I would love to hear the memories (or stories you heard) of vacations at any of the boarding houses near Yulan, or on Washington or Bodine Lakes. These are the ones I know about:
Boarding houses and lakes on the west side:
Washington Lake, Bodine Lake, Montgomery Lake
Bradley/Avery
The Maple Crest (Walters)
The Colonial (Hensels)
Washington Beach House (Tethers)
Laurel Cottage (Mr. and Mrs. James Parker)
Sunset Cottage (Mr. & Mrs. Lewis Hazen)
Lake View Farm (Kaeses)
Grand Vue Inn or Grand View Farm (Bornsteins)
Park Hotel (Mr. & Mrs. Atwell Bradley)
Bertram’s Cottage (Mrs. Bertram)
Yulan Cottage (Hensel and later )
West Shore Lodge (Cantwells)
Woodland Cottages (Herman and Mathilde Protz)
Highland Cottage (Kalbfus)
Minisink Lodge and West Shore Cottage (both became part of Cantwell’s)
Bodine Cottages (Bodines)
Twin Oaks
Thank you for all the comments! My Grandfather, Frank Gregory, owned the Washington Beach Hotel (bought from the Tethers) and, I spent many summers there until they sold the place and set up The Oakland House in Yulan. It was a wonderful hotel, which is now renovated, but still standing.
–Thank you for stopping by Gwen!—Louise
I have wonderful memories of staying at Sunset Cottage owned by Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Hazen with my Mom and Dad from around 1949/1950 to 1962.
We had so many friends year after year that we would see. We would go to I think they called it the “Casino” and my teenage friends and I would play the jukebox while our parents had a cocktail. I have many pictures at Sunset.
Thank you so much for your memory, Karen.—Louise
My family was owners in the 1940s. We’d go up every summer and vacation there.
The house burned down when I went to visit 70 years later. The only remaining item was an iron stove among the ashes.
However, the apple orchard was still intact, in the front, and the barn across the road. I loved the country and couldn’t get over the fact that everything was so much smaller than I remembered….but I was 5 years old when they sold it. The Rudolphs had children we played with down the road from us.
Wonderful summer memories for a girl from Brooklyn N.Y.
Thank you for your memories, Linda.—Louise
I spent several summers in Yulan courtesy of Mrs. Gutekunst, my sister’s mother-in-law who lived about a mile from the “four corners” (Yulan). Does anyone remember the name of the roller skating rink there?
I worked at Cantwells on Washington Lake several summers washing dishes—breakfast,lunch and dinner and learned to waterski on the lake. “Mom” Cantwell kept an eye on all of us working the hotel.
Best times were floating in tire tubes down the river to Narrowsburg—was a long walk back and usually we got a ride hitch hiking.
We often walked the 4 miles to Barryville to the movie (watched Hard Days Night). Could walk over to Shohola Falls and jump off the cliffs—what fun that was. I could go on and on.
I and my sister would go to Bodine’s boarding house on Bodine Lake every summer from 1934 to 1940 for a few weeks or a month.
In the afternoons we would walk down the dirt road to the crossroads where the Times Square store would sell ice cream cones.
As a little kid, I learned to fish in Bodine Lake for sunfish and perch and if I caught anything worthwhile, Mr. Bodine would cook it for me for dinner. The Bodines were from France and had 2 children–Paul and Blanche. Paul later became Post Master of Yulan and Blanche worked as waitress and housekeeper for the establishment. In 1940, we were informed that we were no longer welcome, since the Bodines no longer took Jews.
We thus went down the road to Ed and Mary Bornsteins Grand Vue Farm for half the summer. They had no swimming facility so we hiked down to Beaver Brook to the icy water there. I was 9 years old and had the time of my life with the other young kids at Bornstein’s. They did have a tennis court, so I took up the sport there. Great memories.
I am now 91 and living in the Arizona desert.
I believe my father and Pete Bozza were partners in the Yulan hotel for a while. My dad was Pat Sarsano. I remember the main house and other structures on the property. It was on a lake.
Although I never lodged there since my parents owned a vacation home in Yulan, I remember spending time at the Sherwood/Rustic Lodge, swimming in the built in pool and riding horses.
In the restaurant part there was a waiter that I called Jello from a very young age but I believe his name was Gerard. This was the mid 70’s.
I think the owners were the Sherwoods, but my friend there was a relative I believe his name was Jeff Greene.
We, the Abiuso family also stayed at the Yulan Hotel in the 60s. Our fondest memories were made there with the Bozza family.
Does anyone remember which lake the hotel was located on? We’re actually creating a family montage of our times spent there. We’d like to mention the name of the lake. If anyone can help us it would be so greatly appreciated.
From Louise: Yulan Hotel was on Washington Lake.
My name is Paul Piliero and my family and I stayed at the Yulan Hotel many times in the 1960s.
The Bozza family was great and of course I remember Ann and Pete and their children Carol and Boots.
My family was Dr. and Mrs. Piliero, my older sister Nicki, and my younger brother Philip.
I hung around mostly with Boots as he was a year older than I was, and I was saddened to hear of his passing around 4 years ago. We would fish, swim, row boats, play softball at night and in general we had a great time.
I went up there a couple of years ago and saw that the bar had been converted into apartments and that there was a house where left field was on our softball field. I actually met the owner of the property and she told me she also owns the Cantwell property next door.
I would love to hear from Carol and anyone else who has the same great memories that I do. What great fun! Paul
My name is Charlie Albanese. My Uncle Bob (Sasso) would take me to stay at the Yulan Hotel for 2 weeks every summer starting when I was 7 years old in 1956, until late in my teens.
The hotel at the time was owned by Ann and Pete Bozza. The 3 hot meals they served everyday would rival any of today’s best family restaurants. The fondest memories I have are the time spent with their children Carol and “Bootsie.”
We fished in the morning, swam in the afternoon, and played friendly softball games in the evening against other hotels in the area. Then I’d fall asleep on a chair in the great room, while my uncle played cards with other guests.
Every year, or maybe every other year, we’d see the same guests from past years. At the end of our 2 week stay, Uncle Bob, and his friend Larry would put together a family fun day. Games and prizes for the kids during the day, and a bar-b-que for the parents that evening.
When we got older we would sneak out of our rooms to see what the grown-ups were up too. Simple times. Great memories. Carol or Pete if GOD willing you’re out there, I’d love to hear from you. Or anyone who was there during the years 1956 – 1968.
Note from Louise: Thank you for your memories, Charlie.
If you would like to contact Charlie, comment to this post and I will pass the information along to Charlie, but not post your email address.
There was another boarding house on the Yulan-Eldred Road that I don’t see on your list.
It was called the “Arlington” and was located on the long curve in the road across from Gordon White’s home.
It was in the same spot as the late Bill Rupple’s home.
Louise: Thank you so much Kevin.
My uncle Howard Olsen, called Harry by Mrs. Cantwell, spent many summers at West Shore Lodge in the late 50’s and 60’s. He always stayed in the building near the dining room. Sometimes he would tend bar by the dining room or serve ice cream at the building by the lake.
My parents and I also spent vacations there with him. We got to stay in the new building across the street one time but stayed many times in the older buildings.
To this day I remember the 3 full meals that were served with a pitcher of cold white milk and some of the most delicious bread.
We would walk down the hill to the store hoping that me Dad would drive down and take us back I can still see Mrs. Cantwell sitting by her window on the second floor of the main building. I actually think that she and my uncle, who was a bachelor, were sort of “sweet” on each other!
I have great memories of Yulan. My parents aunts and uncles started going to the Highland Hotel in 1950.
They used to plan this trip from Brooklyn as if they were going to California. Most people got there on a Saturday or Sunday and they would spend half the day discussing the trip. They continued going there until the early 1970’s.
I used to go on weekends and meet my pal John Heckler. We would raise all sorts of cain and go home on Sunday night.
I remember Scotty Greenbrger, we used to hang out with him and he worked in Will Brodmerkels’s garage in Eldred.
Beer in Spaghetti Joe Consiglios in Barryville was $.10 a glass. It was really great.
Practically everyone is gone now including my friend Johnny Heckler who was the best man in our wedding.
We went there a few years ago and all the boarding houses were gone. Ate lunch in the Eldred Inn and met someone who remembered the people from those days.
On the way back had a beer in Roman’s in Shohola where we used to meet people coming off the train. It was sad but brought back a lot of memories.
I have fond memories of the Yulan Hotel. My parents vacationed there in the 1960’s. I worked as a dishwasher during the summer of 1969.
The owners, Mr. and Mrs. Bozza, treated all the help like family.
I stayed at Tethers, which became Gregory’s “Washington Beach Hotel” with my parents from 1937 when I was a year old until the late 1950’s when I went in the Army.
I returned to Yulan in the middle 60’s and the hotel was torn down. Old Walter Tether was a deputy sheriff and ran the hotel until his death in, I think it was 1948.
His son Ivan took over for a few years then sold out to the Gregory’s. I heard all the old boarding houses were gone now.
I learned to swim in Washington Lake and enjoyed every moment of my youth there.
Louise: Thank you so much for your comment!
My name is Carol Bozza Zalenski and my parents,Ann and Pete owned the Yulan Hotel for more than twenty years. It was from the 50s thru the mid 70s.
My parents were friends with many of the other owners and we have wonderful memories of them and all the guests who returned year after year. My brother and I had so many friends from around “town” we had a great time every summer.
When looking through photos I remember what good times all the families had in those boarding house days.
Thanks for posting and would love to hear more memories.
I had the pleasure of staying as a guest at Cantwells in the late 60s. My Aunt Ethel Cantwell was the owner and I would love to hear other people memories from those days….My Aunt Edna and Uncle Herb owned the Park View Bar.
There were different ways that guests could get to the boarding houses during the summers of my youth which ranged from the 1940’s until I was an adult.
If you (your family was somewhat affluent you owned a car) and took the sometimes four hour ride in the early forties to the boarding houses from points in New York City.
You could take a train (The Erie Railroad) out of Hoboken N.J to Shohola and be picked up by a Wilson Taxi to take you to any boarding house in the area. This trip in its entirety could take six plus hours to complete.
You could also take the Shortline bus from Manhattan and get off in Yulan (Four Corners by the post office). Then you could use the pay phone outside the post office and call the boarding house to ask for someone to pick you up.
A fourth way and one that I hold close in my memory was to take a limousine from your home to the boarding house of your choice. Now you might think that the mention of a limousine would be something grandiose but it truly wasn’t. The company servicing the area’s boarding houses used rather old limousines (some as old as 10 years) although they were Cadillacs from the thirties and forties. The limousines would pick you up at you home and then go to another home and pick up more people and so on until the car was filled. This meant you drove around the city picking up those who made transportation appointments until the car was filled. (The car held seven riders and their luggage, supposedly no more than two suitcases per person).
On the way to the boarding houses the driver would stop at the Red Apple Rest for a bathroom stop and whatever the riders wanted to eat. This stop could take as long as 30 minutes. On the road again to the boarding houses was another two hours and the passengers would be dropped off at their respective boarding houses.
The drop off time could take up to an hour as the first stop was usually Eddy Farm and then to the Yulan, Barryville or Highland Lake destinations. Total trip time was usually four hours from the first pick up to the last drop off. The guests though were always there for lunch.
To return home the same was done as guests were picked up after lunch and driven from boarding house to boarding house until the car was full and then back to NYC before stopping at the Red Apple Rest again. Usually, the last passenger was home by 6 p.m.
The fare for the ride in the forties was $6 each way; while in 1970’s it was $10 plus of course a tip for the driver.
In 1951 my family was without a car that summer and my parents hired the limousine, but for us exclusively as we needed the room for our luggage (we were going to stay from August 1 until the day after Labor Day (which we did many years until I was working at a boarding house for the summer). Also, my parents wanted room in the car and not to have to ride around the city picking up others. The cost for this exclusive ride was probably $40 plus a tip.
I thought the limousine was beautiful and so grand even though it was probably a 1946 or 1947 model. I thought then that one day I would own one and keep it like new. When I was 38 years old I found one and I still own it. It is a 1947 model and looks the same as my first limousine ride.
In 1968 the limousine company that serviced the area had a problem and I wound up owning the company. Four of the boarding house owners petitioned the N.Y. State DOT for me to get a permit to run the service. They came to NYC on my behalf and told the DOT how much they needed to continue to have a reliable transportation service for the area boarding houses. I got the permit, bought three limos and had a great summer business. It was hard work but lots of fun with some great stories from the passengers and about them.
Now I live in Yulan and once in a while I meet someone who rode with my company which lasted for me about 8 years until the boarding houses started to fold. Those were good times and memories. The good times still exist here as the area is so beautiful. I have good friends here to share the good times and memories. Scotty Greenberger
Thank you so much for your comment Scotty!!
I have photos of our family’s stay at Avery’s Farm on Washington Lake in 1944 and 1945. Does this place exist today?
I went to Cantwell’s in the early 70s, and a bit in the later 70s.
I have some of the best memories of my life, being up there with my parents, my wild, hard drinkin’ and smokin’ Great Aunt Winnie, and her lifelong best friend Edna, my mother’s friend Lilly, and her son, my best friend Kevin. We would be packed into my father’s huge 1966 Fury III Station Wagon, for the trip. My poor father, what he must have put up with, 4 women, two bratty kids…..but it was heaven…