Mohonk Mountain House

Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox NRHP

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.

HistoryEdit

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

Template:Error Template:Main other{{#if:|{{#if:|}}
— {{#if:|, in }}Template:Comma separated entries
}}

{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Blockquote with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | author | by | char | character | cite | class | content | multiline | personquoted | publication | quote | quotesource | quotetext | sign | source | style | text | title | ts }}

File:Albert Keith Smiley and Alfred H. Smiley.png

Albert Keith Smiley and Alfred H. Smiley (Template:Circa)

File:Mohonk Mountain House 2011 View of Mohonk Lake from One Hiking Trail FRD 3247.jpg

Lake Mohonk

The resort is located on the shore of Lake Mohonk, which is half a mile (800 m) long and Template:Convert deep. The main structure was built by Quaker twin brothers Albert and Alfred Smiley between 1869 and 1910.<ref name="nhlsum">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref>Powers, Lilian D. Report of the Thirty-First Annual Annual Lake Mohonk Conference on the Indian and Other Dependent Peoples, Volume 30 Template:Webarchive. Lake Mohonk Conference on the Indian and Other Dependent Peoples, 1913. Preface.</ref><ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref><ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The hotel hosted the Lake Mohonk Conference on International Arbitration between 1895 and 1916,<ref name="Swathmore">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> which was instrumental in creating the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands.<ref>Report of the Annual Lake Mohonk Conference on International Arbitration, Volume 20, Part 1914 Template:Webarchive. Lake Mohonk Conference on International Arbitration, 1914.</ref> Those conference papers were donated by the Smiley Family to Swarthmore College for research.<ref name="Swathmore" />

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."<ref>Mohonk Mountain House – History Template:Webarchive. Historic Hotels of America. National Trust for Historic Preservation.</ref>

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.<ref name="dailyfreeman.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The resort settled the claims for $875,000 two years later.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

DescriptionEdit

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 Template:Convert, and much of it is landscaped with meadows and gardens. It adjoins the Mohonk Preserve, which is crisscrossed by Template:Convert 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Notable guestsEdit

File:Mohonk Mountain House 2011 Water Fountain FRD 2977.jpg

Water fountain

Mohonk Mountain House has hosted many famous visitors including industrialist John D. Rockefeller, financier Charles A. Schmutz,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> naturalist John Burroughs, industrialist Andrew Carnegie, prolific author Isaac Asimov,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and American presidents Rutherford B. Hayes, Chester A. Arthur, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and Bill Clinton.<ref name=mitchell>Mitchell, Paula Ann."DESTINATIONS: Mohonk Mountain House a castle like no other" Template:Webarchive. Daily Freeman. January 27, 2013.</ref><ref>"Mohonk marks 145 years in 2014" Template:Webarchive. Ulster County Regional Chamber of Commerce. January 30, 2014.</ref> Guests have also included actor Alan Alda,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> `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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 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.Template:Citation needed Actor Kevin Bacon has also stayed at the resort.Template:Citation needed Dee Snider of Twisted Sister fame often enjoys vacations at Mohonk with his family.Template: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".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In popular cultureEdit

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Cbignore</ref>

The resort was featured in the second episode of the fifth season of Billions. <ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Cbignore</ref>

AwardsEdit

File:MohonkHouse.jpg

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).<ref>"Top 10 Spas in the U.S." Template:Webarchive. Condé Nast Traveler. February 2013.</ref> Travel + Leisure has given the resort seven awards since 2009, including "Number Two Hotel Spa in the United States" (2013)<ref>"Best Hotel Spas in the United States" Template:Webarchive. Travel + Leisure. 2013.</ref> and "Number Six Hotel Spa in the World" (2013).<ref>"Top 10 Hotel Spas in the World" Template:Webarchive. Travel + Leisure. 2013.</ref>

Fodor's listed it as one of "10 Best Spa Trips" for 2012,<ref>"10 Best Spa Trips for 2012" Template:Webarchive. Fodor's. February 27, 2012.</ref> and in 2010 named it as one of 10 Best Hotels for Kids and Families.<ref>"Gold Awards 2010: Best Hotels for Kids and Families" Template:Webarchive. Fodor's. 2010.</ref> In 2011, Every Day with Rachael Ray listed Mohonk as one of "Our Eight Favorite Resorts".<ref>"Our Eight Favorite Resorts" Template:Webarchive. Every Day with Rachael Ray. April 2011.</ref>

Mohonk Mountain House is a member of Historic Hotels of America, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.<ref name=hha>Template:Cite journal</ref>

In July 2024, Americas Great Resorts added the hotel to its Top Picks as a landmark property.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>