Teachout-Orton Store

This is the country store that inspired Vrest Orton to open The Vermont Country Store in 1946. It belonged to Vrest’s father, Gardner Lyman Orton and grandfather, Melvin Teachout. Like country stores of its time, the Teachout/Orton store served as the heart of its community, a place where folks met for a round of checkers and stocked up on essentials like Vermont cheddar cheese, a scoop or two of common crackers, or sweet treats from the penny candy counter. That store is gone now—in fact, the town of North Calais no longer exists as a separate township—but you can still enjoy many of the store’s original light fixtures and display cases in our Weston store. The fond memories Vrest had growing up in his family’s store served him well when he designed The Vermont Country Store, which is still a vital part of Weston, Vermont, to this day.