A swanky ski club in Vermont where “Bachelor” contestants once canoodled is going up for a final auction next month.
The Hermitage Club at Haystack Ski Mountain — an 838-acre, members-only resort in Wilmington that shut down midseason two years ago — includes an 80,000-square-foot clubhouse where ABC’s “Bachelor Winter Games” filmed four episodes to coincide with the 2018 Olympics.
Bids are due by March 16 to Keen-Summit Capital Partners and TPW Real Estate with the US Bankruptcy Court in Rutland expected to approve the sale March 20.
The senior lender, Berkshire Bank, has a claim of more than $25 million, but the bid to beat right now is an $8.06 million stalking horse bid.
On top of a pool, a bowling alley, a movie theater and a par-72 golf course, amenities included a high-speed, heated “bubble” chairlift that cost millions to install.
But the bubble burst when the club missed tax payments and two staff whistleblowers ratted out founder Jim Barnes for alleged accounting issues. Investor and member Mark Brett of Old Lyme, Connecticut, also claimed fraud against Barnes.
“After two years of legal maneuvering, I’m happy to see resolution,” says Alan Tantleff of FTI Consulting, the receiver on the foreclosure of the club. “This will restore the prominence of the property and allow hundreds of people to go back to work.”
Most members own homes in the surrounding areas, near Mt. Snow, and paid club fees as high as $85,000 to join and $15,000 per year. Guests could also stay in one of the four inns included in the sale: Hermitage Inn and Carriage House, the Doveberry Inn, Horizon Inn and the Snow Goose Inn.
At the main clubhouse, under antler lights, guests donned booties before grabbing their cocktails or stowing their gear in mahogany lockers that rented for as much as $1,500 per year.
