The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel is a grand

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

and

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area–a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North Am ...

located in

Dixville Notch Dixville may refer to: * Dixville, New Hampshire, United States; a township * Dixville, Quebec, Canada; a municipality * Dixville, Liberia; a township See also * Dix (disambiguation) DIX or Dix may refer to: Computing * Danish Internet Exc ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It has been closed since 2011. The resort grounds cover and feature of cross-country ski trails, an alpine ski area with 16 trails, five

glade Glade may refer to: Places in the United States *Glade, Kansas, a city in Phillips County * Glade, Ohio, an unincorporated community in Jackson County *Glades County, Florida, in south central Florida *Glade Spring, Virginia, a town in Washington ...

areas and a terrain park. There is also a nine-hole

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...

and an 18-hole championship course called "Panorama" which was designed by Donald Ross. The site continues to be a

polling place A polling place is where voters cast their ballots in elections. The phrase polling station is also used in American English, British English and Canadian English although a polling place is the building and polling station is the specific ...

for the New Hampshire midnight voting on the day of state's primary and general elections.

History

Located along the old Coös Trail, now Route 26, through Dixville Notch, it first opened just after the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

as the Dix House, a 25-room summer

inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway. Before the advent of motorized transportation, they also provided accomm ...

established by George Parsons. In 1895, it was purchased by Henry S. Hale, a

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea, or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

and

industrialist A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

who had been a regular guest. He renamed it "The Balsams", and over time enlarged and augmented the facilities. In 1918, Hale completed the Hampshire House, the towering wing which doubled the resort's capacity to 400 guests. The Ballot Room of The Balsams is where

's presidential primary votes are cast just after midnight on the day of the New Hampshire primaries since the 1960s. These votes cast by Dixville Notch residents are among the first to be cast, counted, and reported nationally.

Current operations

In December 2011, The Balsams closed to the public after being purchased by new owners for $2.3 million, and remains closed as of January 2021 as its owners continue to seek financing for their redevelopment and expansion efforts. In 2014, former American Skiing Company head

Les Otten Leslie B. Otten (born 1949) is the former CEO of the American Skiing Company. Since resigning as its chief executive officer in 2001, Otten has been involved in numerous other businesses and industries, including the Major League Baseball's B ...

joined the Balsams redevelopment effort. Included in Otten's current plan is a massive expansion of the ski area to around 1,000 acres and the addition of multiple lifts, including a year-round gondola to the summit and a lift connection across Route 26 to the hotel complex. The expanded ski area would be quadruple its current size and be one of the largest ski areas in the Northeast. Plans call for the renovation of the main hotel buildings, the Dix and Hampshire houses, as well as a new hotel wing, and renovations to the golf course clubhouse. The plans call for the conversion of a portion of the existing buildings from hotel rooms to condominiums as well as the potential construction of additional condominium units. Otten has stated that the project to redevelop the hotel and resort would cost an estimated $170 million. After years of effort by the owners of the property, New Hampshire Governor

Chris Sununu Christopher Thomas Sununu ( ; born November 5, 1974) is an American politician and engineer who served as the 82nd governor of New Hampshire from 2017 to 2025. A Republican Party (United States), Republican, Sununu is the son of former New Hamps ...

signed the so-called "Balsams Bill" into law in May 2019, allowing the Coös County Commissioners to create a

tax increment financing Tax increment financing (TIF) is a public financing method that is used as a subsidy for redevelopment, infrastructure, and other community-improvement projects in many countries, including the United States. The original intent of a TIF program i ...

district around the Balsams. Otten seeks to sell $28 million of bonds under the municipal finance structure in order to begin the redevelopment. In 2021, Provident Resources Group, a national nonprofit, agreed to finance the construction of the new hotel. The development team later announced the addition of Goldman Sachs to advance the financing of the project. This led to a surge in real-estate interest, with over 500 pre-sale commitments totaling $30 million by June 2022.

References

External links

Balsams Grand Resort
- Official site
Balsams Wilderness Ski Area History
- NewEnglandSkiHistory.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Balsams Grand Resort Hotel Buildings and structures in Coös County, New Hampshire Hotels in New Hampshire Defunct ski areas and resorts in New Hampshire Golf clubs and courses in New Hampshire Golf clubs and courses designed by Donald Ross Hotel buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in New Hampshire Tourist attractions in Coös County, New Hampshire National Register of Historic Places in Coös County, New Hampshire Event venues on the National Register of Historic Places in New Hampshire