Author Archives: Serena Kim

5 Tasks for Winterizing the Inn

We realized that we had a load of tasks to prepare for Thanksgiving, Christmas festivities, and all of Vermont’s winter wonderland activities. Here are the seven tasks that we have to do to get the inn ready for the deep freeze. Read More

woman sitting on grass

A Server’s School Application Essay

Amelia Quesnel was recruited to play D1 hockey for Kents Hills in Maine. Middlebury Union High School student Amelia Quesnel was one of the most hardworking, intelligent, and capable young people to come through our doors. Guests were charmed by her quick sense of humor and her gift of… Read More

How We Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Buffet

A few months ago, we switched to a breakfast buffet to better serve guests’ needs and to solve a number of problems, particularly staffing. Everybody knows that labor shortages are hitting restaurants and hotels particularly hard during this post-Covid era. Swift House Inn is no exception, so we put our… Read More

hillside terrace garden

How to Landscape a Terrace Garden

It was our dream to transform our wild, poison ivy and myrtle entangled slope into a terraced hillside garden. Although the weedy, disorganized mass of plants growing on the existing hillside were great for attracting pollinators and creating a refuge for wild life, it was a lost opportunity for… Read More

woman and man happy in the snowy woods

A Walk in the Woods While Reading Poems

It was the perfect day for a meditative stroll in the woods: Reading poems and enjoying the winter landscape. My sister, Mirena, and her friend, Shawn, were visiting us for the holidays. We weren’t ready for a full day of skiing and snowmobiling. We had something quieter and… Read More

woman working in garden

7 Vegetable Seeds We Want to Plant This Spring

It’s now January, and it’s way too cold to garden. The highs are in the single digits. And so we stay cozy inside, brew a cup of tea, warm up a muffin, and get out the gardening books for inspiration. We like American Grown: The Story of the White… Read More

four senior ladies sitting at a table

Happy 150th Birthday, Jessica Swift!

Jessica Swift seated second from left at the Bicentennial Picnic, Middlebury, Village Green 1976. Collection of the Henry Sheldon Museum, Middlebury, Vermont September 17, 2021 is the 150th birthday of Anna Jessica Stewart Swift who lived in the Main House of the inn for most of her 110 years. Read More