our roots
elegant hospitality is
our family tradition
Maggie Smith and Heather Smith Winkelmann are a mother-daughter duo with a unified vision: making each Winvian guest feel as if they are being welcomed into the family fold. They aren’t a corporation and it shows. They carry on the family tradition of a warm welcome with an invitation to “come as you are” and get ready for a one-of-a-kind experience. The Winvian story doesn’t start here, though. Winvian has deep roots in local lore. In 1775, Dr. Seth Bird, a respected but eccentric physician known for bringing a coffin along to house calls, built the charming white clapboard home that now houses the Hadley Suite and serves as the welcoming centerpiece to the historic Winvian estate.
In 1948, Winthrop Smith and his wife Vivian purchased the property and renamed it Winvian, a whimsical combination of their first names. There they raised a beloved son in a unique setting that was part family home, part farming idyll. The estate stayed in the family, eventually passing into the hands of Maggie Smith, who commissioned 15 architects to design the 18 distinctive cottages that exemplify the Winvian value of pairing tradition with flexibility, always open to reinvention to better serve others. Today, Maggie and Heather, Winvian’s President and Managing Director, continue to live out the Winvian vision, welcoming guests into the longstanding family tradition of elegant hospitality.
