The Post-Star
Thursday, February 10, 2005 (Re-typed)
Former hospital now offers hospitality
Mansion operates today as an inn
Homemade snacks welcome guests
The Sheldon Mansion is one of a kind, and so are the people who own it and turned the building into a unique inn.
The building was the home of slate tycoon Frederick Sheldon, and was then turned into a hospital and later a home for the elderly.
Stephen and Marianne Lynch have converted the building, the only one in the world made of red slate, which is the most rare. They are the first couple to live full time at the 10-acre estate since Sheldon and his wife lived there when the house was completed in 1906.
The 22-room mansion didn’t look like the luxurious home it was created to be when Stephen Lynch purchased it in 2002.
The intricately laid, original wood floors that now shine were once covered with linoleum and carpet when the Emma Laing Stevens Hospital inhabited the building.
“It was like a present each time we uncovered a floor,” Marianne Lynch said.
She said there is always something to do in renovating the mansion, which is on North Street in the village.
“We never wake up on a Saturday and say, ‘What do you want to do today, hon?’” said Marianne, a teacher. “We’ve been uncovering what was always here.”
“The way I like to phrase it is, I de-institutionalized it,” Stephen said.
There are five rooms open to guests, varying in size, style and price.
Each room contains items from the Lynch family. There are no stuffed bunny rabbits wearing overalls, holding a pitchfork.
The rooms have matching antique furniture, which the couple scoured five states to find. Each room also has paintings by local artists, with soothing color schemes and décor.
“We wanted it to feel like home for us and for our guests,” Stephen said. “We didn’t want it to be foo-foo. We want people to feel at home.”
The at-home feel runs throughout the house, from the refrigerator stocked with food and drink, to the homemade biscotti made by Marianne on the kitchen table. Each room has candy and treats within arms reach.
“If you’re going to a friend’s house, you’d expect goodies to be around,” Stephen said.
An engineer by day, Stephen bought the house after spotting it in a real estate magazine. He said he went to look at it to study its structure, but wound up buying it.
They opened for business in May and have been seeing steady business since. They said they are getting bookings for the annual Americade motorcycle rally in Lake George, and have a wedding planned for September.
Rooms range from $100 to $150 a night, including breakfast.
Aside from the bedrooms, which feature private bathrooms and queen-sized beds, most of the house is shared by all of the guests.
There is a sitting room with a television, games and reading materials, and a communal living room, where guests can meet and chat while sitting on antique furniture.
The breakfast area is a solarium, where people can look out over the village, or take a look through the telescope at the big open sky.
There are no city lights to interfere with the brightness of the stars.
“It seems to come natural,” Marianne said. “Make a comfortable place, make good food, and people will come.”
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