In 2021, The Marvelwood School completed a renovation of the Skiff House, one of the oldest buildings on its campus.
The house, built around 1800, originally belonged to various members of the Skiff family, including long-time resident Peter Skiff, who owned and lived in the home until his passing in 1927, at age 102. Several additions over the subsequent years enlarged the building significantly. Since 1995, when Marvelwood moved from Cornwall, CT to their location on Skiff Mountain, the house has served as the residence of the Head of School. With the approval of the Board of Trustees, Marvelwood’s newest Head of School Blythe Everett P’14, ’16 decided to repurpose the building for the Admission and Advancement departments.
This project was made possible through the generosity of a group of alumni from the 1960s led by major donor John Sargent ‘64 and his wife Susan, who requested the house be named in honor of former faculty members Edwin and Ann Sundt, who made an important difference in their lives.
“The Sundts were beloved teachers of English during their five-year tenure at Marvelwood from 1963-1967, and this group of 17 alumni donors chose to honor their legacy by creating a space that would welcome prospective students to the Marvelwood family and continue to serve them as alumni in the years well beyond their graduation,” says long-time faculty member, and Dean of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Glenn Sanchez P’18, ‘19.
The centrally-located house now offers both an elegant introduction to Marvelwood for first time visitors and a warm "welcome back" for alumni and friends of the school accommodating both the Admission and Advancement offices, as well as a reception area and lounges. A full kitchen, spacious sun porch, and large backyard and patio will continue to allow students and faculty to make use of the house’s facilities for special events, meals, meetings, and extracurricular activities.
