L'Auberge Bethel Maine

 Country Inn and Fine Dining

Originally built as a barn in the late 1850's, L'Auberge has experienced several different and varied uses over it's history. In the late 1890's the barn was disassembled on it's original site and moved to its present location to serve as a barn and carriage house for a local mill, and then for the Old Bethel Inn and Country Club.

During the heydays of the 1920's the barn was converted to servants' quarters for Bethel Inn. One large section was used as a theatre room where silent movies were shown, and amateur theatrical productions were staged.

For a period during the 1930's the building sat empty and fell into disrepair, until a local family, in the early 1940's, purchased the property and renovated it to the form that still exists. The reason for having so many bedrooms with baths was that the family had eight maiden daughters. Local gossip of the time was that it was ridiculous for the family to spend $8,000 for the renovation of an "old barn", but they carried on.

In the 1960's the property was purchased by a German couple, and used in the summer as a guest house for NTL (National Training Laboratories) participants. In the summer of 1967 Dr. Kohlmeyer came to Bethel as a consultant for NTL, and stayed at the Inn. When the Kohlmeyers purchased the property in 1976 they changed the name to L'Auberge, which simply means 'Country Inn' in French.

Since 1976 L'Auberge Country Inn and Fine Dining has been a home away from home for travelers, skiers and NTL participants. It continues to welcome visitors all year round, many returning regularly.