Getaway with Murder at a Gilded Age Mystery Weekend at The Wilburton!
Inspired by a society scandal that rocked Manchester Vermont and Chicago in 1904, The Wilburton’s latest original, history-inspired murder mystery, The Runaway Debutante, is an elegant, immersive weekend of music, mayhem – and murder!
Step back in time to 1904 when The Wilburton’s founder Albert Gilbert and his ambitious wife are celebrating the completion of their new Vermont summer home - The Wilburton - with a fabulous fete.
The guest list is curated by Mrs. Gilbert’s scheming confidante, who has some skeletons in his closet. Mr. Gilbert is hoping to impress financiers to invest in his railroad expansion. Their daughter Louise, a former debutante known for her beauty and theatrical flair, is expected to make a grand entrance. Her friends and rivals are dressed to the nines. The butler is polishing the silver and sharpening the knives. Louise’s husband has brought along his guns - well, it is hunting season… Everyone is dying to be invited to this social event of the season.
Will this society soiree include getting away – with murder?
Click here to watch a video of our Murder Mystery Weekends to die for!
Dress in your grandest gowns, top hats and tails or as your favorite Astor or Vanderbilt in Vermont’s Gilded Age.
Guests are invited to attend the ball, join the scheming society, dance, sing and compare clues.
Follow the action through the grand salon, the library and the Billiard Room of The Wilburton mansion.
This is a wonderful weekend for groups of friends, romantic getaways and families. You’ll have a ball!
The Mystery Weekend lodging package includes a Friday evening welcome party to meet the suspects and learn about the Gilbert family and Manchester’s Gilded Age.
Enjoy a bountiful country inn breakfast each morning in the Solarium and a guided tour of the estate’s sculpture gardens.
The Murder Mystery Dinner Party on Saturday evening, includes a three course dinner and a cash bar with speciality cocktails.
A society photographer will be on hand to capture your portrait as a souvenir of this unique Vermont experience.
Read about the mystery weekend experience in Broadway World, AARP and The Boston Globe!Up a winding driveway, perched on the crest of a hill, The 1902 Wilburton mansion transports you to an elegant country manor like an Agatha Christie novel or game of Clue - the perfect setting for a whodunnit!
Stay in the historic mansion guest rooms or bring a group of friends to stay in our spacious vacation homes.
For more information visit WILBURTON.COM or call 802-362-2500, ext 2
Murder Mystery Weekend Package includes:
• 2 nights lodging in The Wilburton mansion and villa guest rooms.
• Friday 6:00 - 7:30pm: Meet the suspects at a wine & cheese reception
• Saturday & Sunday 8:30 - 10am: Country inn breakfast featuring pancakes with VT maple syrup, eggs, bacon & breads from our family farm & bakery.
• Saturday 10 - 11am: Guided tour at The Museum of the Creative Process.
• Saturday 6:30 - 9pm: Murder Mystery Dinner Sarty
• Professional photographer
TO BOOK
• Click here to pick your favorite lodging starting at $235/night.
• Click here to add $150 per person + tax and service for the package.
Call 802-362-2500 for questions or help with your reservation.
Optional splurges:
• Champagne & Chocolates in your room $60. • Save 50% for a 3rd night stay.
Pick your favorite guest room in the 1902 Clue like Mansion
The tradition of mystery weekends at The Wilburton began 30 years ago when innkeeper Georgette Wasserstein Levis wrote a murder mystery homage, The Brothers Rosenblood, to her sister, Wendy Wasserstein’s Broadway hit, The Sisters Rosensweig. Since 2013, Tajlei Levis, known for writing vintage literary musicals, like Edith Wharton’s Glimpses of the Moon, has created new mystery events each year inspired by Wilburton and local Vermont history.
Prior Murder Mystery Weekends Include:
Recent mysteries include THE MURDER AT WIT’S END. It is 1924, and Alexander Woollcott - New York Times drama critic and literary influencer- has invited select guests to join his famous friends - Harpo Marx, Irving Berlin, Dorothy Parker and other witty members of the Algonquin Round Table- as members of an exclusive Vermont island club for the coming season. A rave review from Woollcott could make any book a bestseller, any play a hit, so Broadway producers, authors and stars are competing for favor in battles of wits, songs, and parlor games. Prospective members will have to play Woollcott’s favorite game of croquet (and he cheats) and solve The Murder Game. Some are vying to win. Others are dying to get in.
The Million Dollar Movie:
It is 1955, and the new owners of RKO Studios (famous for King Kong, Citizen Kane, screwball comedies and the Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers movie musicals) are holding a secret board meeting at The Wilburton to choose the team for one last movie. In a clash of ambition and revenge, the stars and executives compete to make one last RKO studio production. Everyone is dying to be a part of it! Will this swanky soiree include getting away – with murder?
