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Mohonk Mountain House

Coordinates: 41°46′07″N 74°09′20″W / 41.76861°N 74.15556°W / 41.76861; -74.15556
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Lake Mohonk Mountain House
Mohonk Mountain House
Mohonk Mountain House is located in New York
Mohonk Mountain House
Mohonk Mountain House is located in the United States
Mohonk Mountain House
LocationNew Paltz, New York
Coordinates41°46′07″N 74°09′20″W / 41.76861°N 74.15556°W / 41.76861; -74.15556
Built1869–1910
ArchitectNapoleon Le Brun
James E. Ware
NRHP reference No.73001280
NYSRHP No.11108.000020
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJuly 16, 1973[1]
Designated NHLJune 24, 1986[2]
Designated NYSRHPJune 23, 1980

The Mohonk Mountain House, also known as Lake Mohonk Mountain House, is a resort hotel located south of the Catskill Mountains on the crest of the Shawangunk Ridge, New York. The property lies at the junction of the towns of New Paltz, Marbletown, and Rochester.

History

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The National Historic Landmark Program's "Statement of Significance", as of the site's historic landmark designation in 1986, stated:

Begun in the 1870s as a small resort for family and friends by the Smiley brothers, it became so popular that it was enlarged many times. Because of the Smileys' love of the outdoor life, the area around the hotel was treated as an integral part of the attractions of the resort. Much of this area was planned as an experiment in conservation of the natural environment and as an educational tool for studying botany, geology, and outdoor living.[2]

Albert Keith Smiley and Alfred H. Smiley (c. 1901)
Lake Mohonk

The resort is located on the shore of Lake Mohonk, which is half a mile (800 m) long and 60 feet (18 m) deep. The main structure was built by Quaker twin brothers Albert and Alfred Smiley between 1869 and 1910.[2][3]

From 1883 to 1916, annual conferences took place at Mohonk Mountain House, sponsored by Albert Smiley, to improve the living standards of Native American Indian populations.[4][5][6] These meetings brought together government representatives of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the House and Senate committees on Indian Affairs, as well as educators, philanthropists, and Indian leaders to discuss the formulation of policy. The Haverford College library holds 22,000 records from the 34 conference reports for researchers and students of American history.[7]

The hotel hosted the Lake Mohonk Conference on International Arbitration between 1895 and 1916,[8] which was instrumental in creating the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands.[9] Those conference papers were donated by the Smiley Family to Swarthmore College for research.[8]

The house was given a United Nations Environment Programme Award in 1994 in honor of "125 years of stewardship". According to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, "Through its buildings and roads, its land, and its spirit, Mohonk exemplifies America's history and culture. Mohonk has since managed to maintain its 19th century character into the 21st century."[10]

The resort was sued in 2014 by 200 guests who had become ill in a norovirus outbreak after staying there. They claimed that the owners had been aware of the gastrointestinal illness at the resort prior to the guests' arrival.[11][12][13] The resort settled the claims for $875,000 two years later.[14]

Description

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Mohonk Mountain House has 259 guest rooms, including 28 tower rooms, an indoor pool and spa, and an outdoor ice-skating rink for winter use. The property consists of 1,325 acres (536 ha), and much of it is landscaped with meadows and gardens. It adjoins the Mohonk Preserve, which is crisscrossed by 85 miles (140 km) of hiking trails and carriage roads. The Smileys conveyed the majority of their property to the preserve, in 1963. At the time the preserve was called the Mohonk Trust.[15]

Notable guests

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Water fountain

Mohonk Mountain House has hosted many famous visitors including industrialist John D. Rockefeller, financier Charles A. Schmutz,[16] naturalist John Burroughs, industrialist Andrew Carnegie, prolific author Isaac Asimov,[17] and American presidents Rutherford B. Hayes, Chester A. Arthur, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and Bill Clinton.[18][19] Guests have also included actor Alan Alda,[20] former First Lady Julia Grant, author Thomas Mann, and religious leaders such as Theologian Lyman Abbott, Rabbi Louis Finkelstein, Reverend Ralph W. Sockman, Reverend Francis Edward Clark.[21] `Abdu'l-Bahá, the eldest son of Baháʼí Faith founder Bahá'u'lláh, stayed there in 1912 during the Lake Mohonk Conference on International Arbitration as part of his journeys to the West.[22] William James Roe II described the resort as a "palace of peace" after his stay there, writing an article of the same name, published in Harper's Young People.[citation needed] Actor Kevin Bacon has also stayed at the resort.[citation needed] Dee Snider of Twisted Sister fame often enjoys vacations at Mohonk with his family.[citation needed]

Ada Louise Huxtable, an architectural critic for The New York Times, also visited the resort, calling it "unspoiled" and praising its ability to capture the picturesque and sublime. She singled out the Lake Parlor and Lake Lounge as "notably good".[23]

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The stone gatehouse appeared in the 1985 film The Stuff.

The resort was the filming location of the film The Road to Wellville (1994), starring Anthony Hopkins and Matthew Broderick.[24]

The resort is mentioned in the 22nd episode of the eighth season of Blue Bloods.

Scenes from the Amazon Prime Video television series Upload were filmed at the resort.[25]

The resort was featured in the second episode of the fifth season of Billions. [26]

The resort was featured in the "Hudson Valley, N.Y." episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations in 2010.

In the Stephen King novel The Regulators, the resort plays a minor role as a place fondly remembered by a protagonist. The epilogue is written as a typewritten letter on Mohonk stationery talking about some events at the resort.[27]

Awards

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Seen from Skytop observation tower

Condé Nast Traveler has given it nine awards since 2008, including "Number One Resort Spa in the United States" (2013).[28] Travel + Leisure has given the resort seven awards since 2009, including "Number Two Hotel Spa in the United States" (2013)[29] and "Number Six Hotel Spa in the World" (2013).[30]

Fodor's listed it as one of "10 Best Spa Trips" for 2012,[31] and in 2010 named it as one of 10 Best Hotels for Kids and Families.[32] In 2011, Every Day with Rachael Ray listed Mohonk as one of "Our Eight Favorite Resorts".[33]

Mohonk Mountain House is a member of Historic Hotels of America, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.[34]

In July 2024, Americas Great Resorts added the hotel to its Top Picks as a landmark property.[35]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. ^ a b c "Lake Mohonk Mountain House". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. September 11, 2007. Archived from the original on November 10, 2013.
  3. ^ Turkel, Stanley. "Hotel History: Mohonk Mountain House (1869), New Paltz, New York". historichotels.org. Archived from the original on January 6, 2017. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  4. ^ Powers, Lilian D. Report of the Thirty-First Annual Annual Lake Mohonk Conference on the Indian and Other Dependent Peoples, Volume 30 Archived 2014-07-07 at the Wayback Machine. Lake Mohonk Conference on the Indian and Other Dependent Peoples, 1913. Preface.
  5. ^ Burgess, Larry (1972). The Lake Mohonk Conferences on the Indian, 1883-1916 (PhD). Claremont.
  6. ^ Helleson, Linda Louise (1974). The Lake Mohonk conferences of the Friends of the Indian, 1883-1916 (PhD). University of Denver.
  7. ^ "Haverford College Library Special Collections: Smiley Family Papers, 1885-1983 bulk 1885-1930" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 28, 2014. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  8. ^ a b "Lake Mohonk Conference on International Arbitration Records, 1895-1937". Archived from the original on March 28, 2014. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  9. ^ Report of the Annual Lake Mohonk Conference on International Arbitration, Volume 20, Part 1914 Archived 2017-07-30 at the Wayback Machine. Lake Mohonk Conference on International Arbitration, 1914.
  10. ^ Mohonk Mountain House – History Archived 2014-04-14 at the Wayback Machine. Historic Hotels of America. National Trust for Historic Preservation.
  11. ^ "Norovirus victims settle suit against Mohonk Mountain House". February 27, 2016. Archived from the original on September 26, 2018. Retrieved September 26, 2018.
  12. ^ Hensley, Scott (February 7, 2014). "Stomach Bug Closes Landmark New York Resort". NPR.org. Archived from the original on September 26, 2018. Retrieved September 26, 2018.
  13. ^ "Norovirus Shuts Down Historic New York State Resort". ABC News. Archived from the original on September 26, 2018. Retrieved September 26, 2018.
  14. ^ "Judge OKs settlement for Mohonk Mountain House guests who fell ill". Archived from the original on September 26, 2018. Retrieved September 26, 2018.
  15. ^ "Sister Organizations | The Mohonk Trust". Mohonk Mountain House. Archived from the original on December 15, 2020. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
  16. ^ "Charles A. Schmutz, 74, Dies; Ex-Head of Standard & Poor's (Published 1974)". The New York Times. October 14, 1974. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 9, 2021. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
  17. ^ Asimov, Isaac; Asimov, Janet (December 20, 1987). "ISAAC ASIMOV'S JOURNEY INTO THE UNKNOWN". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on February 26, 2022. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
  18. ^ Mitchell, Paula Ann."DESTINATIONS: Mohonk Mountain House a castle like no other" Archived 2014-05-17 at the Wayback Machine. Daily Freeman. January 27, 2013.
  19. ^ "Mohonk marks 145 years in 2014" Archived 2014-05-17 at the Wayback Machine. Ulster County Regional Chamber of Commerce. January 30, 2014.
  20. ^ Foderaro, Lisa W. (February 24, 2006). "'Makeover at Mohonk'". New York Times. Archived from the original on October 21, 2019. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  21. ^ "Resolution J24-2009: Congratulating the Mohonk Mountain House upon the occasion of celebrating its 140th Anniversary". New York State Legislature. January 13, 2009. Archived from the original on March 28, 2014. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  22. ^ Report of the annual Lake Mohonk Conference on International Arbitration. Lake Mohonk: Harvard University. 1912. pp. 42–44.
  23. ^ Huxtable, Ada Louise (October 31, 1971). "If It's Good, Leave It Alone". New York Times.
  24. ^ "Filming locations for The Road to Wellville". IMDb. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
  25. ^ "Upload - Official Trailer I Prime Video". March 16, 2020. Archived from the original on December 12, 2021 – via www.youtube.com.
  26. ^ Vigna, Paul (May 11, 2020). "'Billions' Recap, Season 5, Episode 2: Chess and Ayahuasca". WSJ. Archived from the original on May 11, 2020. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  27. ^ "MOHONK MOUNTAIN HOUSE".
  28. ^ "Top 10 Spas in the U.S." Archived 2013-12-03 at the Wayback Machine. Condé Nast Traveler. February 2013.
  29. ^ "Best Hotel Spas in the United States" Archived 2014-03-20 at the Wayback Machine. Travel + Leisure. 2013.
  30. ^ "Top 10 Hotel Spas in the World" Archived 2014-03-20 at the Wayback Machine. Travel + Leisure. 2013.
  31. ^ "10 Best Spa Trips for 2012" Archived 2014-03-20 at the Wayback Machine. Fodor's. February 27, 2012.
  32. ^ "Gold Awards 2010: Best Hotels for Kids and Families" Archived 2014-03-20 at the Wayback Machine. Fodor's. 2010.
  33. ^ "Our Eight Favorite Resorts" Archived 2014-03-20 at the Wayback Machine. Every Day with Rachael Ray. April 2011.
  34. ^ "Mohonk Mountain House, a Historic Hotels of America member". Historic Hotels of America. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved January 28, 2014. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  35. ^ "Where History And Nature Converge: The Mohonk Mountain House". www.americasgreatresorts.net. Retrieved July 20, 2024.

Further reading

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