The Bridgewater Mill is kind of like the town’s unofficial Main Street. Two centuries ago, the building was a woolen mill that made blankets for Northern soldiers in the Civil War. These days, it’s listed in the National Register of Historic Places and home to various businesses and artists. On Sundays, there’s trivia at Ramunto’s, and on Saturday nights, there’s Woolen Mill Comedy Club on the second floor.

Upstairs, staff works on furniture, everything from chairs to hand mirrors. Miranda’s studio is in a building off the parking lot. She says they use her own custom-made clay as well as her own glaze formulas and fire in kilns that go up to 2,300 degrees. Today, she’s working on a peace bowl accompanied by her beloved 17-year-old Jack Russell, Millie. This bowl was thrown by one of her staff, and now she’s freehanding its decorative design.

Gilded by Fiona Blunden’s studio and showroom on the second floor of the Bridgewater Mill is a bright and cheerful oasis. Her showroom walls are lined with mirrors and picture frames that have been artfully restored and refurbished and are for sale. The collection contains some baroque and some contemporary, which shine in contrast to the dark-hued original hardwood floors. Fiona works in a sunny corner of her studio, where several waist-high tables hold works in progress. The beautiful tools of her trade hang tidily along one wall.

While in London, she met her husband, John MacGovern, from Harvard, Massachusetts. In 2000, the couple moved to Windsor, Vermont, where she reconnected with other creative Irish friends Charles Shackleton and Miranda Thomas. With a nudge from Miranda, Fiona set up her studio and showroom in The Mill. Fiona is also launching into new and more contemporary projects—wall hangings and the repurposing of old gilded frames and fragments into furniture.

Melanie started the business three years ago while taking a break from teaching Bikram yoga in Rutland to help her husband get his business off the ground. She thought she’d take about six months off; she lasted only a month before craving to get back into the studio.

In the front lobby of Melanie’s studio are racks of yoga clothes for sale—tank tops, sports bras, leggings—as well as electrolytes, supplements, and water bottles. Next to them is a sign detailing the week’s schedule, with classes every day except Tuesdays and Thursdays taught by a variety of instructors. The studio houses mirrors and mats, but instead of overhead, the lights are kept strategically low, with strings lining the mirrors and candles along the floor.

Nestled deep within the old Bridgewater Mill Mall, you’ll find Ramunto’s Brick & Brew Pizza, owned and operated by Andy and Pat Reid since 2012. The core central structure consists of heavy wood frames and original brick. The dining room boasts a large bar and family game room with seating for 100. If you’re a local, you may see a photo of a beloved relative who once worked at the old Woolen Mill, proudly displayed on the brick walls.

Known for their salads, soups, and wings, the pizza is the real star. The warm, yeasty scent creeps its way through the building while the Bakers Pride ovens help provide the heat and cozy atmosphere this space is noted for. With a sense of local flavor, one of the most popular items on the menu is The Vermonter Pizza— Granny Smith apple, bacon, caramelized onion, and Vermont cheddar and mozzarella with rosemary-infused olive oil and drizzle of local Vermont honey.

If you know Vermont, you know each small town possesses a uniqueness of its own. You know the individual complexities of your community. Andy and Pat express gratitude to the Bridgewater community: “The community has kept this place alive. Through COVID, floods, and fires, we simply could not have rallied without the support of our neighbors.”

Sue Lenfest, a basketmaker and longtime resident of the Woodstock area, says one of the most enticing reasons to work in the Bridgewater Mill is the community and history there. In fact, when she first arrived, she realized that she’d been there before; as a teenager, she worked at an art supply store in the same exact room.

“I loved basketmaking because of its practicality,” she says. “I still paint some, but a painting, to me, hangs on your wall, whereas a basket goes places.”

The newest must-see anchor of this creative sanctuary is the Pietro Landi Gallery, opened by Woodstock Union High School alumnus Pete Landis. After spending two decades as a practicing residential architect in New York and Rhode Island, Pete returned home to establish an exhibition space that challenges how we digest modern media.

The physical works are layered with small three-dimensional objects before being flattened into a final digital print on aluminum. Completed with a digital “matte board border,” the resulting art leaves viewers struggling to discern what was done by hand versus what is digital, and what is flat versus what is three-dimensional. It is a visual trick designed to make the viewer slow down, pause, and question the heavily edited imagery that saturates our daily lives.

What’s the best part of being at the Bridgewater Mill? “It’s the neighboring artists and artisans who enjoy conversations about the process of making and showing art,” Pete says.

Vermont’s longest running brick-and-mortar comedy club is not located in Burlington—it’s in Bridgewater. Founded by Collen Doyle in 2014, Woolen Mill Comedy Club will celebrate its 12th year in December.

Jon Soule is a local artisan and reenactor based at the historic Bridgewater Mill. He is renowned for hand-fashioning his own historically accurate, period-appropriate clothing, such as 18th-century French and Indian War waistcoats and Civil War-era hats.

Before embarking on his fascinating career, Jon worked as a miner for 20 years in Hammondsville, Vermont, followed by employment at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center for 17 years. “During that time, I had a tailoring business but found it difficult to make a living,” Jon says. “Now I return to the work because the people with the skills to make these garments have become fewer and fewer. I’d like to pass down the things I’ve learned.”

Artist Alicia Titzmann believes in transformation—in materials, in healing, and in life itself. After a 25-year career in surgery and project management, her days at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center ended abruptly in 2021 due to a health issue, which led her down a new path. “I looked for answers for years and found none, so I shifted to healing myself and creating,” Alicia says. “I wanted to stay productive. I needed to reimagine my life.”

ARTIFACT owner Colleen O’Neal says her company is founded on three core principles: Artistry embeds culture. Beauty transcends boundaries. The desire to acquire the materials with which to make objects of beauty and meaning has connected disparate peoples along networks of trade for millennia.

By creating jewelry worn by Westerners, these objects are enabled to travel and contribute in this way to peace between peoples of all the continents, Colleen believes. The wearers become the ambassadors of these countries. She continues, “We aspire to live up to this wonderful endorsement by returning a portion of each sale to people displaced from their homes by war, famine, and natural disasters, especially in the areas from which the artifacts we use originate.”

Amanda Ralph, owner of Amanda’s Hair Studio, graduated from the New England School of Hair Design in Lebanon, New Hampshire. She will celebrate six years in the Bridgewater Mill in January. Prior to moving into The Mill, Amanda did hair in the Claremont, New Hampshire, area for five years. “I chose this career because I love playing with hair and getting to know fabulous people!” she says. “It’s a creative outlet as well as a way for me to make others feel good, and that makes me happy.”