Stane Hadden was built in 1915, on the shores of Lake Champlain South Hero, Vermont
My Aunt Betty, who died at 94 in the summer of 2012, taught us to stand on the shore of Lake Champlain and make a secret wish whenever the sun set over the Adirondacks. She always claimed it was how she got her first sailboat, her first kiss, and her first pony which she rode all over the property as a wee one in the 1920's. Consequently, at this place we know as Stane Hadden, we have had whole parties, gatherings, and weddings paused at sunset to make the auspicious wish. Most people have decided these sunsets are the most beautiful in the world as they connect to their deep desires. You stop talking and doing and simply watch the sun sink, time slows down.
The beauty of the Stane Hadden is far reaching; the massive slabs of fossil laden rocks, 380 million years-old, meet the broad lake and the endless sky can send you into a space that makes you forget the cares of the world. It is amazing to inhabit a stone structure that was built from the substrate just under your feet and the quarry across the road. The stones hold history inside and you can sense time before humans.
Rock formations on the shores of Lake Champlain directly influenced the “Stane Hadden” Series
Stane Hadden 17 honors the place & the shoreline of the piece’s namesake.
My great-grandfather had a vision, influenced by Scottish stone houses, from which he designed and created his own Stane Hadden - a Scottish phrase which means “held in stone”. He brought a crew of Italian stone craftsman from Barre (the same that came from Italy to work the highly regarded Vermont granite) up on the train in 1915; they pitched tents for the summer, cut stone and built. I like to imagine the workers, remembering their homes in Italy, arguing about how to build this house, cooking outside and sleeping under the stars. They built this place and affectionately nicknamed it “The Castle”; complete with an Ice House, Boat House and Bocce Court.
Stane Hadden 13 (2016)
Stane Hadden was a place of gatherings, weddings, culinary events, business retreats, and family parties. It was a place to focus one’s energies to the present moment. People returned time and again, year after year, to be immersed back into their experience of the place. We never had a TV there, and only installed internet in the last few years. We grew up with a party line on the rotary phone, an old gramophone, and shelves lined with books printed as early as 1915. It was a place for your imagination to run wild, and your body to rest.
Stane Hadden 21 (2016)
It is hard to quantify what happens to people there, but it happens. Maybe one just starts to remember who they really are. People who gravitate to Stane Hadden seem to not be ruled by the status quo, but by the heart and a bit of magic.
Eventually, my family sold the main house in 2014. My monoprint art series titled “Stane Hadden” was inspired by that transition, and the spiritual process this place has held for me. Click here to view the full series in my portfolio.