In 1760 James Philbrick
of Hampstead, New Hampshire purchased the land that now comprises most of the
Woodbound Inn property. He built a farm on the site of the Cathedral of the
Pines (about 1 mile through the woods from the inn’s current location) where he
and his wife raised their 18 children. Philbrick built another farmhouse in
1820 which is the cornerstone of the Main Inn.
Several owners followed
and buildings were added and expanded through the years. In 1892 the building
was first utilized as an inn called the “Lakeside Hotel”. In 1909 Albert Annett purchased the property and
later renamed it the “Contoocook Inn”. During the early 1930s Ed Brummer & Jack
Bean of Jaffrey, roommates at Dartmouth College, managed the inn. Jack left
to go into the lumber business, and later founded the DD Bean match Company
with his father and brother. Ed bought the Inn; all mortgage and no down payment.
He renamed it the “Woodbound Inn”.
The Brummer family
owned and operated the Woodbound Inn for 55 years. Improvements included Jed
Brummer’s addition of the Edgewood banquet hall where weddings and other joyous
occasions are celebrated. During the
Brummer years the atmosphere of the inn was that of a continuous house party, where
guests chose from a host of activities. In fact, so many guests returned at the
same time each year that they expected and did find friends they knew from
prior seasons. One of the return
visitors was Douglas Thorn, a member of the new ownership team, who has been
returning to the Woodbound Inn for more than 30 years.
In 1989 the Woodbound
Inn was sold to an investment group with plans for development. These plans did not come to fruition and the
Inn once again became a family owned establishment when the Kohlmorgen's
purchased the property in 1994.
February 2008 ushered
in a new era when a group of investors, purchased
the inn and undertook an extensive renovation.
A new state of the art kitchen enables
the Woodbound Inn to offer exciting American Cuisine for the local community, inn guests and catering clients.
