Tourist cabins are few and far between in Vermont these days, but readers know I have a soft spot for them. Imagine my delight when I saw three tourist cabins at the Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site. These cabins were named Top of Notch Cabins and opened in 1927 by Ruth Aldridge who operated a tea room called “Top of the Notch.” These cabins were built in Boston, shipped flat, and constructed on site. Currently the middle cabin is an exhibit. I was there for a workday with the UVM HP Alumni Association, but I plan to check out the site when it’s open in the warmer months. For now, here are some tourist cabin images.
Find any tourist cabins lately? I’d love to see them!
Preservation in Pink 
There are still many of these cabins in the Catskills. Especially in Sullivan County. Most are no longer in use. Many can be seen on route 209 between Ellenville and Wurtsboro. There are still some colonies in operation on 209.
I’ll have to check them out, thanks for the tip!
Oh my gosh! They’re adorable–definitely top notch!
Totally loved seeing this entire package, thank you so much for sharing!!
Interesting differences between the “advertising” and “museum-esque” descriptions!
There are quite a few left in New Hampshire. From Plymouth NH north on Rte 3, or west on Rte 25 a/b/c, you’ll find many remnants of them. A few have been kept up and are still available for vacation rentals. Some have been converted to year-round leased housing, and many are just fading away “demolition by neglect” style. When I first lived in Plymouth, over 20 years ago, there were a lot more. Many of the properties have been sold and developed since. But, I always like to imagine what those left standing were like during their heyday.
PS: Are you familiar w PSU’s Dr Mark Okrant’s work? He’s written extensively about the history of the tourism industry in NH, and quite a bit of it concerns the Lakes Region/White Mountains, and the surviving “motor courts” along the main routes (such as the aforementioned Rte 3).
Thank you for sharing this, I’m a big fan of these old Motor Courts – or “Monopoly Houses” as we sometimes refer to them as 😉
and Melanie, thanks for the info above – being originally from Mass I remember a lot of these places still existing in New Hampshire, glad to hear at least some of them are still there! I look forward to visiting them for Retro Roadmap!
You’ll love Route 2 through NH, definitely!