Dog Chapel, Dog Mountain, and the Stephen Huneck Gallery

Stephen Huneck was a self-taught American artist known for wood carving, furniture making, painting, and writing children’s books. Over his lifetime, he wrote 10 books inspired by his black Lab, Sally, all illustrated with his woodcut prints. 

In 1994, became gravely ill after falling down the stairs and was in a coma for two months. Doctors believed he would never recover. Eventually did, however, but had to learn to walk, write, and carve all over again.

During this time he did a lot of thinking about life and death, and this is where his vision for a Dog Chapel was born.

In 1995, Huneck and his wife Gwen purchased Dog Mountain, 150 acres on a mountaintop in St. Johnsbury, Vt.  Huneck set up his studio, but also got to work on his idea for the Dog Chapel.

Feeling strongly that dogs are family members, he wanted to create a space that would help their owners find closure after their beloved pets passed.  The Dog Chapel was built in the style of an 1820s Vermont church, complete with pews and stained-glass windows. 

The sign as you approach reads “Dog Chapel: Welcome All Breeds: Welcome All Creeds, All Breeds – No Dogmas Allowed”, and honestly, this would be good for nearly every place we enter in our lives.

The Chapel opened its doors in 2000, and since then has been a mecca for dog lovers. Dogs are free to run off-leash on the trails on the grounds, and romp in the ponds.  The chapel walls are covered with notes and pictures in memoriam to beloved dogs that have passed on.

I might have left a note for our amazing Mr. K, who often acted more like a dog than a cat. It had been just a month since we’d lost him and it was still feeling pretty raw, so needless to say writing the note made me cry pretty good. Fortunately this is a common experience, and they had tissues at the ready.

Sadly, Huneck committed suicide at age 61 in 2010, followed three years later by his wife.  The Friends of Dog Mountain was established in 2015 to keep Dog Mountain going. The site includes a gallery and gift shop where prints and other items can be purchased.

During our visit, there were a lot of visitors, and lots of dogs. It was nice to see the interest in this place and Stephen’s memory being kept alive.

Huneck’s work can be found in the Smithsonian, the Currier Museum of Art, and the Museum of Folk Art. We saw a nice display of his work at the Shelburne Museum, as well, and one of his carved rocking chairs at the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum.