The Briarcliff Lodge. Notebook 2025-8.
In the introduction to his excellent book “Briarcliff Lodge”, Rob Yasinsac writes:
“For 101 years, a most magnificent building stood in the heart of Westchester County. Embracing the finest elements of domestic architecture of its time, Briarcliff Lodge was a resort hotel that catered to future U.S. presidents, New York State governors, foreign dignitaries, business leaders, movie starts, and professional athletes. The lodge was also the scene of many memorable occasions for local residents, who attended weddings, receptions, and dances in the ballroom, Dutch Kitchen and Stone Dining Room.
Surrounding the hotel were dairy farms and greenhouses. The milk, water, and roses were sold to first-class hotels and restaurants in New York City and even served on transatlantic voyages. Briarcliff Lodge and the surrounding farms gave birth to these village of Briarcliff Manor, which incorporated in 1902, the year the lodge opened.
In later years, Briarcliff Lodge served as a center of higher learning for two private institutions: Edgewood Park School and the King’s College. Both schools preserved that historic integrity of the hotel by maintaining architectural details, and original furnishings. All the while, many of those who went to school there or lived nearby grew strongly attached to the building.
Briarcliff Lodge was abandoned after the King’s College closed its doors in December 1994, and plans for the lodge’s adaptive reuse were strongly contested. Yet, the old hotel retained much of its original architectural and structural integrity into the 21st century. Several concerned citizens acted to save Briarcliff Lodge in its centennial. Finally, in 2003, village officials approved a development plan for the property, which included the demolition of Briarcliff Lodge. On September 20, 2023, the original 1902 wood-frame structure burned to the ground.
Rob Yasinsac, Tarrytown, NY, April 2004.” 2.
WALTER LAW AND FAMILY (1902-1922)
The Briarcliff Lodge opened in 1902. The overall design of the building was in the Tudor Revival-style (sometimes called Tudorbethan), and was described to be in "the fashion of the old English inns". The original building, designed by architect Guy King, was located on a 184-acre site at the highest point (about 600 feet above sea level) of Law's estate. At the time of its opening, it was one of the largest resort hotels in the world.
The first-floor exterior walls were made from stone gathered from the surrounding landscape and had trimmings of Indiana limestone. The second-floor exterior walls featured exposed wooden frames and pebbledash infill materials. Tall red brick chimneys and red shingles adorned the roof, which also had numerous dormer windows and gables. The building was 307 feet (94 m) long and had 93 rooms. Each room had electrical lights, colonial style mahogany furniture, a long-distance telephone, suction ventilators and a concealed fire escape. Each each room had an exterior wall with a window. Elevators were also provided.
Reception rooms, parlors, a dining room, and a lounge were located on the first floor. A library was located north of and next to a large dining room. A ballroom had featured Italian marble walls and Ionic columns. A lounge (called the Dutch Kitchen) had decorations and furnishings from the Netherlands and was based on a restaurant in Edam. It had a hipped ceiling, roughhewn timbers, European and American oil paintings and etchings from England. W. & J. Sloane (Walter Law’s long-time employer) provided much of the furniture. Expensive paintings, bronzes, marble sculptures, rare books, and carved antique furniture came from Europe and Asia. The hotel also had a Chinese tea room and a dark room for amateur photographers.
The kitchen was elegantly designed with white tiles and marble. The white porcelain and aluminum kitchen equipment included a number of glass-lined refrigerators. Walter Law’s Briarcliff Farms provided milk, butter eggs and vegetables. The kitchen equipment was of white porcelain and aluminum, and included numerous glass-lined refrigerators. The lodge also had an ice-producing plant that used sterilized well water (perhaps from Walter Laws water bottling plant). The kitchen's trash was frozen to prevent odors before its eventual removal.
The Lodge grounds (featuring a large hillside garden with winding drives, lawns and flowers, as well as a number the well-known large, stone Japanese lanterns, six of which still exist in the village) were designed by The Olmsted Brothers, sons of Frederick Law Olmsted, the co-designer of New York City’s Central Park.
In its first operating year, a stable was built for the lodge, at the lodge's south driveway about 100 yards from Scarborough Road. In 1909 an addition was built (of 62 by 126 feet) and the entire structure transformed into an automobile garage. The interior of the old stable was replaced. The east end became a commercial kitchen, dining room, and a billiard and smoking room. The west end housed a repair shop and the front of the building supply rooms, closets, and an office. The upstairs had bedrooms and bathrooms for the chauffeurs.
The “amusement” building, had a dance hall, swimming pool (see below), bowling alley, squash court, and billiard room.
In 1903 a school (Mrs. Dow’s School) owned by Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Dow was established in the Lodge. Later Walter Law gave Mrs. Dow a 35-acre property on Elm Road ( This later became the later the site of Briarcliff College and a Pace University campus). The main building Dow Hall still exists.
The number of rooms increased from 93 to 150 In 1907, when John Clark Udall supervised the construction of a north wing. The number of rooms increased again in 1909 (this time to 221) with the addition (also overseen by Udall) of a seven story, 72-room west wing. In Germany, it was advertised in January 1909 that the management of the Briarcliff Lodge intended build a platform to dock and launch airships. This platform would extend over the whole roof, and the tracks for the airship launch would be on an incline 105 meters (approx. 345 feet) long. The plans also included the purchase of a searchlight to guide the airships. A mooring mast for docking airships was constructed on top of the west wing. The estimated cost was $100,000 (approx. $3,550,000 today). The mooring mast was the first built for docking airships, however, there is no record that it was ever used.
The lodge’s large outside pool was in the Roman-style (i.e. a rectangle with a small semicircle at each of the narrow ends. It was built in 1912, and at the time was the largest outdoor pool in the world. Among other things it was used for the 1924 Olympic trials. The “amusement” building had an indoor swimming pool measuring 30 by 70 feet (with a depth of 4-10 feet).
The Lodge was noted for its cuisine (of course featuring Briarcliff Farms dairy and table water products). It also provided a golf course, fifteen tennis courts, a music room, theater, casino, library, stable, repair shops and a fleet of Fiat automobiles.
Between the Lodge and Law’s home were the greenhouses. They provided decorations for his house, the lodge, and workers' houses. A second set of greenhouses, the Pierson’s greenhouses grew the American Beauty rose and rare carnations, producing between 5,000 and 8,000 per week. It was there that Foreman George Romaine first propagated the Briarcliff rose.
THE CHAUNCEY DEPEW STEELE YEARS (1923-1933)
A year before Walter Law died in 1923, Chauncey Depew Steele leased the Lodge for 20 years from Law’s family. Under Steele's management, the Lodge achieved its greatest success. According to Depew Steele he had taken out the lease: “with the determination of adding several important attractions and refinements…without omitting one single little thing that has made the Lodge in the past”. It was to be “an all-year resort and hotel de luxe” with facilities for all winter sports”. Although continuing to be best known as a resort for the famous and the wealthy it opened up to a more diverse clientele.
Around 1923 to the “sporty nine holes” already existing at the lodge was added a new 6,500 yard, 18 hole championship course designed by Devereux Emmet. Such a course was considered to be “obtainable only at a few golfing Edens” . A world-famous golf pro, Gene Sarazen was also hired.
Renowned chef, Maurice LaCroix was brought in as head chef. LaCroix was born in 1889 in Lille, France. and entered the hotel business at the age of fourteen as assistant chef at the Hotel Bel Dor in Reims. He emigrated to the United States when he was seventeen and worked at the Astor, Belmont, Knickerbocker and Biltmore hotels (1906-1909) in New York City and at the Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Scarborough (1919-1923)
In May 1925, The New York Times reported that the Briarcliff Lodge had installed the first artificial spa. It used the radioactive mineral torbernite, the properties of which suggested that it may have potential benefits in detoxification and emotional healing. It was also believed to counter ailments associated with old age. The spa was used by several hundred guests.
During the early years of the 1930s, the Lodge declined. Henry Law (Walter Law’s son and village mayor from 1918 to 1938) attributed the decline to the prohibition of alcohol (1920-1933). This seems unlikely as the hotel had done well in the 1920s/early 1930s when prohibition was already in effect. Another theory suggested the increasing usage of automobiles as a cause - as guests would be less inclined to stay throughout the summer. Steele surrendered his lease in 1933. The value of the Lodge at that time was estimated to $750,000 ($18.2 million in 2024). The lodge remained in use, housing a "health-diet sanitarium".
THE EDGEWOOD PARK SCHOOL FOR GIRLS (1936-1954)
“In October 1936, Dr. Matthew H. Reaser brought Edgewood Park, the school he had established in Greenwich, Connecticut, to the Lodge. Badly hit by the Depression, The Lodge leased its facilities to Reaser. In 1938 the school bought the Lodge, which at the time was valued at $1,000,000 ($21.9 million in 2024). The lodge was run as a hotel in the summer months while the school was closed until 1939. The Edgewood Park School operated there until 1954.
Dr. Reaser, a pioneer in women’s higher education, believed there was a need for educational opportunities beyond the high school level for young women who lacked the means or the scholastic ambition for a four-year college course. The school combined a preparatory school for four-year colleges with a two-year program designed to prepare high school graduates for semiprofessional occupations without neglecting general culture. Edgewood Park was a Christian but non-sectarian school. Enrollment was around 300, including students from forty-eight states and twenty-five countries.” 1.
“In August 1954, Theodore Law, who held the mortgage on Briarcliff Lodge, foreclosed on the Edgewood Park School, which defaulted on interest payments by upward of 60 days. Edwood Park came up with the money after being delivered notice, but a court ruling upheld Law’s right to foreclose. The school never reopened.” 2.
The Lodge was subsequently purchased by the Kings College.
THE KINGS COLLEGE (1955-1994).
The King's College, was a non-denominational coeducational Christian liberal arts college offering two- and four-year programs. The school used the lodge building and built dormitories and academic buildings.
Begun in 1938 in New Jersey, the college for a while prospered during its time in Westchester County. Fully accredited, The King’s College continued to grow until the early 1980s, when it had an all-time high enrollment of 870 in 1980. During this period, the college added Squire Hall (gymnasium) and Miller Circle (dormitory), and in 1979 the Robert Cook Academic / Science Building. Walter Law’s stone mansion was purchased in 1970, and converted to men’s dormitories. That building was sold off before the closing of The King’s College. Six million dollars was raised in 1983 to renovate and modernize the men’s dorms (rear wing).
“Decreasing enrollment in the late 1980s, outmoded buildings and bad financial moves caused the college to close in 1994. Professors unsure of their future had moved on, the school could simply no longer operate. Kings had tried to sell the property, but the town had been used to having the school there (there was no drinking (not legally at least) or partying there, and King’s caused less trouble than other nearby colleges). The village of Briarcliff Manor seemingly blocked every chance of the property being sold, but could do nothing to stop a land-swap. Much help came in the form of Campus Crusade for Christ, several other groups and high-powered alumni, without whose determination there would be no campus at all and The King’s College would have ceased operations entirely. The King’s College traded the Briarcliff campus for a property nearly double the size in Orange County, the former headquarters of International Nickel Corp. On the last day of the 1994 school year, The King’s College received a $100,000 gift, stipulating the college consider moving to New York City. Currently, The King’s College is located on 56 Broadway, New York, NY. Over the years in Briarcliff, The King’s College acquired several neighboring properties, some through bequests. Braeview (the President’s Home), The Manor House (aka “The Castle,” Walter Law’s stone mansion), and Gronauer Hall were all sold around the time the Briarcliff campus closed. The Tarry Hill campus in Ossining was sold in the early 1980s to raise money for the renovations (desecrations?) to the men’s dorm (1909 wing) of Briarcliff Lodge. Tarry Hill, an old estate [used as a secondary campus], was looted much the same as Briarcliff Lodge. The damage was rumored to have been done by alumnae who once lived there, as the site was planned for demolition.” 3.
The New York State Board of Regents closed the school in 1994 due to financial difficulties and a deficiency of qualified faculty.
ABANDONED (1995-2003)
After Kings College closed, the nonprofit Tara Circle planned to build an Irish American cultural, education, and athletic center. This, however, never got beyond the planning stage. The site was again purchased in 1996 by Blue Lake Properties.
The original 1902 Briarcliff Lodge building burned to the ground on September 20, 2003 (it was already scheduled for demolition within 18 months. Applications for demolition permits had been made the week before the fire). The fire started near the main entrance and was extinguished by mid-day. Residents began calling at 6:37 am, after noticing smoke coming from the site. The Briarcliff Manor Fire Department was the first to arrive, at 6:40 am, later followed by Ossining, Sleepy Hollow, Millwood, Pleasantville, Chappaqua, Croton, and Pocantico Hills, totaling about 150 firefighters. It spread to the lodge's 9-story west wing, through its wooden attic and though a concrete block firewall that stood between both sections. The fire departments contained the fire to prevent it from spreading north or to the village water tower. This saved the water tower and village commercial radio antennae. The north wing was damaged but remained standing. After the fire, Westchester County's Cause & Origin Team sent an arson investigative unit, which sifted through the debris with trained dogs, and found no evidence of arson. What remained of the original building was the stone facade and chimneys. The remaining parts of the lodge and other campus buildings were later demolished.
From around 2010 to 2019, the site was redeveloped as a retirement home. Plans had existed for the site to be converted to senior living since 1999 and in 2010, “The Club at Briarcliff Manor” built model homes and an information center on-site. The main senior living facility was built from 2017 to 2019. It was originally scheduled to open in 2013 but zoning changes and approval of the site plan caused it to be delayed until October, 2019.
NOTABLE GUESTS
Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt were guests at the Briarcliff Lodge. In the early 1930s, Eleanor spoke there several times on behalf of the Women's Democratic Club of Mount Pleasant. In 1930, Franklin spoke there as New York Governor to the Westchester County Bankers Association.
The last German emperor, Wilhelm II's son Crown Prince Wilhelm was a guest at the Lodge for the 1909 Hudson-Fulton Celebration. He led a Prussian regiment in a parade of fifty floats held in honor of the celebration in New York.
Thomas Edison and Charles Proteus Steinmetz visited the Lodge during a meeting of the Edison Lighting Company.
John W. Davis, US Representative and nominee for president against Calvin Coolidge, visited the lodge in 1924.
US Senator Chauncey Depew visited in 1924 and 1927.
Composer and pianist Percy Grainger gave a recital at the ballroom of the lodge in 1925
Ella Holmes White and her partner Marie Grice Young lived in and extension to the Briarcliff Lodge known as the Oak Room, which was built for them on the east side of the building. The two held a long-term lease there before they sailed on the RMS Titanic. Miraculously they survived its sinking in 1912 and continued to live at the lodge until later in their lives.
Other notable guests have included Thomas Edison, Tallulah Bankhead, Sarah Bernhardt, Boris Bakhmeteff, Johnny Weissmuller, Jimmy Walker, Babe Ruth, Edward S. Curtis,] George B. Cortelyou, Mary Pickford, F. W. Woolworth, J. P. Morgan, Warner Baxter, Vincent Richards, and Ernestine Schumann-Heink. Elihu Root, Al Smith, and a King of Siam were guests at the lodge in the 1920s, and John Campbell frequently hosted parties there.
List of notable guests slightly modified from the original by Michael Feist.
SOURCES
Cheever, Mary. The Changing Landscape. A History of Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough. Phoenix Publishing, West Kennebunkport, Maine for the Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough Historical Society, 1990.
Yasinsac, Robert. Briarcliff Lodge. Arcadia Publishing, Charleston SC, 2004.
Yasinsac, Robert. Briarcliff Lodge and the Kings College. On the Hudson Valley Ruins website.
Kittredge, Jay. In the Region of Rest. In The Four Track News (An illustrated American travel magazine begun by the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad) pp. 376-378, January 1902.
Schatz, Emily. The Swift Rise and Slow Fall of Briarcliff Lodge. Kings College History Spotlight. November 2016.
Feist, Michael. Briarcliff Lodge, Wikipedia Page.
BMSHS Files
Many of the images used in this Notebook feature Historical Postcards from the BMSHS collection, where you will find more images of the Briarcliff Lodge. If you’d like to get a feel of how the lodge looked in the 1920s, the BMSHS has a video slide show. We also have a video of how the Lodge looked during its Kings College incarnation.