After the Docks Come Out, Sunapee Harbor Moves Indoors

A circular ramp still runs inside The Livery at 58 Main Street. It was built to walk horses down from street level to the stalls below, back when visitors arrived by train and steamboat and needed a carriage once they got here. The town's deed to the building requires that the ramp be kept. The same deed requires that the people of Sunapee keep access to the building. Both conditions matter this time of year. The boats are out, the summer menus are gone, and the harbor's calendar now runs through a short list of rooms. The Livery is the busiest of them.

A Building That Keeps Changing Jobs

The Livery's own history describes it as the last large commercial structure left from Sunapee's steamboat era. It was put up as the stable for the Harbor House Hotel next door. Herbert Sawyer sold it to the Town of Sunapee in 1920 for use as a fire station. Moses Knowlton donated the cupola and clock tower in 1926. A new fire station opened in 1952, and the building took on the police station, the municipal court, the town clerk, the tax collector and the water and sewer office.

Then came a long stretch of decline. New town offices were built in 1990, and by 2006 the Sunapee Thrift Shop was the only tenant left. In 2008 the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance put the building on its "Seven to Save" list. In 2015 the Sunapee Harbor Riverway Corporation bought it from the town. The volunteer committee that had worked to save it became the Sunapee Heritage Alliance, a nonprofit that now runs the building as a home for performances, classes, art shows and community events.

"The Old Town Hall, as the Livery was known in the 40s and 50s, is often described as one of the most photographed and artistically painted in the region."

Ron Garceau, a past president of the Sunapee Historical Society, said that in remarks quoted on The Livery's website. He named the horse ramp, the clock tower and the riverside site as the details that link the building to Sunapee's heritage.

That history explains how the harbor works in winter. A building that has served as a stable, a firehouse and a town hall is well suited to whatever the season asks of it. This fall and winter it hosts a card game, a new farmers market, a vintage print sale and Santa's visit.

Two Businesses, One Address on River Road

Across the bridge, the harbor's winter has a second hub at 31 River Road. Hoptimystic Brewing has its Sunapee tasting room there, above the Sugar River, in the same building as Prospect Hill Antiques. In August 2025 the Union Leader reported that the brewery started with a Sunapee Harbor pop-up and then found this nearby spot.

The sharing goes past the building. Fenton's Landing, at 72 Main Street, serves breakfast, lunch, tacos and grab-and-go groceries. Its own site says the winter Sunday brunch buffet happens inside Hoptimystic. So on a winter Sunday, one kitchen's brunch is served in another business's room, and the antiques shop downstairs is in the same building.

The rest of Hoptimystic's week shows how much the brewery carries in the off-season. Project Sunapee's calendar lists trivia with Phil every Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m., with Hoptimystic as both host and venue. On Wednesday nights, Heidi from Scuffin Boots Line Dancing runs a session from 6:30 to 8:30. Hoptimystic's homepage and its Sunapee page list different weekday hours, so check before you go.

The harbor's winter page lists a small group of businesses under "Open This Winter":

• Fenton's Landing, 72 Main Street
• Hoptimystic Brewing, 31 River Road
• Harborside Trading, 81 Main Street
• Prospect Hill Antiques & Fine Art, 31 River Road

The same page's food and beverage section adds Blue Canoe, Wildwood Smokehouse and Sunapee Cellar & Pantry, and marks Stacy's Smoothies & Coffee Bar closed for the season. The page carries no date, so check each business's current hours directly.

Halloween Week Ends on Main Street

This week's events show how few places the harbor relies on. The Spooky Sunday program on October 25, organized by Hoptimystic, followed the Witches Paddle with Trunk or Treat in the harbor and pumpkin carving at the brewery. The Sunapee Recreation Department supplied the pumpkins, and the carved ones were saved for display along Saturday's walk.

Two events remain in Halloween week:

Thursday, October 29. Sunapee Cellar & Pantry, at 5 Garnet Street, pours a free tasting of four wines from Pasqua Wines, a family-owned winery in Verona, from 4 to 6 p.m. Project Sunapee's listing says the shop's owners visited the winery on a recent trip through Northern Italy.

Saturday, October 31. Trick-or-treating on Central Street comes first. Then the Haunted Harbor Walk runs from 6 to 8 p.m., starting at the Insurance Center, winding through the harbor and ending at Deb's Landing. Hoptimystic's event listing describes the walk as all-ages and adds live music and a costume contest at the brewery afterward.

A Farmers Market That Runs Until May

The biggest change in this year's off-season is a market that keeps going all winter. The new Sunapee Winter Market started October 10 and runs every other Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. through May 8. It rotates among The Livery in Sunapee Harbor, Woodbine Cottages and Newbury Vets Hall. According to Project Sunapee, more than two dozen local artisans, makers and crafters had signed on before the first date, along with seasonal foods from area producers.

Because the location changes, check each date's listing before you head out. The November 7 listing gives the Woodbine Property at 34 River Road. The market posts vendor news on its Facebook page. Makers who want a table can request an application at [email protected].

November and December, Date by Date

With the Halloween events done, the calendar spreads out, and most of what's left happens at The Livery or the harbor waterfront.

Some notes on those dates. The Turkey Trot turns 20 this year, and registration is open. Before the 5K, children under 13 run the 1K Chicken Run, which starts in front of the gazebo, goes down to Indian Cave and comes back to the harbor. The November 25 date at Mount Sunapee is just the first day you can pick when buying a lift ticket. The page doesn't announce it as opening day. Sunapee Village Christmas begins with a firetruck parade at 12:45 p.m. From 1 to 4 there's Santa, activities inside The Livery and horse-and-carriage rides in the harbor. A special mailbox in the harbor takes letters to Santa. Letters that include a return address get a reply from Santa, Mrs. Claus or the elves.

On Tuesday mornings, educators from the Lake Sunapee Protective Association hold a story time at the Center for Lake Studies, with sensory play, art and music for young children and their caregivers.

The Steamboat Era Comes Back to Its Stable

The Print Show on November 28 is the most fitting event of the season. SooNipi Magazine's first Print Show & Sale offers a free gallery of rare early-1900s photographs of local towns, with archival prints, vintage steamship images and historic hotel placemats for sale. Those images come from the same era the harbor's own history starts with. The railroad reached Newbury in the late 1870s, and the steamboat Lady Woodsum carried passengers from the station to points around the lake. Hotels and guest houses kept going up through the 1930s.

The prints will hang in the building that stabled the horses for one of those hotels, and the circular ramp those horses used is still there at 58 Main Street, as the town's deed requires.

Pamela Perkins is a fourth-generation local real estate professional and is glad to share what she knows about its quieter months, from the history behind its buildings to the shoreline beyond them. If a winter Saturday at The Livery has you thinking about your own place on Lake Sunapee, Get in Touch.