Mountain Valley Treatment Center has recently purchased a spectacular piece of property in Plainfield, NH. If all goes well, we hope to move to this new location sometime around the holidays. While our current location has served us well, there are many factors that have gone into our decision to move, and we are excited to do so. We believe that the Plainfield location will address some of the challenges that we have faced and better serve our mission and daily programming without sacrificing many of the aspects that have made the Pike campus unique and successful.
Our new home in Plainfield will be on 25-acres of land settled by Thomas Gallup in 1763. The Gallup Homestead, built in 1818, was owned by the Gallups until 1912 – ending a remarkable six-generation ownership. Since then, the Federal-style brick home has been used as a private home and, most recently, an inn. Our intention is to use this magnificent building for administrative offices, residents’ rooms, and dining. The Carriage House, located directly behind the main building, will also be used as a dormitory. A third building, also on the campus, will serve as our Clinical Center and feature office space for our therapists, nurses and psychiatrists. Other on-campus buildings will be used for Residential Staff offices and programming – art, yoga, gardening and, of course, our animals!
Our move to Plainfield is occurring for many reasons, including:
Safety – With all needed facilities on one central campus, our residents and staff will spend far less time in vans driving to dormitories and programming locations.
Geography – Plainfield is significantly closer to Hanover and Lebanon, NH, as well as other destinations for therapeutic programming opportunities and medical appointments. The Plainfield campus is also minutes away from the Lebanon Airport, the I-89/I-91 junction and the Dartmouth College campus, and approximately an hour closer to Manchester, Boston and New York.
Programming Opportunities – All the experiential education modules that have helped to make the MVTC experience unique will still happen on the Plainfield campus – gardening, fitness, hiking, biking, etc. There is also a clay tennis court, a pitch and putt golf course and acres of pastures for our animals – including the chickens and their Cadillac Coop! In addition, we are near the Connecticut River for easy access to canoeing, kayaking and fishing, and Mt. Ascutney and Mt. Sunapee for skiing and hiking – and our immediate neighbors include a Christmas tree farm, an equestrian center, a dairy, orchards and a nursery and farm stand.
In the coming months, we will be preparing for the seamless transition from Pike to Plainfield. Contractors are currently in Plainfield making sure that the facilities are ready for (up to) 24 residents and our clinical and residential staff. In the next few weeks, the residents will begin to spend Tuesdays in Plainfield engaged in therapeutic programming – and becoming accustomed to what for some of them will become their new MVTC home. They, like the staff, are very excited about this opportunity – one that would not have happened without the support, guidance and leadership from our advisors, parents and, especially, our former residents. We thank you all.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions you might have – and follow us on Facebook and Instagram to see the progress being made. And should you ever be back in the Upper Valley, please give us a call, we’d love to give you a tour of our new home.
Sincerely,
Don Vardell Executive Director
