Schroon Lake’s Resort History
In some ways, this resort marks a return to the Schroon Lake of the past. From the late 1800s until the 1950s and ‘60s, the lake was home to multiple resorts and hotels, including the Brown Swan Club, the Leland House and Scaroon Manor, hosting hundreds of summer guests and live performances by comedians Joey Bishop and Red Skelton and singer Sophie Tucker. The community was thrust into the spotlight in 1957, when Scaroon Manor served as the set for the filming of “Marjorie Morningstar,” a coming-of-age movie about a Jewish woman, starring Natalie Wood and Gene Kelly.
The Brown Swan Club - 1916
The project is the historic restoration of the now closed/former “Word of Life” religious compound. Originally constructed as an upscale lodge named the Brown Swan Club.
The way the Brown Swan marketed to their audience was to appeal to their exhaustion:
- The one outstanding characteristic of life at the Club is REST.
- The Brown Swan Club: Large enough to be excellent, Small enough to be personal.
Every convenience was provided at the Club to enable guests to take complete advantage of this desire to rest. The atmosphere was balmy in health-giving qualities absorbed from the pine, spruce, and evergreen- beneficial effects upon nervous and mentally fatigued persons coping with the altitude (approx. 1,000 feet above sea level).
A home for the one away from home.
