- Carmel, CT  

  Nice, quiet place! Really nice rooms.

- Shrewsburry, PA  

  We could stay a month - Thanks Cathy!!

- Bronxville, NY  

The historical significance of our Lake Clear Lodge is a unique story of not only its importance as part of a strategic commerce point in the opening of the Adirondacks, but as a powerful symbol of family, fate and hope.

The early Adirondacks were accessible by Indian trails and water routes. An example of this in Lake Clear is the Forest Home road and its winding nature (many 25 mile-an-hour speed signs!) is attributed to its original function as an Indian trail. Water routes played a significant role in the Adirondacks due to the (put some facts in here about the # of rivers, lakes etc. in the Adk Park). In the St. Regis Wilderness region which Lake Clear is in the heart or there are (# of lakes and rivers etc.). However, accessibility beyond the most ardent outdoor enthusiast did not occur in large numbers until the development of the railroad. One of the main lines connecting New York City with the Adirondacks had a key junction in Lake Clear from where you could connect to Saranac Lake - Lake Placid; Plattsburgh - Lake Champlain and New England; north to Canada and prominent local areas such as the early Adirondack hotels like Paul Smiths Hotel which laid the foundation to Paul Smiths College renouned today for its forestry and culinary programs and the immense Saranac Inn Hotel that served as a playground for the rich and famous. Lake Clear in the midst of this activity became a small commerce hub and here the story of history blends with fate, family and love.

The Lodge was built circa 1886 as a trading post and post office. The original building was built by Cathy Hohmeyer's great aunt and uncle known as the Otis family who were among other roles were one of the early Adirondack surveyors. The Lodge was then quickly expanded to an inn and served as a stage coach stop before and after the completion of the railroad. Thus, Cathy has a long tradition as an Adirondacker, involvement in the service, culinary and hospitality industries. But the story gets even better. On her father's side, the Fisher family came from Germany in the 1800's.

Ten years ago when we redid the roof, I discovered a wooden basket of certified mail receipts dating back to 1886. Cathy's family sold the building to the Jarvis family in the early 1900's who expanded both the property and the tourism amenities. The Jarvis family were quite the wealthy land barons and at one time owned a huge portion of Lake Clear. Many of the current facilities you see today were built by the Jarvis's with a few notable exceptions. As farming and wood products were key industries in the Adirondacks in the 1800's, it is interesting to see many of the old pictures and how open the land was around the Lake at one time. The other phenomenon was that the major road route was built to follow the railroad line. As these were put in place after many of the properties were in place they often dissected property lines. Our current 25-acre estate is no different as the original highway (now abandoned) and the railroad line (also abandoned but efforts are underway to revive the line as a tourism train and is serves as a recreational trail in the winter) go through the property. The main highway you travel on today was built in the 1950's so when you come into the Lodge estate you enter what is the back of the property as the main building faced the old highway, the railroad tracks and the lake. The main lodge was added on several times in its history with the last addition added circa 1940-50's.

The Hohmeyer family bought the Lodge in 1965 and began operating it on my father's birthday May 28th, 1966 thus 2006 marks our 40th anniversary. Unfortunately for my parents, the Lodge had ceased operating since the mid-50's and had not been winterized. When we moved in 4 days before Christmas in 1965, there was no heat or hot water and our entire family of five ate and slept in what is still the lobby area. I remember my mother taking pots to get snow outside so that we could boil the water to cook and bath. It was quite the restoration project. My family expanded the operation to make it a four-season destination and revitalized the four cabins as well. My family was involved in the farming and food industries dating back to medieval times ("Hoh - meyer" translated as "overseer of the manor"). With me as the only exception, my entire family was born in Europe.We moved to the Adirondacks when I was six years old and one of the first people I met in school was Cathy and the story becomes truly one of fate. My introduction to Cathy was on the school playground. As she was sitting on the top of the slide, I told her this elementary school version of marriage - you remember the one of when its red you do and when its white you do not - and she promptly fell off the slide and broke her wrist. We did not speak for ages after that and with one notable exception our next encounter was when she worked for my parents during high school. Years later we had both come home to care for ailing parents. At the time, I was in postgraduate school and we had the place about to be placed under contract for sale. Literally on my father's birthday, fate truck its hand again. I had been selected to be the founding director of an Adirondack sustainable development agency. While we were all mulling over our options, Cathy appears and became interested in leasing the facility. All of us decided to take a six-month trial period. I would accept this career opportunity, my parents would hold off selling and Cathy would operate the business. In 1990, we collectively took on the first Lodge expansion project together by adding two beautiful handcrafted chalets designed by Cathy's father who had operated the Saranac Inn sawmill and was a true craftsman. In 1994, Cathy and I now married, bought the adjacent lake property and created lakeside vacation rentals. Subsequently, we have put more than a million dollars in the 25 acre property and there is not one item we have left untouched from infrastructure to rehabilitation to recapture the "Great Camp" style estate that has marked the property for nearly 120 years. Today, Hohmeyer's Lake Clear Lodge is one of the last original estates still open to the public. With a European and Adirondack pioneer influence it appears sometimes that we are back in the 1800's especially as Lake Clear, NYS 28th largest lake has no public boat access and the serene quietness of the lake you can still clearly hear the loons. By keeping the traditional "guesthouse" tradition alive by taking no more than 50 culinary enthusiasts an evening with no second seating so that you can have your table the entire evening if you wish, time is timeless. With simmering stocks based on both family's culinary traditions, Cathy and I have fused these Old World and Adirondack blends to create our own unique fusion cuisine entitled The Adirondack Alps.

Hohmeyer's Lake Clear Lodge is a member of the American Historic Inns and Green Hotel Association. See Historic Saranac Lake for more history of this region.