Tag: Sherwood Inn

Rosslyn in Essex on Lake Champlain

Note: The following Rosslyn excerpts originally appeared in “Rosslyn“ (Essex on Lake Champlain, February 26, 2013) and “Rosslyn Boathouse“ (Essex on Lake Champlain, February 27, 2013).

Rosslyn (aka the W.D. Ross Mansion, Hyde Gate, and Sherwood Inn) in Essex, NY.

Rosslyn, the second oldest home on Essex, New York’s Merchant Row, is located just south of The Dower House. This historic home (also known as the W.D. Ross Mansion, Hyde Gate, and The Sherwood Inn) was built by William D. Ross for his bride Mary Ann Gould (c. 1826-8) (“Essex: An Architectural Guide.” 30).

Primarily Georgian in style, Rosslyn also exhibits elements of Federal and Greek Revival architecture. The central entryway of the five-bay facade is flanked by sidelight windows placed symmetrically on both sides of the doorway and an elegant fanlight above the doorway.

“The structure is noteworthy for its exceptional Doric cornice following a design from a pattern book by Boston architect Asher Benjamin, The American Builder’s Companion (1826).” (“Essex: An Architectural Guide.” 30)

Rosslyn faces Lake Champlain and Vermont’s Green Mountains beyond. Expansive lawns, locally quarried stone walls, an early 19th century inspired fence, and the alignment (and spacing) of Rosslyn’s outbuildings contribute to the classical proportions of this stately property. Rosslyn’s whimsical boathouse, still visible wharves, and a painstakingly restored waterfront recollect the Ross family’s shipping merchant heritage and The Sherwood Inn’s decades as a popular vacation destination.

Renovating Rosslyn

Like many of the homes in Historic Essex, NY, Rosslyn has experienced many cycles of renovation, neglect, alteration and restoration. As the second oldest home on Merchant Row (and one of the oldest residences in Essex village) it is difficult to ascertain the property’s precise historic lineage. While construction of the original brick and stone structure most likely began in 1820, there are indications that it either replaced (or augmented) and already constructed wood frame house…

A significant rear wing was added to Rosslyn in the early 19th century for domestic services (kitchen, pantry, etc.) and servants quarters. It was once common for wealthy families to hire and house live-in servants (cleaning staff, cooks, gardeners, nannies, etc.), however shifting social norms and economics diminished the practice in the United States making servant quarters increasingly rare.

Early in the 20th century Rosslyn was converted into The Sherwood Inn, and the service wing was renovated to accommodate guest lodging, restaurant and tavern. When the Sherwood Inn ceased operation in the late 1950s or early 1960s the rear wing was mostly removed and the remaining addition was adapted to residential use.

“It’s worth noting that the house was constructed out of brick (with stone foundations) and not wood. But this detail — like the soft math when recollecting the number and function of servants — matters little and reveals the patina-ing power of time’s passage. The other notable difference between Hyde Gate as Lesh describes it and Rosslyn as she stands today is that the veranda has been removed, revealing an older — and most likely original — stone stairway and entrance. The owner from whom we purchased the property undertook this alteration in a nod to historic authenticity. He too felt obliged to leave his imprint on the front facade of the house and erected a Greek Revival columned entrance roof which incorporates subtle Georgian detailing…” (Rosslyn Redux)

The Rosslyn property once consisted of many outbuildings including an ice house, a carriage house, several barns, a granary, and a privy (Images of America: Essex on Lake Champlain. 119). The ice house was the best way to store and preserve food in the past before electricity and refrigeration. The house’s location next to the lake would have been advantageous because in the winter ice could be cut from the frozen lake and brought to the ice house to store for summer.

A note discovered at Rosslyn identifies June 13, 1908 as the date that the home was first hooked up to electricity by Guy H. Mason (Images of America: Essex on Lake Champlain. 87). With the increasing ease of indoor plumbing, electricity, and other conveniences many of Rosslyn’s outbuildings became obsolete and were eventually removed. Today the ice house, carriage house and a boathouse (dock house) which was likely constructed in the late 1800s remain and have been renovated.

Rosslyn Boathouse

Kestrel docked at Rosslyn boathouse

Built on a pier jutting into Lake Champlain in Essex, NY, stands a charming dock house constructed in 1898 (“Essex: An Architectural Guide.” 30). Rosslyn boathouse is modeled on a late 19th century Eastlake Design, considered part of the Queen Anne style of Victorian architecture (Images of America: Essex on Lake Champlain. 118).

Popular boat races and regattas took place on the Essex waterfront drawing competitors and spectators to the Rosslyn boathouse and shoreline from near and far. While boating regattas have dwindled in the last half century, Rosslyn boathouse remains a spectacular spot for viewing the Essex fireworks on the Fourth of July.

Kestrel

Although Rosslyn boathouse is part of the original W.D. Ross family property, it was not constructed by or for the Ross family. The turn-of-the century building was most likely designed and built for the Keyser family to accommodate their 62 ft. long, steam-powered yacht, Kestrel. Constructed entirely of mahogany, the yacht plied Lake Champlain’s water the 1890’s through the 1930’s, becoming as much an iconic vessel in Essex history as the boathouse has become in the century since it first adorned Merchant Row.

Although the Keysers may have initially kept their yacht on their own waterfront north of Essex, their dock and/or boathouse was rendered unusable by ice or flood damage. Kestrel required local dockage for convenient access and an ample supply of coal to power the steam engine, so the Keyser family purchased a small piece of land on the lake from the Ross family and proceeded to build a dock, boathouse, and coal storage bin for the yacht. The Keyser boathouse has persevered through many floods and ice flows, and today it is once again part of the Rosslyn property. (The Kestrel: An Essex Icon by Morris F. Glen)

Reawakening a home, a dream and ourselves

Rosslyn Redux is a vicarious plunge into the idiosyncrasies (and absurdities) of renovating a circa 1822 historic home and boathouse in Essex, NY. The memoir by flâneur and storyteller, virtualDavis, is available at abdul2.rosslynredux.com.

February 27, 2013
Sherwood Inn Landing on Lake Champlain

Vintage postcard of Rosslyn. Caption reads: Sherwood Inn, Landing, on Lake Champlain.

Rear of vintage Rosslyn postcard addressed to Mrs. Ethel Alvey.

This morning I share with you a seasonally in-sync Rosslyn artifact that I acquired last week on eBay. This vintage postcard postmarked July 24, 1959 depicts the Rosslyn and Sunnyside waterfronts. The caption reads: Sherwood Inn, Landing, on Lake Champlain.

Although I remain somewhat conflicted whether or not it’s appropriate to share the messages from vintage and antique postcards, I tend toward a quasi-archeological justification (unless the content is obviously sensitive or inappropriate). And I am always happy to remove anything if requested (by originator, recipient, family member, etc.)

In the case of this postcard addressed to Mrs. Ethel Alvey on Muncie, Indiana from Edith, I consider the message quirky and innocuous enough to share, though it hasn’t anything at all to do with Rosslyn!

We drove to Keene, N.Y. yesterday after making a phone call. We are paid guests of Mrs. Walter Beesmeyer at Mt. House. She, her husband (now deceased) & small son came to U.S. 20 years ago from Germany. We are on top of Mt. surrounded by Mts. I wish you & Herman had a million $ so you could fly here and enjoy N.Y. State. I’m writing on a ferry crossing Lake Champlain going to a museum in Vermont.

[pullquote]I’m fascinated with how a simple artifact can offer a bridge across time.[/pullquote]I suspect that Edith was referring to Marion Biesemeyer who passed away three years ago.

Marion Hempel Biesemeyer, 101, of Keene, was born in Berlin, Germany, Feb. 22, 1911. She died peacefully at the Meadowbrook Healthcare facility on Thursday, May 31, 2012 (Source: Lake Placid News)

As World War II engulfed their country and continent, Marion and her husband Walter emigrated to the United States. They worked as caretakers for Putnam Camp and then moved to Keene where they established Mountain House.

Originally built in 1890, the Mountain House is located on top of East Hill with spectacular views of the Adirondack’s highest peaks. The Biesemeyer Family has offered guests food and lodging since 1945. (Source: Welcome to The Mountain House)

I’m fascinated with how a simple artifact can offer a bridge across time. When Edith penned her postcard to Ethel, Walter had been dead for about six years and Marion was operating Mountain House on her own. She continued to receive guests as sole proprietor until 2000. And today Mountain House is owned and operated by Bob Biesemeyer, a curious tidbit that filtered across my radar recently when my bride and I learned about Hamilton College’s soon-to-launch Academic Program in the Adirondack Program.

Nestled in the heart of the Adirondacks, the beautiful, historic Mountain House in Keene, NY is the site of our program. The Main House, and the adjacent Gulf Brook Lodge and Alpine Lodge house students, professors in residence, and serve as the academic home base for a semester of hands-on, experiential study. It was the family home of owner Bob Biesemeyer, who also owns and operates the contracting company of Biesmeyer’s Adirondack Building, Inc. (Source: Hamilton College)

Uncanny, right? And if you’ve read this far, and you’re still not totally flummoxed, then you just might want to learn about Hamilton’s Academic Program in the Adirondack Program.

The Academic Program in the Adirondacks at Hamilton College is a place-based, semester long learning experience that combines rigorous academic study with the skills and understanding gained through field experience in the Adirondack Park with local organizations and in wilderness contexts. The focus is on local, interdisciplinary environmental issues with global implications. (Source: Hamilton College)

As a Hamilton alumna and evangelist, my bride is thrilled that her alma mater is introducing a program in our neck of the woods. She visited the Biesemeyer’s Mountain House with the program’s founder and director, Professor Janelle A Schwartz. Glowing review!

Now for that museum in Vermont…

May 21, 2015
Sherwood Inn’s Boathouse Billboard

Sherwood Inn’s Boathouse Billboard (Photo: Cheri Phillips)

Does anybody recollect seeing the Sherwood Inn‘s boathouse billboard as photographed above. It’s well before my time, but probably not too long before my earliest Essex memories in the 1970s. I recently reached out to our friend Cheri Phillips to find it what she might know about the photograph above. She generously gifted me the photo shortly after we purchased Rosslyn, but she no longer recalls where it came from. In terms of seasonality, it looks like late winter or early spring. March seems likely. And the abbreviated west end of the boathouse pier intrigues me. Perhaps that helps narrow down rough timeline? I’m hoping that one of our insightful readers will be able to help fill in the gaps?

Today bold signage no longer greets the eye in Essex, but the handprinted (I’m guessing) boathouse billboard must have been extremely visible on the waterfront rooftop just north of the ferry dock. It’s the most attention grabbing element in the photo above, but there are some additional details worth noting as well. For example, if you examine the left side of the photo, roughly halfway up the edge, you can just barely detect the roof of the long gone bathhouse once located north of Rosslyn’s boathouse and roughly adjacent to the remains of a crib dock that once reached far out into Lake Champlain. Also notable is the absence of trees along the waterfront. This and other images made in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s reveal a virtually treeless lakefront at Rosslyn and the other residences located south of Rosslyn: Sunnyside, and Greystone.

Sherwood Inn Signage on Boathouse Roof (Photo: Cheri Phillips)

In just a few short months it’s possible if not likely that we’ll be able to enjoy a similar perspective looking northeast from roughly Sunnyside. There will be considerably more trees, and most likely there will be considerably less ice and snow on the lake. And not boathouse billboard! Although it’s too early to guess, recent years have resulted in fewer and fewer significant freezes of the broad lake. Perhaps this year will be different? If so, maybe we can stage a now-and-then duet with Cheri’s vintage view of Sherwood Inn’s boathouse billboard.

December 1, 2022
Favored by Fortune: Sherwood Inn Flashback

Rosslyn has been reinvigorated (even reinvented) many times over its two century history on Essex, New York’s Merchant Row. But beyond all others, the mother lode of artifacts and memories of this fascinating property derive from its years as the Sherwood Inn.

This morning I’d like to share with you an article that was published on the front page of the Essex County Republican on March 29, 1946.

Favored by Fortune: Sherwood Inn Flashback (Source: Essex County Republican (Keeseville, N.Y.), March 29, 1946, Page 1)

The full article is well worth a read, so I’ve transcribed it below in it’s entirety. But first I’d like to thank Scott Brayden for bringing this article to my attention. It’s no exaggeration to claim Scott as one of the MVP sleuths of Rosslyn and Essex area history. In addition to an extraordinary gift for disinterring artifacts with his metal detector, smarts, and soothing patience, Scott has also mined digital archives with remarkable luck. This article, three quarters of a century after it was published, STILL fascinates. And while there are potentially a couple of discrepancies with the broader historic record, it’s mostly spot on. And it fills in some of the gaps that still exist in my own understanding of the property that enraptured Susan and me a decade and a half ago…

Here’s the original article about the Sherwood Inn.

Favored by Fortune: Sherwood Inn Flashback (Source: Essex County Republican (Keeseville, N.Y.), March 29, 1946, Page 1)

Here’s the Sherwood Inn transcribed article about the from the March 29, 1946 Essex County Republican front page.

90-Year-Old Essex Home

Sherwood Inn Has Associations Dating Back to 1830s, Brick Mansion Erected by W. D. Ross

Sherwood Inn at Essex on Lake Champlain, built, it is believed, between 1830 and 1835, is one of the oldest and most dignified residences in that community, permanent establishment of which was begun about 1785 by Daniel Ross. The residence is known to have ante-dated the Harmon Noble house, erected in 1835, and is thought to have been erected by William D. Ross.

The property was later owned by the Harmon Noble Estate, which when divided was acquired by Sarah Elizabeth Noble Waite. Upon her death, or the following year, 1889, it was sold to Edward Richardson who was proprietor of a summer boarding house there.

A family named Walmsley of New Orleans, La. then became owners and later Mrs. Caleb J. Coatsworth bought the house. (about 1907 or 1908) When Mrs. Coatsworth died, her daughter, Mrs. Howard Hill, fell heir to the property.(1912) During ownership of the Hill family the place was named Hyde Gate House.

[pullquote]Essex is favored by fortune in having another of its oldest homes cared for so well.[/pullquote]In 1937 Essex county assumed ownership, but sold to Richard R. Williams in 1941. Mr. Williams in turn, sold Hyde Gate House to Sloane E. Miller in 1942, who disposed of the property in 1945 to Mr. and Mrs. W. Sherwood, the present owners and occupants.

Interior of the imposing brick mansion, renamed Sherwood Inn in 1945, has undergone little change since days of early settlement at Essex. Front entrance is made into a broad hallway with fine stairway leading to second floor. On left, or southern side of the house are living room and connecting dining room. To the right of the hall, on the north, is another living room, with kitchen to the rear. The large room across the back of the house, formerly used as dining room, has recently been converted into a pine-paneled Colonial tap room, attractively furnished. A frame section of the residence containing the original kitchen with fireplace and Dutch oven, extended farther to the rear in past years but was demolished before Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood became owners.

The upstairs sleeping rooms, all generously supplied with windows and three of which are equipped with fireplaces, as are the living rooms on the first floor, are inviting in modern fittings. All front rooms overlook Lake Champlain, whrose [sic] waters wash against the shore only a few steps across the highway on which Sherwood Inn faces.

The Inn has the same pleasant setting it has had for nearly a century and there is still evidence of the fine gardens, carefully tended by various of its owners. Essex is favored by fortune in having another of its oldest homes cared for so well.

August 1, 2022
RIP Tennis Court

Once upon a time Rosslyn was the Sherwood Inn, an accommodation for vacationers, a restaurant, and a colonial taproom. As I understand, it there was a clay tennis court adjacent to the icehouse in those years.

Tennis Net Post with Icehouse Deck and Carriage House (Photo: R.P. Murphy)

Perhaps the tennis court pre-dates the Sherwood Inn, dating back to Hyde Gate House? I will certainly update this post if and when I discover the answer.

Old Tennis Net Post (Photo: R.P. Murphy)

A single steel tennis net post still stood in the lawn. For some reason, we never removed it, kept it for all these years. A rusty relic, a monument to a tennis-y past.

Excavating Old Tennis Court (Photo: R.P. Murphy)

But now it it gone. Bob and Phil removed it to make way for the landscaping around the soon-to-be complete icehouse deck.

Excavating Tennis Net Near Icehouse (Photo: R.P. Murphy)

While I’m pleased with the progress, enthusiastic about the forthcoming transformation, it’s nevertheless a slightly poignant passing. Sentimental for a tennis court I never witnessed, never played upon? Yes. A little.

Old Post and Concrete Footer (Photo: R.P. Murphy)

RIP tennis court!

April 29, 2023
The Past Lives On

The past lives on in art and memory, but it is not static: it shifts and changes as the present throws its shadow backwards. — Margaret Drabble

I return today to a recurring theme, a preoccupation perhaps, that wends its way through my Rosslyn ruminations and my collections of photographs and artifacts. While the past lives on, the present riffs, repurposes, and reimagines the past. Adaptive reuse. Upcycling. Reinvention. Art.

Buckle up. Or pour yourself a cocktail…

The Past Lives On: NW Corner of Icehouse and Carriage Barn, September 21, 2021 (Photo: Geo Davis)

NW Corner of Icehouse

Before tripping too far into the wilds of my imagination, let’s root the present inquiry in something a little less abstract, a little more concrete. Like, for example, the northwest corner of the icehouse about a year and a half ago, September 21, 2021. That’s what you see in the photo above as well as those below.

I’ve titled this post, “The Past Lives On”, and if you’ve been with me for any time at all you’re well aware that Rosslyn, the property around which this multimodal inquiry circumnavigates like a drunken sailor, is rooted in the past. And the present. Starting out in the early 1800’s and spanning almost exactly two centuries.

I’ve pilfered the title from the quotation above, ostensibly the perspective of Virginia Woolf filtered through the mind of Margaret Drabble. The broader context for Drabble’s perspective is landscape. Let’s look a little further.

The past lives on in art and memory, but it is not static: it shifts and changes as the present throws its shadow backwards. The landscape also changes, but far more slowly; it is a living link between what we were and what we have become. This is one of the reasons why we feel such a profound and apparently disproportionate anguish when a loved landscape is altered out of recognition; we lose not only a place, but ourselves, a continuity between the shifting phases of our life. — Margaret Drabble, A Writer’s Britain: Landscape in Literature, Thames & Hudson, 1987 (Source: Ken Taylor, “Landscape: Memory and Identity”)

In the photo above I’ve recorded the exterior of the icehouse and adjoining lawn as it has looked since approximately the 1950s which is when we understand that a clay tennis court was built behind the icehouse and carriage barn for the pleasure of Sherwood Inn guests.

Actually, I’m slightly oversimplifying the contours of history. Given what I understand, the clay court was installed for Sherwood Inn patrons, but at some point in the decades since, the court was abandoned. Or at least *mostly* abandoned. The +/-10′ tall wooden posts for an enclosure along the northern end of the court remained until we removed them early in our rehabilitation. And one of the two steel tennis net posts will at long last be removed in about a week when Bob Kaleita returns to tune up the site for hardscaping and landscaping. But a long time ago the clay surface was abandoned and a perfectly flat lawn replaced it. We’ve enjoyed using it as a croquet, bocce, and volleyball court for years.

If you look at the bottom right of the photograph at the top of this post you can see that there’s a topographical bulge in the lawn, sort of a grassy hummock that is crowding the building(s). In the photo below you can again see how the ground is higher than the framing on both buildings.

The Past Lives On: NW Corner of Icehouse and Carriage Barn, September 21, 2021 (Photo: Geo Davis)

Not an ideal situation when organics (lawn, landscaping, etc.) crowd wooden buildings. Unfortunately the tennis court was built above the sills of both buildings, and inauspiciously close. Moisture, snow, and ice buid-up over the decades compromised the structures of both buildings because of this miscalculation.

Today, both buildings have had their framing rehabilitated, and their structural integrity is better than ever. In addition, significant site work last autumn (remember “The art of Dirt Work“?) and again next week is restoring the ground level adjacent to the icehouse and carriage barn to more closely resemble what it likely looked like in the 1800s when both buildings were originally sited and constructed.

A landscape altered. A landscape restored.

A memory recreated with the art of landscaping. The past made present. And yet, not. The new grade has been reimagined as an outdoor recreation and entertaining area not likely resembling the environs a couple hundred years ago. And so it is that the past “shifts and changes as the present throws its shadow backwards”…

The Past Lives On: NW Corner of Icehouse, September 21, 2021 (Photo: Geo Davis)

Present Shadowed Past

What if innocence,
in a sense, is less
unbiased naïveté
than wonder-wander, curiosity,
and experiment? Or kneading gray clay dug behind the barn, behind the garden, before the forest
(but barely before)
after summer rain
forty years ago. Stiff and cold at first, loosening with touch,
oozing through cupped palms
and playful fingers,
shapes suggest themselves. Contours and textures
echo yesterdays
unrecorded and
likely forgotten
but re-emergent,
confections conjured
of sodded clay, and
curiosity.

The Past Lives On

Indeed, something endures, but rarely should we be confident that we are knowing the past as it was. As it once was. We are informed and perhaps sometimes misinformed by our perspective sometime subsequent to the archival echo we fixate upon. And yet, perhaps allowing for reimagination, adaptive reuse, and even ahistoric reinvention, drawing upon the artifacts and memories we inherit but investing them with whimsy and wonder is one of the best ways of rehabilitating the past. Art from artifacts…

April 10, 2023
Artifacts & Ephemera: Regattas & Ferries

At a time when we’re inundated 24×7 with digital marketing and messaging, it’s fun to flip the calendar back 60+ years to some equivalent pre-digital promotions for regattas at the Sherwood Inn and Lake Champlain ferries (including the Essex-Charlotte ferry.) Today’s post highlights a few quotidian artifacts that offer a bridge into an earlier time.

Artifacts & Ephemera: 6th Essex Regatta (Photo: Geo Davis)

The Essex Regatta, a still legendary Sherwood Inn event in the 1950s and 1960s, is the heralded summer celebration featured in the first two promotional posters.

Artifacts & Ephemera: 11th Essex Regatta (Photo: Geo Davis)

Open to a wide range of water sporting contestants and spectators, I’ve been the fortunate audience to several area residents who’ve been gracious rniugh to share recollections with me.

Artifacts & Ephemera: Essex Ferry Lake Champlain (Photo: Geo Davis)

I imagine that the ferry posters may have been used during the summer months to alert motorists that ferry boats has been reopened for the season.

Although this vintage artifact from the Essex-Charlotte ferry crossing has been a personal favorite given the omnipresent sounds and sights of the ferry boat during our years at Rosslyn, the second ferry poster is deliciously vintage. From font to graphic design (and even colors) this poster seems likely to have been used during the 2969s and 1960s.

Artifacts & Ephemera: Scenic Line Ferry Lake Champlain (Photo: Geo Davis)

But even more intriguing than the colors and graphic design, it is the idea that “scenic line” might’ve been considered a reasonable way to distinguish one ferry crossing from another. After all, this certainly describes *ALL* of the fairy crossings!

April 1, 2023
Rosslyn Featured in Old House Journal

“Beguiled into Stewardship”, Old House Journal, June 2015 Issue (Page 1-2)

Exactly three years ago on June 3, 2015, Old House Journal published an article about Rosslyn. Time for a flashback! Regina Cole’s story and Carolyn Bates’s photographs are entitled, “Beguiled into Stewardship“, and you can find their original article here. (Note: the print edition and the online edition differ slightly.)

If you’re unfamiliar with Old House Journal, — and if you’re renovating or rehabilitating an older home — I recommend both the print magazine and the online website and resources.

This site is the ultimate resource for owners of old houses and period-style homes, gathering information from Old-House Journal, Old-House Interiors, Early Homes, and New Old House. You’ll find inspiration, how-to info and advice, stories and photos of old houses galore and sources for traditional products. Whether you’re restoring your old house or searching for period decor, you’ll find help here. (Source: Old-House Online)

An Insider’s Glimpse

It’s worth noting that the article fumbles a few points here and there, but the gist is mostly on target. And the photographs are amazing!

Like many owners of important old houses, this couple never intended to become stewards of a 2½-storey neoclassical manse that spreads over more than 6,000 square feet. The building was originally just a three-bay, side-hall dwelling, but Rosslyn was expanded between 1835 and 1840 into its symmetrical five-bay configuration. Other buildings on the grounds include several barns and a very adorable, Eastlake-style boathouse added in 1898. (Source: “Beguiled into Stewardship“)

Eek! Adorable? Though my bride and I fell head over heels in love with the Rosslyn’s boathouse (really a “dock house” more than a boathouse) long before we succumbed to the home’s beguiling pull, neither of us would likely describe the quirky lakeside structure as adorable. Too cute, me thinks, for this weathered folly. But I’ll leave that judgment up to you.

A significant rear wing had been added to Rosslyn in the 19th century for domestic services—a kitchen and pantry, etc.—and servants’ quarters. Early in the 20th century, when the house became a hostelry called The Sherwood Inn, that service wing was renovated to accommodate guest lodging, a restaurant, and a tavern. When the inn ceased operation by the early 1960s, most of the rear wing was removed.

George and Susan used its remnant to create a large new family room. For symmetry and better flow, they also added two new wings, one to house a screened porch and one to create circulation between old rooms and new. The boathouse, of course, was a later addition, but its late Victorian style is so charming, they never considered removing it. It has been restored inside and out.

[…]

The front of the house is historic, but the rear had undergone numerous additions and subtractions over the years. George and Susan updated the rear with sensitive additions and a patio surrounded by a stone wall. George rebuilt the old stone walls that surround the property. They built a new fence, basing its design on one found in a Federal pattern book. (Source: “Beguiled into Stewardship“)

Mostly accurate, except I’ll humbly concede credit to others for the handsome stone walls. I did design/redesign/adapt them and figure out how to repurpose old stone salvaged from failed walls and long buried foundations, but virtually all of the heavy lifting was done by others. And we remain extremely grateful for it!

Okay, enough revisionism… On to the article.

“Beguiled into Stewardship”, Old House Journal, June 2015 Issue (Page 3-4)

The opening spread showcases one of the handsome entrance gates designed and built by our friend, Tom Duca. And that interior shot of the front entrance door with side lites and fan lite? That challenging project was meticulously executed by Kevin Boyle.

“Beguiled into Stewardship”, Old House Journal, June 2015 Issue (Page 5-6)

The front parlor and the dining room offer pigmented nostalgia bridges.

The pea green paint in the parlor is a nod to the previous owner whose paint choice perplexed us at first, but grew on us gradually, imperceptibly during our endless renovation. My bride elected to preserve and refresh it while I was away. It was the perfect choice.

And the light blue walls in the dining room recollect the dining room in Maison Margaux, a top-to-bottom renovation I shepherded in Paris’ Faubourg St. Germain.

“Beguiled into Stewardship”, Old House Journal, June 2015 Issue (Page 7-8)

The kitchen and morning room (aka “the north porch”) are principle phases of our daily orbit. No finer way to start the day that breakfasting with songbirds!

“Beguiled into Stewardship”, Old House Journal, June 2015 Issue (Page 9-10)

Griffin, our Labrador Retriever, is the perennially proud protector of Rosslyn in general and our bedroom in particular. From his perch at the end of the bed he can monitor the deer and wild turkeys sneaking snacks from his vegetable garden and orchard. I suppose “protector” might be a mild overstatement.

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June 3, 2018
Searching for Poetry
Searching for Poetry Amidst Architectural Salvage (Photo: Geo Davis)

Searching for poetry, questing for questions that need no answers to matter and guide and enrich.

This might be my epitaph. Some day. But not yet. I hope.

Today, the vernal equinox, I awoke at 4:00 AM, eager to start cooking a wild boar roast I had thawed. Actually it wasn’t the roast that caffeinated me prior to my first cuppa MUD\WTR, that zero-to-sixtied my green gray matter within seconds.

If the human brain were a computer, it would be the greenest computer on Earth.

The basis for the brain’s greenness is its ultra-high computational efficiency; that is, it can generate a tremendous amount of computational output for the very little power it draws. (Source: Is the human brain a biological computer? | Princeton University Press)

You with me? Caveat emptor: it’s going to be that kind of post!

It wasn’t anticipation of the pulled wild boar that I enjoyed for lunch (and soon will enjoy for dinner) that prevented me from falling back asleep. (I love variety, but if it ain’t broke… And if you’ve cooked 5.4lbs of wild boar shoulder, then share, eat, share, eat, share,…)

It was one of those light-switch-on awakenings. Sound asleep one moment, wide awake the next. 100% alert, cylinders thumping away, and focus dialed in. Monday morning’s are often like that for me. And with an ambitious punch list for the icehouse rehab, I needed to hit the ground running. Or jumpstart the week by roasting a wild boar shoulder?

Both.

But, after talking through exterior trim and clapboard siding with two contractors, explaining how to prune watersprouts (aka “growth shoots) out of our mature American Linden to another contractor, and various other midmorning miscellanea, I headed into the carriage barn for some, ahem, research.

I’m still sorting through architectural salvage and surplus building materials, endeavoring to make final decisions for the icehouse. Woulda-coulda-shoulda tackled this many months ago, and I tried, but the process continues to evolve. In some cases, it’s continues to elude me. So my endeavor continues.

Today I ruled out a couple of ideas I’ve been developing, visions for upcycling deconstructed cabinetry from Sherwood Inn days. The visions have faded, but all is not lost. In the shadowy space they’ve left behind, I stumbled upon something else.

A poem.

Searching for Poetry Amidst Architectural Salvage (Photo: Geo Davis)

Searching for Poetry
```
Wabi-sabi wandering,
wabi-sabi wondering —
reimagining relics,
architectural salvage,
weather worn detritus,
offcuts, rusty remainders,
time textured tatters,
pre-mosaic fragments,
and dust mote mirages —
so much pulling apart,
so much pushing aside,
searching for poetry.
```
Today I concluded that the vision I’d been pursuing — a vision of upcycling deconstructed cabinetry and paneling from the Sherwood Inn’s colonial taproom — had been little more than mirage. However as this mirage vanished, I happened upon a glimmer of clarity, fleeting but encouraging, around an even bigger mystery that I’ve been chasing. Also mirage-like, also elusive, also a problem that persistence might hopefully tame, also a quest for questions that illuminate and instruct even when their answers evanesce.

This glimmer of clarity (try to imagine a spark that just might benefit from attention, a flickering flame that invites kindling with promises of a roaring bonfire) materialized briefly where moments before a mirage had danced and vanished. And what did I see? Companionship. Kinship. Similarity. Affinity. Between poetry and architectural rehabilitation and adaptive reuse. A glimmer and gone. I exaggerate, but the picture is at once protean, subtle, and elusive.

Nevertheless, I will continue to strive, risk, and experiment. I will continue essaying to illustrate the intimate overlap between poetry and construction — especially between composing lyric essay and adaptive reuse of existing buildings and building materials — until my wandering and wondering renders an oasis. Or admits a mirage.
March 20, 2023
Sherwood Inn Waterfront

This morning I revisit a familiar and particularly popular perspective of Rosslyn’s lakefront or, to be more historically accurate, the Sherwood Inn waterfront in the early/mid 20th century.

Sherwood Inn waterfront with boathouse (Source: vintage postcard)

Sherwood Inn waterfront with boats (Source: vintage postcard)

Taken together this pair of vintage postcards forms a veritable diptych of the Sherwood Inn (aka Rosslyn) lakefront, “dock house” (aka boathouse), and a veritable flotilla of classic watercraft bobbing in Blood’s Bay.

Deciphering the Sherwood Inn Waterfront

This north-looking vantage was most likely photographed from the environs of the present day ferry dock that shuttles cars and passengers back-and-forth between Essex, New York and Charlotte, Vermont. As with most images captured almost a century ago, some details are blurry, lacking clarity and precision, but inviting the viewer’s imagination to fill in the gaps.

Looking at the second postcard (titled “Yachting on Lake Champlain, Essex, NY”) I zoom into the point where my vision — and the time sepia’ed rendering — become suggestive but unreliable. I’m studying an area on the water’s surface between the two most prominent motor cruisers, a spot slightly east of the dock house pier (visible in the first postcard).

Perhaps several small dinghies or rowboats at anchor explain what I’m seeing, but I can’t resist wondering if it isn’t a vestigial section of the northernmost pier that still exists on our waterfront today. Given the field conditions and all of the historic photographs that I’ve come across, the ruins appear to predate the dockhouse and the “coal bunker” pier that extended beyond it, originally for the Kestrel enduring into the last years of the 20th century.

Absent sharp focus and definition, this water surface anomaly distracts me, kindles my curiosity. I wonder. My mind wanders. I try to imagine the challenges of helming a boat through such a busy waterfront congested with other vessels and multiple semi-submerged hazards. We still contend with this navigational challenge to this day, and we’ve sacrificed at least two bronze propellors to the underwater ruins.

Do you see what I’m identifying as remnants of a crib dock extending west-to-east between two lengthiest cruisers? Any amateur sleuths out there? Let me know what you think…

Artifacts and Auctions

As I’ve mentioned in several previous posts, I offer these photo-postcards with a bittersweet postscript.

Recently I’ve been getting outbid in auctions of historic images of our home, boathouse, and waterfront. Did I mention that it’s the same bidder who keeps besting me? And did I mention that the prices are consistently soaring above the $200 to $300 range?

Fascinating.

I have no idea who is bidding against me, but s/he is keen to win these visual time capsules. I’d love to discover why. I’d love to discover whom. Perhaps a neighbor? Or a passerby smitten with Historic Essex?

Fortunately, my collection of Rosslyn artifacts is extensive. I often bid on photographs and postcards already in my collection. But I can’t resist adding duplicates, especially when combined with compelling missives. (Fortunately the first of the two postcards is blank on the back, and the second — the capricious capture of boats afloat —include a private but uncompelling note.)

But back to the unfolding mystery. The plot thickens. An unknown bidder consistently outcompeting yours truly after a decade or more with fairly few big dollar auctions. At the very least it’s clear that demand for historic Essex images in general (and Rosslyn images in particular) continues to increase. And to date no hint of another collector… Who. Are. You?!?! If you happen to be reading these words, please reach out. I’d love to learn what draws you to this somewhat esoteric subject. And I’d like to propose sharing images. Thanks.

Sherwood Inn Landing on Lake Champlain (Source: Rosslyn Redux)

Doubling Down

The good news is that I already own one of these two postcards. The image above of the Sherwood Inn waterfront photograph (with boathouse) has been in my collection for quite a few years. If you look closely you may notice a few subtle differences with the image at the top of this post.

I published this postcard (postmarked July 24, 1959) on May 21, 2015 in a post titled, “Sherwood Inn Landing on Lake Champlain” which includes the sender’s note. Yes, sometimes it’s worth sharing.

By way of conclusion, I’m embedding the Instagram post of these postcards which elicited some interesting comments/feedback that you may enjoy reading.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CWOQbhFrz8f/

November 14, 2021
Vintage Sherwood Inn Advertisement
Sherwood Inn advertisement from 1949 Adirondack Guide. (Source: Adirondack Guide via David Brayden)

Many thanks to David Brayden for discovering and sharing a 1949 Adirondack Guide that showcased Essex, NY alongside a vintage Sherwood Inn advertisement (above), the only Essex ad included in the book.

It turns out that David Brayden is not only a talented doodler. He turns out to be as skilled an Essex artifact hunter as his son, Scott Brayden (Scott Brayden Digs Essex History), who recently made his second exploration of Rosslyn’s subterranean treasures. (More on what he disinterred soon!)

[Note: If you missed David Brayden’s August 3, 2013 Old Dock House doodle here’s a quick recap.]

Essex Dock House doodle by David Brayden (Source: essexonlakechamplain.com)

[During Downtown Essex Day 2013 we presented passers-by with a doodle challenge.] “What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of Essex, New York?” David Brayden… quickly sketched out this simple building and labeled it “Dock House.” The Old Dock Restaurant is a prominent Essex building that is one of the most recognizable to passengers coming in on the Essex-Charlotte ferry with it’s red exterior, so it’s no surprise to see that as a response! (Source: essexonlakechamplain.com)

Taproom, Beach, Lawn Sports & More

On July 28, 2016 I received an email from David explaining that he’d come across the vintage Sherwood Inn advertisement (above), and he believed that it was Rosslyn.

Indeed it was. He was 100% correct.

I’ve touched on Rosslyn’s lodging/dining past previously (see Sherwood Inn Remembered and Sherwood Inn Landing on Lake Champlain), but details continue to emerge. Like the initials and last name of the proprietor and manager, C. W. Sherwood and F. S. Sherwood. I’d love to learn more about the Sherwoods. So far, the trail is faint…

Before taking a look at the rest of the Adirondack Guide lent to me by David Brayden, I’ll recap the information from the advert.
Sherwood Inn
Essex on Lake Champlain
New York

Fronting Directly on Beautiful Lake Champlain the Inn — A Fine Example of Authentic Colonial — Commands Sweeping Views of Lake and Mountains.
- Attractive Accommodations
- Excellent Food
- Colonial Taproom
- Private Beach And Boat Dock
- Lawn Sports
- Golf Nearby
C. W. Sherwood, Prop.
F. S. Sherwood, Mgr.
1949 Adirondack Guide: Essex

While the vintage Sherwood Inn advertisement initially grabbed my attention, the entire book was interesting. The full title is Adirondack Guide: Vacationland In Picture, Story and History, and it is a comprehensive town-by-town tourist guide to the Adirondacks. A prior edition was published between 1945 and 1947, and then revised in 1949 resulting in the edition that David loaned to me.

Here’s the write-up for Essex, NY.

The charming little village of Essex is located directly on the shores of Lake Champlain. Essex is rich in historical lore and was the route of explorers and missionaries as far back as 1609. During the Revolutionary war 1776-1784 it was the scene of many an exciting battle in the region of naval engagements and the War of 1812.

On Route 22 (the scenic lakeshores route and one of the main highways from New York to Montreal) it is served by the Delaware and Hudson Railroad. Among the innumerable summer sports the principal ones are swimming, boating, canoeing, fishing, all in Lake Champlain. The chief sport in winter is fishing through the ice for delicious Lake Champlain ice-fish.

The natural beauty of it setting is unexcelled, situated as it as it is on beautiful Lake Champlain in the foothills of the Adirondacks. Mts. Marcy (highest in New York) Whiteface and Hurricane form an impressive backdrop and across the Lake are the Green Mountains of Vermont with Mts. Mansfield, Camel’s Hump and Lincoln predominating the panorama. Essex is indeed deserving of the description which so many people have given it as “One of the Most Beautiful Spots on Lake Champlain.” (Source: Page 171, Adirondack Guide: Vacationland In Picture, Story and History, edited by Arthur S. Knight, 1945-1947, Revised 1949, published and printed by Adirondack Resorts Press, Inc. Lake George, New York)

1949 Adirondack Guide: Gallery

It’s challenging to narrow down the many local-ish vignettes, but present context leads me to include the write-up for Willsboro, NY in the gallery below. I’ve also included a full page advertisement for Camp-of-the-Pines that appears on the page preceding the Willsboro description. I’ve never before heard mention of Camp-of-the-Pines, but I instantly recognized the property from my frequent Willsboro Point bike rides.

Cover of 1949 Adirondack Guide that feature Essex and Willsboro, and that includes a Sherwood Inn advertisement. (Source: Adirondack Guide via David Brayden)

Title page of 1949 Adirondack Guide that feature Essex and Willsboro, and that includes a Sherwood Inn advertisement. (Source: Adirondack Guide via David Brayden)

Feature on Essex, NY in 1949 Adirondack Guide. (Source: Adirondack Guide via David Brayden)

Camp-of-the-Pines advertisement from 1949 Adirondack Guide. (Source: Adirondack Guide via David Brayden)

Feature on Willsboro, NY in 1949 Adirondack Guide. (Source: Adirondack Guide via David Brayden)

If you’re lucky enough to find a copy of this long out-of-print treasure, take a moment to leaf through its nostalgic pages. It offers an enchanting time capsule of the Adirondacks half a century ago.
September 15, 2016
Sherwood Inn Brochure c. 1950s

Sherwood Inn Brochure c. 1950s (Source: Jim Laforest)

Did you ever vacation at the Sherwood Inn in Essex, New York? If so, you’ve been a guest in our home! That’s right, long before Rosslyn became our home, it operated as a lakeside accommodation for travelers and a restaurant and tavern for everyone. This vintage Sherwood Inn brochure (I’m guessing it dates to the 1950s, but I’d welcome clarifying insights) offers a pretty slick promotion of the spot that many decades later still enchants us.

Sherwood Inn Brochure

Lest your eyeballs struggle with reading the copy in the brochure image above, let’s make it a little easier.

“Sherwood Inn is located in the charming little village of Essex-on-Lake-Champlain, New York. On Route 22, the scenic Lakeshore route and one of the main highways from New York to Montreal, it is served directly by the Delaware & Hudson Railroad.

The Inn, a fine example of authentic Colonial, is more than 100 years old. Carefully modernized by particular owners, it provides the conveniences of the new with out sacrificing any of the charm and dignity of the old.

A private beach and dock provide facilities for swimming, boating and fishing.” (Source: Sherwood Inn Brochure)

Before I dip into the time-tinged prose, I’d like to thank longtime Essex resident Jim LaForest for gifting us this Sherwood Inn brochure. What a welcome surprise when it showed up, transporting me back to a time well before my birth, and a period in Rosslyn’s history that I’m still sorting out. In particular, this brochure excited me because it is the very first visual rendering of the long gone Sherwood Inn Cottages.

The natural beauty of the setting of Sherwood Inn is unexcelled, situated as it is on beautiful Lake Champlain, in the foothills of the Adirondacks. Fronting directly on Lake Champlain, which is 138 miles long and unsurpassed in beauty by any lakes in America, the Inn commands sweeping views over the Lake into the Green Mountains of Vermont. To the rear are the lofty heights of the rugged Adirondacks.

Lovely trees furnish delightful shade. Lawn sports on the well-kept grounds include badminton, croquet and archery. An excellent golf course is available to guests a short distance away. One of the chief winter sports is fishing thru the ice for delicious Lake Champlain icefish. Grand sport and lots of fun!

The guestrooms are beautiful — large and airy, delightfully furnished — many with original fireplaces. A spacious porch across the front of the Inn invites the vacationer to lounge and enjoy the gorgeous panorama before him of Lake and mountains.

Guests are assured a splendid table — all home cooking. Menus are varied and only the best quality foods used.

Fresh eggs, pasteurized milk, and cream and fresh vegetables are procured from nearby farms . We have our own purified water system and water is tested regularly by the New York State Dept. of Health.

A Colonial Taproom with bar and joining outdoor Terrace furnish cheerful atmosphere.

Sherwood Inn is just a short walk from the quaint village of Essex, which has such attractions and conveniences as a moving picture theatre, post office, public library and general shopping district. (Source: Sherwood Inn Brochure)

Sounds like quite a spot! Icefish and a colonial taproom? If only I could unearth some additional photographs from guests of the Sherwood Inn to help illuminate these holiday delights. The Keuhlen family vacation snapshots, for example, offer an intimate, nostalgic glimpse into those days at the Sherwood Inn / Rosslyn. I suspect there are others out there just waiting to be discovered. Maybe one will even demystify the location of the former Sherwood Inn Cottages.

Let’s take a look at the reverse side of the trifold brochure where the Sherwood Inn Cottages at long last make an appearance.

Sherwood Inn Brochure c. 1950s (Source: Jim Laforest)

The recently acquired cottages are situated slightly to the side of the Inn and facing the Lake. Each consists of bedroom, shower and lavatory and porch which afford a beautiful view.

Essex is rich in historical lore — this whole region having featured prominently in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. We are within easy driving distance of such points of interest as Ausable Chasm, Fort Ticonderoga and Whiteface Mountain. Lake Placid is only 40 miles away, Montreal 100 miles north, and Burlington, Vermont just across the lake.

Through the summer months, a Ferry runs directly from Essex to Charlotte, Vermont.

Catholic and Protestant churches are within easy walking distance. (Source: Sherwood Inn Brochure)

You’d think that between the photograph of the cottages and the description of where they were situated, it would be clear enough where on the property the three (?) cottages once stood. But the photograph offers no real clues, and the description is overly general. After all. “slightly to the side of the Inn and facing the Lake” offers only the most minimal guidance. Were they built on the front lawn, north of the house? Did they stand somewhere on the upper lawn, perhaps north of the basswood (American Linden) tree?

As often, I conclude this post with more questions with answers. Perhaps one of you will have the missing clue?

Click on the images below to view larger details from the brochure.

Sherwood Inn Brochure c. 1950s (Source: Jim Laforest)

Sherwood Inn Brochure c. 1950s (Source: Jim Laforest)

Sherwood Inn Brochure c. 1950s (Source: Jim Laforest)

Sherwood Inn Brochure c. 1950s (Source: Jim Laforest)

Sherwood Inn Brochure c. 1950s (Source: Jim Laforest)

Sherwood Inn Brochure c. 1950s (Source: Jim Laforest)

October 5, 2022