A Philadelphian Goes to Whiteface Inn, 1920s Style

By Joyce H. Munro

“Philadelphians are well pleased with the innovations in hotel life provided at Whiteface Inn, which include religious services in the Wigwam each Sunday and movies in the same place each Tuesday night.”

Did Lydia Thompson Morris, a Philadelphian, read these words in her local newspaper and reach for the telephone to make a reservation? We’ll never know but something convinced her to try a new vacation spot in 1921. For the next ten years, Miss Morris vacationed at Whiteface Inn each summer.

*Whiteface Inn, circa 1920s. Courtesy of the author.*

In earlier years, she and her brother, John Thompson Morris, spent summers at Mount Washington Hotel. But he was gone now and she was getting on in years. The thought of the long trek to and from New Hampshire by train probably didn’t appeal to her. Miss Morris could have traveled to Lake Placid by overnight train. Instead, she chose to travel in her chauffeur-driven Pierce Arrow accompanied by her lady’s maid, stopping for a night’s stay at Beekman Arms in Rhinebeck. It was faster and more comfortable.

When Miss Morris arrived at Whiteface Inn for the first time, she entered a newly constructed, state-of-the-art hotel, built on the ashes of the former hotel that burned to the ground in 1909. Initially, the company’s owners claimed their inn would be rebuilt within a year but construction and finance issues delayed its opening until 1915. Bigger and better than ever, the new wood-framed inn featured two tiers of open porches with large columns and octagonal piazza.

A 1915 photo in the New York Tribune captured the inn’s Swiss chalet lines with board and batten siding on peaked gable ends and balconies and upper porches — an understated architectural style that complemented the surroundings. The cost of rebuilding was said to be $125,000, a reasonable amount for the conveniences it provided vacationers, like electric lights and telephones in every room. “Modern in all its appointments,” proclaimed newspaper ads for Whiteface Inn.

The following year, a major addition was built on the north end, increasing the number of guestrooms and enlarging the dining room. The sixty-four rooms on the first and second guestroom floors were alike with widths varying from 9.5 feet to 14.75 feet. In addition, the second floor had five narrow balconies evenly spaced along the length of the building. The third floor had fewer rooms due to steeply pitched roofs. Miss Morris needn’t climb stairs to her floor; there was an elevator.

*Elevation of Whiteface Inn, 1913 (prior to north addition 1915). Max H. Westoff (1874-1951),* *architect. Courtesy of the Adirondack Experience Library.*

The new inn had a full bath between every two rooms, which wouldn’t be a problem for Miss Morris, a world traveler. She was used to sharing a bathroom during hotel stays in Europe, Scandinavia, and India with her travel companion, Louise Kellner, or sister-in-law, Jennie Montague Morris.

*First floor lounge, Whiteface Inn, 1913. Max H. Westoff (1874-1951), architect. Courtesy of the Adirondack Experience Library.*

The new manager, J.J. Sweeney, was employed at Whiteface Inn in summers and at Highland Park Hotel in South Carolina in winters. He and his wife hosted afternoon tea on the porch, organized Saturday evening treasure hunts, and led hiking groups to High Falls and Mount Colburn.

Not a billiards or card player, Miss Morris likely didn’t go to the game rooms on the ground floor, though she used the telegraph and express office. One feature that must have appealed to her was the main floor lounge with its corner stone fireplace. Large open fireplaces were features of her family’s historic summer estate and her country estate in Philadelphia.

Miss Morris was fond of afternoon tea and thanks to the tea room adjacent to the dining room, she hosted gatherings there. Each evening, she had dinner in the formal dining room with huge plate glass windows. Her dinner companions were most likely fellow Philadelphians and she had no trouble ordering unusual dishes on the menu, given her willingness to try unfamiliar foods in China, Egypt, and Russia. She may have enjoyed a glass of wine or a cordial at dinner, for although a Quaker, she was not a teetotaler.

Without a doubt, Miss Morris spent time on the piazza, embroidering or reading or conversing with fellow vacationers. As a newspaper columnist reported, Miss Morris was fond of the “wide and lovely views of her place of summer sojourn at Lake Placid.” Perhaps she went rowing on the lake; she used to row on the creek at her country estate. Perhaps she climbed Whiteface or Colburn; she had climbed mountains in India and Japan and Switzerland. Or horseback riding — she once rode horseback for days in the Middle East.

As for swimming, it’s not likely Miss Morris joined women for a morning plunge in the lake but she may have sunbathed on the lawn, as she did in Hong Kong. With her road car and chauffeur readily available, she probably took “excursions” to points of interest, accompanied by her new friends.

*James O’Neil, chauffeur to Lydia Morris (left) with J. J. Sweeney, manager of Whiteface Inn, circa 1925. Courtesy of the Morris Arboretum & Gardens Archives.*

The modern accommodations, fine amenities, and pleasant surroundings of Whiteface Inn cost Miss Morris just under $300 per week. Obviously it was well worth the price because she returned each summer. One can only assume that her room and amenities at the inn met her expectations (she was known to be quite demanding and had once refused “unacceptable” hotel rooms in Cologne).

At the end of August, 1930, a musicale was held in the main floor lounge in recognition of Miss Morris’s fealty to the inn and her love of music. The entire colony, guests and campers, attended. She must have been very pleased with the program of classical music by vocalists, pianists and the Whiteface Inn orchestra — for decades she been a supporter of the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra.

The summer of 1931, Miss Morris arrived at Whiteface in mid-July as usual. She was 81, frail and unwell but strong-willed as ever, determined to follow normal routines. She had two visitors the day after she arrived — her doctor and her lawyer. They came up from Philadelphia to do more than check on her health. Over the next two days, they discussed future plans for her estate, a prime location in Chestnut Hill renowned for its collection of rare horticultural specimens.

Despite her physical limitations, her mind was sharp and she knew what must be done. In fact, her plan was inspired and on July 17, 1931 at Whiteface Inn, Lydia Thompson Morris established the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania.

Perhaps Miss Morris found strength in the Adirondack air. “The ozone laden air makes one young again and brimful of inspiration,” so ads said.

Learn more:

About the Author
Joyce Munro is an essayist and volunteer at the Morris Arboretum and Gardens Archives. Her work can be found in Broad Street Review, Hidden City Philadelphia, Hippocampus, Minding Nature, Philadelphia Stories, Poor Yorick, Seasons and elsewhere.