Darius Fitch

Darius married Lydia Billings (born Cambridge, VT) in June 1797. He built a house on land given to him by his father as a wedding gift. The 100 acre tract was originally allotted to John Lamb during the first division of the town of Hyde Park in 1787. The house is now a B&B. The rest of this is from the B&B's website.

The house is a classic example of Federalist-Colonial style, which was typical of homes built after the Revolutionary War. The foundation is field stone, with a dirt basement. The ground floor of the main house is heavy timber construction, and the upper stories are balloon construction, indicating that Darius and Lydia's original home was probably a single story.

Their son, Erastus, was born in the house in 1811, when the property was known as the Fitch Farm. We believe he modified the house in the 19th century, adding the bay windows, as the initials EF can be seen on the foundation stones of one of the bay windows. It is also likely that the house was modified to a central hall style from the central chimney style that was prevalent earlier. The original chimney was completely removed, allowing access to the basement from the interior by a stairway. Erastus died in 1845, leaving his widow with young children. The farm was leased out some of the years until the children came of age.

Vernon, Erastus' son, was born in the house in 1840. Whether Vernon served in the Civil War is unknown to this author. It was during Vernon's lifetime that the house served as a schoolhouse and as a summer boarding house. By this time, the original house had been modified and enlarged from the basic structure with the addition at the north end, incorporating what may have been a summer kitchen and a shed into the main structure. It became formally known as "The Elms," though locals continued to refer to the place as "The Old Fitch Farm." A large elm tree survived in the front lawn for many years, and there are still surviving elms in the woods behind the inn.

Beer's Atlas of 1878 shows the location of the house labeled V. Fitch. It also shows present day Fitch Hill Road connecting to present day Vermont Route 100 and another road passing in front of the house and connecting to present day Centerville Road. This second road was the original stage coach road from Johnson to Wolcott. It can be traced through Hyde Park, leading up Fitch Hill and past the house on its way east. The front porch would have faced onto that original road.