#wildmere

Lake Minnewaska hotels, Wildmere and Cliff House. Ca. 1903.

For most of tourism’s history on the Shawangunk Ridge, the Mohonk Mountain House was one of three Smiley family-owned vacation destinations for the well-heeled. All were set above pristine, glacially- formed lakes and astride the Shawangunk white conglomerate cliffs, each hotel’s magic drawing parched thousands every year to “take the air.”

The other two hotels, the Lake Minnewaska houses, Cliff House and Wildmere, suffered the fate of many of the state’s “mountain houses” and large 19th century hotels—hard times and hot fires.

Originally part of Albert and Alfred Smiley's Mohonk Mountain House property, the Minnewaska Mountain House, or Cliff House, was built in 1879. After managing and developing Mohonk's early growth for ten years, twin Alfred H. Smiley purchased and developed Minnewaska separate from Mohonk. There was also a second hotel called Wildmere. 

In 1955, Kenneth B. Phillips, Sr., the Minnewaska general manager, bought the property from the Smiley family. The new owner had big plans to modernize the hotels’ offerings, including building a ski center (Ski Minne), and serving alcohol—a departure from the hotels’ Quaker-run first century of operation. The new owners could not stem the flow of vacationers to exotic places as air and auto travel became common. Cliff House was abandoned in 1972 and burned in January 1978. It was uninsured. Wildmere burned in 1986.