Landscape Information
Encompassing more than 8,000 acres on the Shawangunk Ridge—between the Hudson River and the Catskill Mountains—this topographically varied property was developed by twin brothers Alfred and Albert Smiley beginning in 1869. They conceived Mohonk, originally measuring 280 acres, as a healthful retreat and established a hotel on a cliff overlooking a mountaintop lake. The Smileys viewed the grounds as an integral feature of the resort and laid out curvilinear carriage drives and trails (1871 and later). They cleared vegetation—opening up scenic, borrowed views—and imported soil to sustain lawns, a golfing green (1897), and flower gardens near the hotel. The brothers erected modest, rustic wooden summerhouses throughout, intended to invite visitors into the landscape, frame borrowed views, and offer opportunities for rest and repose.
As the Smileys acquired adjoining parcels, the property expanded. In 1897 Albert Smiley —with hotel guests E. E. Schermerhorn and James Talcott—laid out a golf course approximately one mile northeast of the hotel. The course was redesigned fourteen years later by Robert D. Pryde and again in 1925, growing to eighteen holes. By the mid-twentieth century the Smiley family had amassed thousands of acres and in 1963 established The Mohonk Trust (now Mohonk Preserve, Inc.) to conserve the property and acquire and protect additional land.
Today the hotel and its grounds are nested within the irregularly shaped Mohonk Preserve, that is characterized by cliffs, boulder fields, and forests composed of oak, hemlock, pine, maple, and birch trees. Historic structures are interspersed throughout, including a stone observatory, Sky Top Tower (1923), which is perched atop a prominent ridge and offers 360-degree panoramic views of the Catskill Mountains and Wallkill Valley.
The Lake Mohonk Mountain House Complex was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986.
