The Lilac Inn

The Lilac Inn occupies an 11,000-square-foot Georgian Revival mansion in Brandon, Vermont, originally built in 1909 as a summer residence known as "The Arches" and designed by Chicago architect George Perkins. The estate's history includes a philanthropist owner who gave Brandon its town library and later donated what is now Branbury State Park, and decades of stewardship by four cousins, among them an opera singer and a pair of well-traveled bookstore owners. Michael and Melanie Shane purchased the property in 1991, renamed it The Lilac Inn, and restored its Gilded Age architecture and grandeur. Today the inn hosts weddings year-round, from intimate elopements to celebrations of up to 200 guests, supported by a personal wedding coordinator who guides couples through planning. The on-site chef builds menus around each couple's own "food story," and the inn provides a Vermont wedding resource guide connecting couples with local florists, salons, and other services. Guests can extend their stay in the inn's on-site guest rooms, and the property is dog-friendly.