Crumbling Ricker Mountain structure proposed for relocation and rehabilitation
[UPDATED 09/12/2024: A version of this story was also published in the Waterbury Roundabout.]
The sole remaining structure on Little River’s history hike is being given a chance for new life and new purpose, thanks to a proposed partnership between Vermont’s Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation and Vermont Huts Association.
On August 29, the two organizations held a joint community meeting to present a proposed amendment to the Mt. Mansfield State Forest long-range management plan that would allow Vermont Huts, a nonprofit that supports outdoor recreation by providing hut accommodations, to move and rehabilitate the historic Goodell House located along Dalley’s Trail loop, accessed through Little River State Park.
According to Nick Caputo, parks regional manager, the initiative serves both the state’s goal of saving the structure as a prominent piece of community history and Vermont Huts’ goal of establishing a hut for four-season use in one of the state’s most popular recreation areas.
”Both goals are attainable,” he said. “FPR [Forests, Parks, and Recreation] on our own has not been able to raise the funding to do this without a partner like Vermont Huts, and the time we would need to do so would see the structure fall beyond the point of saving.”
An emblem of a long-gone community
The Goodell House, built by Almeron Goodell and completed around 1870, stands precariously as a remnant of a hardscrabble community that subsisted on the Ricker Mountain hillsides and Little River basin for some 130 years. Goodell purchased the 14-acre plot in 1863 and set about constructing a home for himself and his family—
wife Lutheria and children Bert and Juliana.
Members of the community mostly lived on subsistence farms. The primary industry was timber, and two sawmills were located on the present site of the Waterbury Dam. “By the middle of the 19th century…you had a large community of farms, there were two schools there, a number of cemeteries, there were shops,” explained Niels Rinehart, historic resources coordinator for the State Lands Administration. “What’s now the history hike was a road back then used to access all those structures back there.”
“We today see this as dense woods, as a forest, but back then…much of the mountainside was cleared,” Rinehart added.
Goodell used hand-hewn timber beams and cedar shingles to build the 20’ x 25’ two-story colonial home; a 12’ x 12’ wood shed/outhouse was later added. He and Lutheria lived there and cultivated their small farm for 36 years, until her death in 1906; Goodell then sold the house and moved to Hyde Park, where he died in 1910. In the decades that followed, several local families used the shelter as a hunting camp through the 1970s.
Historical preservation meets modern recreation
Now owned by the state and maintained by Forests, Parks, and Recreation as part of Mt. Mansfield State Forest, the Goodell House “is a structure very much at a crossroads, I would say certainly a ticking clock,” said forester and outdoor recreation specialist Walter Opuszynsky. “We still have the bones, and there are good timbers in there,” he added.
The proposed amendment to the long-range management plan would grant Vermont Huts the ability to rehabilitate and manage the house as a four-season hut; additionally, the amendment would allow for the house to be relocated to a more suitable site located approximately 600 feet downhill in an old gravel pit. The preferred location, closer to the parking lot at the Dalley Loop trailhead, would better support efforts to make the hut accessible as well as provide a more robust buffer to minimize wildlife disturbance, wet conditions from seepage, and noise.
“We have engaged with the Division of Historic Preservation representatives, we’ve tapped into the knowledge of architectural historians, construction companies that focus on reconstruction and rebuilds,” Opuszynsky explained, “and the historic preservation team recommended…[the house] be taken apart piece by piece, the pieces would be evaluated for their ability to integrated into the reconstructed structure.”
Architectural historians will guide the process “to help find that balance between the history and modernization,” he added.
Caputo confirmed that the house would remain under state ownership and its use would be subject to mud season and other trail closure circumstances typical across all state parks. Vermont Huts, on the other hand, would maintain the structure and manage the house as a recreation facility.
Accessible outdoor recreation for all
RJ Thompson, Executive Director of Vermont Huts Association, elaborated on the plans and expectations for managing the facility as a four-season hut, using data gathered from usage of their Chittenden Brook Hut, located in the Rochester district of Green Mountain National Forest, because its size, ADA accessibility, and surrounding recreational opportunities are comparable to the proposed Goodell House hut.
“In this structure [the Goodell House] we think it will house between 10 and twelve guests. The average group size that we see at the Chittenden Brook Hut…is about 6.6 guests on average in a hut that can sleep 10 folks,” Thompson explained. During the summer season, the hut is occupied 60%-70% of the time “and in the winter the occupancy rates are nearly 100%. Group size stays the same on average,” he added. According to Vermont Huts’ data, Vermonters comprise about 78% of the hut’s users.
Thompson said all booking would take place through Vermont Huts’ reservation platform and a caretaker would visit at a minimum once a week to ensure everything is in working order and guests have left no trace.
Next steps
The Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation is seeking public input on the proposed amendments to the Mt. Mansfield State Forest long-term management plan through September 30. Once the plan is amended to satisfaction and feasibility, the project team from Forests, Parks, and Recreation will collaborate with Vermont Huts to finalize a plan that meets the specifications of the proposed amendments.
Rinehart emphasized the goal of respecting the historical significance of the Goodell House. He explained that because Vermont Huts will be accessing federal funds for the project, the state historic preservation office is required to consult. According to Rinehart, Vermont’s Division for Historic Preservation, “are very supportive of the project. They did ask that we hire an architectural historian and archaeologist…to see that when we reconstruct the structure, it does keep and maintain historical elements and design of the original structure, and also how to best build and incorporate modern-day efficiencies.”
The plan draft amendment can be accessed on the Mount Mansfield page of the Department’s website. The page also includes the presentation slides and a recording of the public meeting. The public’s input is “crucial in shaping the future management of this asset,” said Caputo.
Comments can be submitted either by submitting the online comment form, emailing ANR.StateLandsPlanning@vermont.gov, or writing by mail to VTFPR Attn: Goodell House Comments, 5 Perry St, Suite 20, Barre, VT 05641-4265.
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