High in the rolling meadows and snow-brushed peaks of Stowe, Vermont, Johannes von Trapp, now 86, continues to play an active role in the family lodge founded by his mother, Maria von Trapp, after the family fled Nazi-controlled Austria.
Set against the sweeping backdrop of Vermont’s Green Mountains, Johannes remains deeply connected to the von Trapp Family Lodge & Resort — a place that offers visitors not only alpine scenery, but also a living continuation of the family’s remarkable history. Though he now divides his time between Vermont and his cattle ranch in New Mexico, Johannes still spends part of each year at the property.
As his daughter, Kristina von Trapp Frame, recounts, the family’s journey to Stowe began in 1942, when Maria von Trapp spotted a rundown farmhouse marked with a “For Sale” sign.
“We can’t recreate the views,” Kristina recalls her grandmother saying, “but we can fix the house.”
What Maria saw stretching across the valley — the layered mountain ridges and open skies — reminded her of the Austrian Alps they had been forced to leave behind.
A 75-year legacy in the Green Mountains
In 2025, the von Trapp Family Lodge & Resort marked its 75th anniversary, a milestone made even more meaningful by the continued presence of the last surviving von Trapp child. Johannes now shares stewardship of the 2,600-acre estate with Kristina and her husband, who manage day-to-day operations.
Guests wandering the grounds can hike through wildflower meadows where Highland cows graze, taste maple syrup produced in the lodge’s own sugar shack, or enjoy Austrian-style lagers brewed on site. In winter, cross-country skiers glide along trails that trace the origins of North America’s first commercial cross-country ski centre, founded by Johannes in 1968.
Building a slice of Austria in Vermont
The von Trapp family emigrated to the United States in 1942, five years before Maria’s husband, Georg von Trapp, passed away. Using modest earnings from their internationally touring singing group, the Trapp Family Singers, they purchased the Stowe farmhouse that would become the foundation of their future.
By 1950, Maria had transformed the home into a 27-room lodge. Johannes assumed leadership in 1969 and oversaw major expansions following a devastating fire in 1983.
Maria infused the lodge with gemütlichkeit — the Austrian ideal of warmth, hospitality and good cheer. The steep roofs, flower-filled balconies and panoramic mountain views lend the property an unmistakably Alpine feel, even in the heart of New England.
Inside, guests linger over coffee and apple strudel at the Austrian-style Kaffeehaus or gather at the von Trapp Brewing Bierhall, where sausages and Bavarian pretzels are served alongside the family’s commemorative Jubilee Grüner Veltliner, created to mark the anniversary.
Living beyond The Sound of Music
Despite global fame, the lodge contains no official imagery from The Sound of Music. Disney retains the rights to the film, but the family has made a conscious choice to focus on their real-life story rather than the Hollywood adaptation.
Instead, the emphasis remains on the legacy of the Trapp Family Singers, who toured internationally for more than 20 years.
“I call the movie my sci-fi parallel universe family,” Kristina says. “It helps people understand how different the film was from our real lives.”
Still, she warmly welcomes fans of the movie who visit the lodge, often drawn by nostalgia and emotion.
“One woman told me just this week that she named her three children — and even her dog — after the children in the film,” Kristina says. “Sometimes people just start crying.”
An Alpine ski town in New England
The von Trapps’ attraction to Stowe was no coincidence. Known as “The Ski Capital of the East,” the town has long been shaped by Austrian influence.
Before the von Trapps arrived, Austrian ski instructor Sepp Ruschp — a pioneer in American skiing — became the first director of the ski school at what is now Stowe Mountain Resort, home to Vermont’s highest peak. Austrian ski instructors followed, helping define the area’s character.
“In 1952, Ruschp took Maria von Trapp on as a ski student,” recalls Peigi Guerra, a long-time employee at the lodge.
That heritage remains visible today. The Innsbruck Inn at Stowe — a striking A-frame chalet adorned with intricately carved wooden balconies — was originally designed by Austrian architect Karl Schwanzer as the Austrian Pavilion for Expo 67 in Montreal before being relocated to Vermont.
Nearby restaurants reflect the region’s Alpine roots, including the Swiss Fondue Restaurant By Heinz, founded by Swiss hotelier Heinz Remmel, and Edelweiss Mountain Deli, once owned by Austrian ski instructors Aldi and Ingeborg Yoerg, now operating inside a restored 1830s schoolhouse.
A homecoming in Salzburg
In 2025, Kristina returned to Salzburg for the 60th anniversary of The Sound of Music, assisting with an exhibition at Schloss Leopoldskron — one of the film’s iconic locations.
Photographs from both Salzburg and Stowe, along with memorabilia such as the green curtains Maria famously turned into children’s play clothes, will appear in 2026 at Salzburg’s first dedicated Sound of Music museum at Schloss Hellbrunn. The site also houses the famous gazebo from the song “Sixteen Going on Seventeen”.
“When you’re a child, the movie is fun,” Kristina reflects. “As a teenager, you connect with the love story. And when you’re older, you realise it’s about a country and its values.”
From Salzburg to Vermont — and back again
During that visit, Kristina met Kathleen Ditter, a traveller from Texas who first fell in love with the film at age eight. Salzburg, a city of just 157,000 residents, attracts over 300,000 Sound of Music fans annually.
While standing between buses wrapped in images of Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, Kristina convinced Ditter to visit the family lodge in Vermont.
“We realised we were standing next to a woman in a beautiful dirndl,” Ditter recalls. “Then she introduced herself as Kristina von Trapp.”
At the lodge, Ditter visited the small stone chapel built by Werner von Trapp, Johannes’s older brother, after returning from World War Two, where he served alongside his brother in the elite US 10th Mountain Division.
“What they’ve created is incredible,” Ditter says. “I truly felt like I was in an Austrian lodge in Europe. Maria von Trapp was a visionary.”
The real von Trapp story
Visitors touring the lodge also learn the lesser-known truths behind the famous tale. The family did not escape Austria by crossing the Alps on foot — that route would have led them to Germany. Instead, they travelled by train to Italy (then part of Croatia), where Georg had grown up and qualified for a naval pension, before sailing to the US.
Kristina describes her grandmother as “strict — not as cosy as portrayed in the film — but very much shaped by Austrian values.”
“She was also incredibly generous,” she adds. “We called her Grandmother with a capital ‘G’.”
Contrary to his stern depiction onscreen, Georg von Trapp, she says, “was actually very warm and loving.”
The von Trapp children raised in Vermont went on to varied lives — becoming doctors, dairy farmers, music teachers, missionaries and founders of Vermont’s von Trapp Farmstead cheese business. The youngest of the family is Johannes, who continues to safeguard their heritage.
“We’re excited to go home and watch the movie again,” Ditter says. “Seeing Stowe has given it a whole new meaning. I even bought Maria’s book.”
