About The Interlaken Inn

In 1892, Daniel & Agnes Shaw purchased a farmhouse on beautiful land in between two lakes. The Shaws made that farmhouse into The Interlaken Inn and built four additional homes to be rented out by families who summered in Lakeville.

One of those homes is now our beloved Sunnyside building, a restored Victorian with multiple guest rooms, fireplaces, and a quaint wrap-around porch. The other three homes are now on neighboring properties.

Mr. Shaw passed away just before 1900, leaving Mrs. Shaw to successfully run the Interlaken Inn for 34 years. In 1924. Mrs. Shaw sold the property to John & Elizabeth Percy

John was an engineer in New York, but him and Elizabeth had always dreamed of owning a little country inn. When they bought the Interlaken, they got to work adding modern amenities like running water and electricity. The two had no experience, they were just enjoying the adventure and learning as they went.

In April of 1925, the Percy's were ready to reopen the brand new Interlaken Inn.

On the morning of the 27th, their construction crew set a fire in the brick hearth in the main building to burn up the trash and excess materials. The sparks of the fire caught on the roof's wood shingles and set the whole place into a blaze.

As the building slowly burned and the Lakeville Hose Company pumped water from the lake, Elizabeth & John called up to The Hotchkiss School for help.

In response, Hotchkiss closed down the school and all of the students and faculty walked down the hill to help the Percy's save as much as they could. They pulled out furniture, sinks, linens. etc. until the fire was under control.

That day, they lost the top two floors of the building. John Percy called his connections in New York and by the next day there were 6o construction workers there to get The Interlaken Inn rebuilt.

The Percy's were able to reopen the inn on July 4th, 1925.

After 30 years in operation, the Percy's sold the inn to a frequent guest, Anthony J. Peters, in 1956.

Tony put a lot of work into the inn and modernized it even further by adding a bar and restaurant named after himself.

In 1971, a fire mysteriously started under the front porch that caused the entire main building to crumble. Unlike in 1925, there was nothing they could do to repair, so they rebuilt from the ground up.

In October of 1973. The Interlaken Inn reopened with a brand new main building that still stands today. From there, Tony added The Townhouses in 1975 and pet-friendly Woodside Building in 1979 before selling the property in 1982.

Finally, our present owners, Paul & Steven Reisman, purchased The Interlaken Inn in 1982. They expanded our business to host weddings, conferences, retreats, and more. In 1984, Kevin Bousquet arrived to manage the inn and has been doing so ever since.

Today, The Interlaken Inn is Connecticut's premier resort, wedding venue, and conference center run by a team of family and friends. We are honored to have such rich history and are glad to be keeping the legacy of The Interlaken Inn alive.