathrooms, hot and cold running water, electricity and central heat.

While the main hotel was being torn down in 1974, the present-day Sunset Hill House began its modern existence as a destination country inn featuring fine lodging and dining as well as recreational activities such as golf and skiing. Despite its popularity with guests and the popularity of innkeeper Betty Lou Carmichael, it, like the original grand hotel, suffered from an aging infrastructure and by 1993 was sold at auction as a condemned building to Michael Coyle and family. Innkeeper Michael made restoration of Sunset Hill House his driving ambition and after over a half-decade of work had completely revamped the aging systems and returned Sunset Hill House to its former position as a premier New England vacation destination.

When we (innkeepers Lon and Nancy Henderson) discovered the inn in 1999, we immediately saw in it the same things that have appealed to somewhere between 1-2,000,000 previous visitors to Sunset Hill House—location, location, location. Combined with elegant service, fine food, and historical lodging, it proved an irresistible combination and with the help of Oates and Bredfeldt, consultants to the inn trade, we were able to purchase this beautiful New Hampshire inn in March 2000.

As much as we are Sunset Hill House’s fortunate innkeepers, we also see ourselves as the curators of this magnificent tangible piece of New England’s heritage. It is our pleasure to welcome you to the grandeur of Sunset Hill House while letting you share in the intimacy and charm of a fine country inn.

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