Pictures I Wish I Had

[Corinne]

Mark,

Great pic!! Thanks so much.

They just don't put stuff together like that any more, I mean look at the stonework, arches hardly ever had that much curve-down. And the rooms are small, look at how much space the chimney takes up.

This past weekend I just watched a master stone man cut and piece by eye, it was beauty in motion.

I'm sure that the current owners could be inundated with us curious folk, but the long lense did the trick without upsetting anyone, hopefully.

Glad to see that the place is still up and going!

Imagine being on a carriage and gliding under that archway ... wow.

[Mark]

Craftsmanship like that is sadly missing from the landscape these days.

What's really neat is that the large archway is their carport! I'd imagine by looking at the size of the fairly large model car in relation to the building that it's a bit larger than we suspect. They had to have gotten a great deal on the place to justify the amount of square footage of living space, and to afford repairing the place also. I imagine that the room over the car would be a decent size living room. I have no idea how deep the building is, but I'd like to be able to park that car in my living room, and have the amount of space there appears to be around it. Looks like the car is about the same width as the window. Maybe it has the same gable end on the back side too? That said, all the mechanicals have to fit in there too. I've always remembered that building from when I was young. It meant that we were almost to the lake.

I don't think I was detected at all. I parked my car on the side of 299, and walked over to look down the long carriage road and took just enough time to get it in focus and snap a couple of shots.. jumped back in the car and headed up to the lake. I'm sure they get their share of folks who think they've reached the entrance to the preserve, because the road looks like it should go straight up their driveway as you head up 299, as it once no doubt did. I can picture some rich folk from NYC pulling up behind their car spouting "Is the valet ever gonna come out and bring us to our room?.. you just can't get good service these days Harold".. lol. Sortof like the story about the lady walking into Windsong asking if they were open for lunch

The full size 'partially zoomed' pic is in the photo album linked in the 'Misc' forum. You can get an idea of how long their driveway is better in that shot. I cropped out the small part posted here from the larger fully zoomed one, and was standing on public road so I didn't end my hiking day early with a visit to the local lockup. The edge of the warning sign is also visible in the larger partially zoomed version, in the lower left corner.

I can't imagine what it must've been like to be pulled along on a sleigh up that road.. the sight of that building in the snow must have given a 'curb appeal' to the Mohonk Mountain House one can only dream of. I can almost hear the sound of the horses crunching down that 'really cold' type of snow.

Glad I was able to shed some light on how the building is, and that it appears to be a good future for the building too.

Cheers,

Mark

P.S. I seem to remember the sleigh in front of the campground, but I didn't see it on the way up Sunday. I think it was out at the front of the Peterskill campground until about 6 or 7 years ago.

[Patty Ruska]

A friend of mine lives there - his bedroom is right above the arch! BTW, MMH owns it!

[Chris Stoffel]

I'm glad everyone enjoys looking at the Testimonial Gateway, my place of residence for the past few years. It's wonderful to live in the 50th wedding anniversary present from the guests of Mohonk Mountain House to the founder, Albert K. Smiley and his wife. The house is still owned by Mohonk. The driveway used to be the main carriage road to the hotel before cars became popular.

The house is larger than it looks, with three bedrooms and two baths, large kitchen and a small living room, large basement below it all. The arch over the driveway provides a great place to park my Saturn with the main entrance under the arch and the room over the arch is the largest room in the house with windows on the other side. Walls are very thick, chimney is hidden within one corner. Lot's of stairs, this is a vertically arranged house, laundry room and bath in the basement, kitchen and living room on the first floor, master bedroom with bath and guest bedroom on the second floor, second guest bedroom on the third floor, and the fourth floor is open to the elements. At one time the interior may have resemble the inside of Skytop tower but some years ago it was renovated and insulated to be more comfortable.

The driveway, formerly the beginning of Lenape Lane, no longer goes all the way up to the hotel, for privacy it is blocked at points near the house. The residence is private. Sorry, no tours are given. Please don't scare the resident deer and turkey population if you happen to stop for a moment at the gate to take a picture of the house.

[Mark]

Hi Chris,

I'm glad I didn't disturb you when I stopped to snap the picture of the house you live in. I had a feeling that the house was larger than it looks from a distance. I remember the building being in rough shape sometime during the 1980's, and it's great to hear that it's been renovated, and that it has a future. So many buildings of that type have been lost forever around the area.

The turkey population in this area has really been booming over the past 7 or 8 years. I live in Pleasant Valley, about 20-25 miles as the crow flies east of your home, on Rt 44. I have many deer and turkeys, along with great blue herons, and all smaller forms of wildlife active in my yard too.. and it's great to have views of them around the pond in my back yard. The only problem here with all the deer in the yard is that I have to be careful not to pick up deer ticks while I'm out there with my dog. The dog has been vaccinated for Lyme, but they don't offer the vaccination for people around here any more.

Thanks for the information on your home. You can check out the full size pic I took of it that day by going to my website if you wish, along with many of my other photos taken around the Mid-Hudson valley. My website photos are here:

http://www.mark-h.com/photos.html

The photo of your home is in the Lake Minnewaska album if you have the time to take a look.

Thanks again for the info,

Mark

[Admin]

Here's an older perspective taken from the 1938 Lake Mohonk brochure.

[Corinne]

Just Wonderful, Sam! Thanks so much for ferretting this out. And thanks to Chris the current resident for his contribution. Gee Chris, how about a few interior photos? If you can, it would be really neat.

Best,
Corinne

[jeanne Tavis]

Hi Sam
I hope you still come on this site. It was given to me today.
I have beem in tears all day looking at the past and wondering
what happened to everyone. My email is

edwards_jeanne@yahoo.com

I live in Kingston, NY and i always go in the summer to Lake Minnewaska.
I am on facebook also.

Write me

[Nan Lasher Ball]

Hi Corrinne are you still out there. I rerad all of your messages and they are wonderful! I hope that you are well! Nan nanlasherball@comcast.net