Hotel industry veteran buys Kingfield inn connected to Sugarloaf founder

Photo / Courtesy of Legacy Properties Sotheby's International Real Estate A view of the foyer inside the mansion portion of The Inn on Winter's Hill.

Photo / Courtesy of Legacy Properties Sotheby's International Real Estate A front view of the mansion portion of The Inn on Winter's Hill.

Photo / Courtesy of Legacy Properties Sotheby's International Real Estate A view of the dining rooms inside the mansion portion of The Inn on Winter's Hill.

Photo / Courtesy of Legacy Properties Sotheby's International Real Estate A rear view of the mansion and barn portions of The Inn on Winter's Hill.

Photo / Courtesy of Legacy Properties Sotheby's International Real Estate A view of a guest room inside the barn portion of The Inn on Winter's Hill.

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By Dylan Martin

A native Mainer and hotel industry veteran has purchased an inn in Kingfield that was built by the father of Sugarloaf ski resort’s founder.

The Inn on Winter’s Hill was purchased for $575,000 by John E. Banta, a former Hyatt Hotels manager who plans to reopen the 33 Winter Hill St. inn this spring, according to John McCarthy of Legacy Properties Sotheby's International Real Estate. The deal, which closed March 25, was brokered by McCarthy and Charlene Hamiwka.

The building was sold by Diane L. Winnick and Carolyn Rainaud, who had purchased the property back in 1989, made extensive improvements and ran the inn until closing it in 2008.

The inn was originally built as a Georgian Revival-style mansion by Amos Winter Sr. at the turn of the 20th century as a wedding present for his wife, Julia, according to McCarthy and a travel story in Snow Country magazine's December 1992 issue.

The mansion was designed by Francis Edgar Stanley and Freelan O. Stanley, who would go on to invent the Stanley Steamer line of steam-engine vehicles, the Snow Country story said. They were responsible for installing what might have been the first central heating system in a Maine house, the story said.

Winter’s son, Amos Winter Jr., would eventually go on to found what became Sugarloaf ski resort. He sold the mansion in 1953, after which it was used as a professional office and a bed and breakfast until Winnick and Rainaud bought the property with Winnick’s brother, Richard. They named it The Inn on Winter’s Hill, a name that Banta will continue to use.

The inn is divided between four king-size bedrooms and two suites in the mansion portion and a separate 16-room, three-floor section that was built within a barn structure that mirrors the original one that had burned down. The two structures are connected by a lounge area that contains a bar setup and an adjacent indoor pool.

Banta, who had worked in leadership positions for Hyatt Hotels and Miyako Hotels and Resorts in Japan, told Mainebiz he decided to buy the inn and reopen it after initially looking at another property in the area and realizing that he had come across something special.

He said he had worked in hotels most of his life, having started at the Colony Hotel in Kennebunkport, where his father was the manager.

“When I drove up the driveway… I thought, ‘This has potential, I think,’” Banta said, citing, among other things, the mansion’s unique architecture.

Referring to the house’s Georgian Revival design, Banta said, “that kind of architectural detailing can’t be reproduced now. It was a huge attraction.”

Banta said he hopes to open the inn this April, with plans to open the lounge bar by May and a 40-seat dining room sometime this summer. He said he estimates he will invest about $300,000 in capital improvements over the next few years.

While Banta said he plans to attract visitors during the ski season, with Sugarloaf Mountain nearby, he ultimately wants the inn to become a wedding destination. Back when he was working for Miyako Hotels in Japan, he said, he was responsible for helping organize hundreds of weddings a year.

“The building has kind of a romantic origin. It was built as a wedding present to [Amos Winter Sr.’s wife],” he said. “It’s a beautiful, beautiful building on the top of a hill.”

This story was originally published in the Mainebiz Real Estate Insider.

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly listed Richard Winnick as having passed away. He is alive. We truly regret the error.