In 1887-88 the Central Building above was constructed with Napoleon LeBrun & Sons of New York City as its architects. Four years later the Grove Building, and the Kitchen and Dining Room Building were added with LeBrun & Sons again in charge.

ohonk Mountain House was the dream of the Quaker twins Albert and Alfred Smiley after they first saw Mohonk Lake in 1869 and purchased 310 acres with a modest tavern on its northwestern shore. The House opened for its first season on June 1, 1870. It could accommodate 40 guests, who were mostly close friends of the two brothers at the time.

Soon notables among the guests, such as U. S. Vice President Schuyler Colfax, spread testimonials that would attract more of the well-to-do and the educated to a mountain scenery which he described as "most beautiful and picturesque."

The growing numbers who patronized Mohonk during its first decade and a half necessitated expansion and improvement of the Mountain House. The house was enlarged in 1871. The laundry and ice house were enlarged in 1875. The Rock Building, a wooden structure built on the outcrop of rock by the edge of lake, and the oldest existing section of the current complex, was constructed in 1879.

The Stone Building at right was built in two sections and at great expense. Designed by James E. Ware, a New York City architect, the first section was completed in 1899, the second in 1902.

Both LeBrun and Ware came to Mohonk with impressive credentials. LeBrun had designed numbers of churches in New York City and is best known for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower (inset) which received the Medal of Honor from the American Institute of Architects. Completed in 1909, it was the tallest building in the world (700 feet) until 1913.

James E. Ware served as architect of the interior of the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church and was also creator of Halcyon Hall in Millbrook, New York. He designed a number of stately mansions which still stand in the Mount Morris Park Historic District in New York City at Lenox Avenue and 120th Street.

The architects LeBrun and Ware, along with considerable input from the twins' half-brother Daniel, 27 years their junior, fashioned Mohonk Mountain House into a Victorian and Edwardian architectural marvel that thrills both first-time and veteran guests. It provides ample areas for strolling, sitting, conversing, and exploring.

Sitting on the shore of Mohonk Lake, the present Mountain House consists of nine buildings built over a period of 31 years (from 1879 to 1910) and stretches nearly an eighth of a mile. Its eclectic mix of architecture is meant to be reminiscent of the castles or grand chalets of Europe. The increased success of Mohonk's outreach programs called for a larger parlor and a meeting room. The present Parlor Building with its large porches overhanging the lake (far right, above), was constructed in 1899 under the watchful eye of Albert and Daniel Smiley and was designed by the now familiar Mohonk architect, James E. Ware.

With a view of the cliffs and Sky Top, the new parlor became the center for the cultural and philanthropic activities of the Smiley family.

The main dining hall, with its high ceiling and clerestory windows came into use in 1893. It was enlarged in 1910.

Beginning in 1883, the Mountain House became the setting for the annual meetings of The Lake Mohonk Conference of the Friends of the Indians. Reports of the conferences held over the next 34 years reveal deep compassion and drive for equality of opportunity and the civil rights of Native Americans as well as a desire to encourage the appreciation of native arts and crafts.

The Lake Mohonk Conferences on International Arbitration began in 1895 as an attempt to seek world peace. The conferences are credited with having given impetus to the Hague Conference movement, The World Peace Foundation, and The League to Enforce Peace.

Hundreds of well-known people attended the peace conferences between 1895 and 1916 including William Jennings Bryan and William Howard Taft. It was through his contact and friendship with the Smileys at Mohonk that Andrew Carnegie (seen at left with Albert) founded the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, with Albert K. Smiley as one of its original trustees.

"In place of cards, dancing and tippling, we have put before our guests something more desirable, that is a library of good standard works. We were the first house in the country that had a library and all the standard periodicals; we set the ball in motion. We try to get good books for the guests, and we have entertainments and lectures, and tableaux, charades, etc., and we have a garden of the choicest selection of herbaceous plants in the state. We have spent large sums of money in roads and paths, and we have one hundred and thirty-seven summerhouses, and a large number of settees and seats to entice people out of doors to get enjoyment. We have spent more money than any hotel in the world on roads; the only hotel that in any way approaches us in that respect is the Hotel Monterey, California. We do these things because we want the cultivated classes of people."

Speaking at the ceremony for the Testimonial Gateway, Albert Smiley captured the essence of his hopes for Mohonk and spoke simply but eloquently of its future:

"Ardently do I desire that a large share of the profits arising from a wise administration of this estate may be used for the good of mankind. I feel sure that the remarkable natural beauty of this large domain will continue to be developed on artistic lines for many ages to come. . . It is a great pleasure to feel that for generations to come streams of high-minded, distinguished philanthropists will pass through the portals of this gateway every spring and autumn to discuss great national and international questions which will help to solve some of the great problems of society, and make Mohonk a veritable deIectable mountain, known in the remotest corners of the world for its high aims and warm interest in every movement for the betterment of mankind."

Albert Smiley contemplates a flower from his garden.