diff --git a/lib/vagrant/environment.rb b/lib/vagrant/environment.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..684f4d2c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/vagrant/environment.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+module Vagrant
+  # Represents a single Vagrant environment. This class is responsible
+  # for loading all of the Vagrantfile's for the given environment and
+  # storing references to the various instances.
+  class Environment
+    ROOTFILE_NAME = "Vagrantfile"
+
+    include Util
+
+    attr_reader :root_path
+    attr_reader :config
+
+    # Loads this environment's configuration and stores it in the {config}
+    # variable. The configuration loaded by this method is specified to
+    # this environment, meaning that it will use the given root directory
+    # to load the Vagrantfile into that context.
+    def load_config!
+      # Prepare load paths for config files
+      load_paths = [File.join(PROJECT_ROOT, "config", "default.rb")]
+      load_paths << File.join(root_path, ROOTFILE_NAME) if root_path
+
+      # Clear out the old data
+      Config.reset!
+
+      # Load each of the config files in order
+      load_paths.each do |path|
+        if File.exist?(path)
+          logger.info "Loading config from #{path}..."
+          load path
+        end
+      end
+
+      # Execute the configuration stack and store the result
+      @config = Config.execute!
+    end
+  end
+end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/vagrant/environment_test.rb b/test/vagrant/environment_test.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5b8b94fc4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/vagrant/environment_test.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+require File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), '..', 'test_helper')
+
+class EnvTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
+  setup do
+    mock_config
+  end
+
+  context "loading config" do
+    setup do
+      @root_path = "/foo"
+      @env = Vagrant::Environment.new
+      @env.stubs(:root_path).returns(@root_path)
+
+      File.stubs(:exist?).returns(false)
+      Vagrant::Config.stubs(:execute!)
+      Vagrant::Config.stubs(:reset!)
+    end
+
+    should "reset the configuration object" do
+      Vagrant::Config.expects(:reset!).once
+      @env.load_config!
+    end
+
+    should "load from the project root" do
+      File.expects(:exist?).with(File.join(PROJECT_ROOT, "config", "default.rb")).once
+      @env.load_config!
+    end
+
+    should "load from the root path" do
+      File.expects(:exist?).with(File.join(@root_path, Vagrant::Environment::ROOTFILE_NAME)).once
+      @env.load_config!
+    end
+
+    should "not load from the root path if nil" do
+      @env.stubs(:root_path).returns(nil)
+      File.expects(:exist?).with(File.join(@root_path, Vagrant::Environment::ROOTFILE_NAME)).never
+      @env.load_config!
+    end
+
+    should "load the files only if exist? returns true" do
+      File.expects(:exist?).once.returns(true)
+      @env.expects(:load).once
+      @env.load_config!
+    end
+
+    should "not load the files if exist? returns false" do
+      @env.expects(:load).never
+      @env.load_config!
+    end
+
+    should "execute after loading and set result to environment config" do
+      result = mock("result")
+      File.expects(:exist?).once.returns(true)
+      @env.expects(:load).once
+      Vagrant::Config.expects(:execute!).once.returns(result)
+      @env.load_config!
+      assert_equal result, @env.config
+    end
+  end
+end