Lakeside lodges added to mix at Inns at Mill Falls

MEREDITH — Rusty McLear, president and chief executive officer of the Inns & Spa at Mill Falls, strung three more jewels along 186-feet of Winnipesaukee lakefront yesterday with the opening of two lodges bracketing a renovated cottage all linked to Church Landing by covered cedar walkway.

McLear, accompanied by Executive Councilor Ray Burton, State Senatior Jeanie Forrester and Amy Bassett of the New Hampshire Division of Travel and Tourism cut the ribbon before a crowd of some 75 friends and neighbors, eager to explore his latest contribution to the metamorphosis of Meredith from mill town to lakeside resort.

Together Birch Lodge and Boathouse Lodge add 13 rooms and suites overlooking Meredith Bay, along with a billiard room, indoor/outdoor pool with a pair of jacuzzis and sundeck with food and drink service, to the Church Landing campus. All the rooms feature fieldstone fireplaces, whirlpool baths, wet bars, tile showers and a flat screen television in the bathrooms.

Lake Shore Cottage sits between the two lodges, offering two suites, the Overlook with two bedrooms, full kitchen and living room warmed by a stone fireplace and the Hearthstone with a spacious single room, both fronting the lake and each with a private outdoor whirlpool tub.

The lodges and cottages, the first finished with wooden shingles and the second with rough hewn clapboards, mimick the rustic style of traditional lake houses where families and their guests passed languid lazy summer days while masking interiors lined with luxurious appointments and modern conveniences,

McLear praised Ward D'Elia of Samyn-D'Elia Architects of Ashland for capturing his vision for the property and Pat Sava of Waterville Valley, who coordinated the furnishing and decorating of the interiors with taste and ingenuity. A wall of the billiard room, which has been christened the "Golden Pond Room," is hung with a backdrop from the set of the play produced in Holderness last summer. The wooden prow of a motorboat, set in hand-wrought iron and capped with clear glass, which was fashioned to Sava's design, serves as a coffee table.

At McLear's invitation, Conneston Construction, Inc., the general contractor for the project, answered the "Made in America Challenge," begun by ABC-TV's World News Tonight, by maximizing the use of materials and products made in the USA in order to help put people back to work. "We thought wouldn't it be great to take this challenge," said McLear while Ross Currier, vice-president of CCI recalled a construction meeting where "we asked ourselves would it really be that hard to make sure as much, if not all, of the project was manufactured in this country?" Ultimately 95-percent of what went into the three buildings was made in America with a limited access elevator and some electrical components manufactured elsewhere. McLear said the effort to buy American added just $4,000 to the budget for the project.

CAPTION: Speaking from the podium Rusty McLear welcomed a crowd of well-wishers to celebrate the opening of the expansion of Church Landing with a ribbon cutting yesterday, when he was joined from his right to left by Executive Councilor Ray Burton, State Senator Jeanie Forrester and Amy Bassett of the New Hampshire Division of Travel and Tourism Development. The renovated Lake Shore Cottage, with two suites, is flanked to the right by the Boathouse Lodge, overlooking the waters of Meredith Bay. (Laconia Daily Sun photo/Michael Kitch).