New book explores lost hotels, bygone architecture of Adirondacks

2:50 p.m., Oct. 22, 2003--According to a new book by Bryant Tolles, the American obsession with leisure time started early and held on tightly. This obsession not only helped to shape the Industrial Revolution, but also gave rise to tourism, an industry relatively unknown in the mid-18th century.

In his richly illustrated work “Resort Hotels of the Adirondacks,” the University of Delaware professor explores the summer vacation boom between 1850 and 1950 and examines its influence on hotel architecture. Focusing primarily on the large resort hotels of New York state’s Adirondacks, Tolles, who also serves as the director of UD’s Museum Studies Program, unearths a culture of flaunted wealth and unbridled opportunity, and charts how these resorts shaped the landscape and culture of the Adirondack region at the turn of the 20th century.

“After the Civil War, as the country developed economically, people were able to afford the kind of experiences that the grand resort hotels offered, and they also had the leisure time to do that,” Tolles said. “During the second half of the 19th century up until the Depression, there was a great deal of emphasis on people going off to the grand hotels and showing off, and transferring their urban social life to more rural settings.”

According to Tolles, it was this new breed of vacationers, coupled with a flourishing interest in outdoor pursuits, that influenced the programming—and ultimately the physical structure—of the grand resort hotels. Typically offering the latest in modern amenities and entertainment options, the prominent resort destinations catered to affluent guests’ every whim and frequently included their own bookstores, post offices, golf courses and polo fields. They also, as a general rule, boasted lavish parlors and dining rooms, sweeping verandas and staircases, and overnight accommodations for more than 200 guests.

Bryant F. Tolles Jr., director of UD’s Museum Studies Program
Photo by Kathy Atkinson

Using this extravagant culture as the backdrop for his book, Tolles illustrates his research with more than 200 photographs, floor plans and historic illustrations reproduced from tourism brochures. He examines the different architectural styles and compares their structural significance in eight chapters, divided loosely by region and sequence of construction.

“I’ve always had a great interest in architecture and architectural history, and these hotels are fascinating buildings,” Tolles said. “There’s never been a book written about them, and most of them are gone now. Many were hastily built for quick profit and were expected to have limited life spans. Quite a few burnt down. As a result, there has not been much public knowledge as to what was there. The fact that virtually nothing remains makes the subject all that more compelling to me—and, I hope, to readers.”

Researched and written with the help of guidebooks, local histories, newspaper articles, maps, business records, guest correspondence and diary entries, “Resort Hotels of the Adirondacks” was a four-year project that frequently pulled Tolles to the Adirondack Museum, where much of his research was conducted. While he predicts that the primary audience for the 253-page hardback will be architectural historians, preservationists and those with an interest in the Adirondack region, Tolles said he hopes that his book will appeal to the general reader as well, due to its social and cultural context.

“When I have done research over the years, I have been conscious of who’s going to read my books and what general value they’re going to have,” he explained. “While I think it’s fair to say that the audience, for the most part, consists of architectural historians, I’ve tried to pitch my books to the general public.” To this end, Tolles takes great interest in what he terms the “illustration” of his writing. In addition, he takes many of his own photographs, thereby giving readers contemporary, accessible images.

Tolles is the author of several other books, including one on the grand resort hotels of New Hampshire’s White Mountains. He currently is co-authoring a book on New Hampshire architecture and is conducting research along the New England coastline for a future solo project. Although not yet certain what form that book will take, he foresees it focusing once again on the relationship of tourism to architecture.

The Third Sagamore Hotel, Green Island, Bolton Landing, N.Y., 1998.
Photo by Bryant F. Tolles Jr.

“I seem to be in a rut there, but it’s an area that really hasn’t been researched or written about to a great extent, and my interest in it is consistent with a tremendous interest at the moment with the history of tourism in America,” he said. “There have been a number of good books published in recent years on the subject, and more still to come. I’m concentrating on the architectural side.”

“Resort Hotels of the Adirondacks: The Architecture of a Summer Paradise, 1850-1950” was published by the University Press of New England and is available at local and national bookstores and through Amazon.com.

A member of the UD faculty since 1984, Tolles earned his B.A. from Yale in l961, his Master of Arts in Teaching degree from Yale in l962 and his Ph.D. from Boston University in l970. His other books include “New Hampshire Architecture: An Illustrated Guide” (1979), “The Grand Resort Hotels of the White Mountains” (l998) and “Summer Cottages in the White Mountains” (2000). “The Buildings of New Hampshire,” a book that is part of a national resource guide project called “The Buildings of the United States Series,” is currently in production. A native of Connecticut, Tolles was museum director of the Essex Institute before coming to UD. He lives in Wilmington and Center Sandwich, N.H.

Article by Becca Hutchinson

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