Mid-century Lodging: Lake Placid

December 30, 20142 Comments

Lake Placid, NY, nestled in the Adirondacks, is one of those perfect winter towns. Whether you’d rather be skiing or strolling and shopping down Main Street or taking a sled dog ride on Mirror Lake, the snow covered evergreen trees and constant snow flurries will delight you, particularly at Christmastime. My sister Annie O’Shea prefers to be sliding down Mount Van Hoevenberg on her sled at 80 mph (she’s on the USA Skeleton Team). When skeleton season rolls around, we typically find time to visit Lake Placid.

Lodging in Lake Placid provides an eclectic mix of luxury resorts, standard hotel accommodations, trailside cabins, small inns, and a look back to roadside America. The Lake House (part of High Peaks Resort) is a 1961 roadside motel. Rumor has it that the place was pretty run down and outdated until this spring 2014 when the hotel closed for a renovation. My family and I chose to stay here and we were pleasantly surprised. Imagine mid-century style combined with the Adirondack aesthetic in crisp, modern lines. Got it? Take a look at some of these pictures.

Welcome to the Lake House. Nice font, right?

Every room has a view of Mirror Lake (which was snow covered and difficult to see as a “lake”).

The lobby of the Lake House. It was a great spot for sitting by the fireplace (not shown, on right). The only downside was having to leave early on Friday because there was a private party in the lobby. That seemed odd for a hotel.

Another view of the lobby. Modern with the ski/ADK aesthetic, yes?

Logs (though the fireplace is gas) and a nice beverage. What better way to spend a chilly, snowy December evening?

The chandelier – very creative!

Another lobby view. Though the Christmas tree left much to be desired (it was a bad fake tree), everything else made up for it (unless you’re my mother, who is still scarred from the cheesy tree).

Nice headboard in the room!

The Lake House was great, and I’d recommend a stay there. It’s a great example of modernizing an outdated hotel while keeping the feel of its historic roots. See more photos on the website. What do you think?

And, of course, a view of the bobsled/skeleton track. Go Annie!

Preservation Photos #67

January 18, 2011January 17, 20111 Comment

The Adirondack Community Church in Lake Placid, NY.

Preservation Photos #63

December 21, 2010Leave a comment

The start of the bobsled and skeleton run on the 1980 Olympic track in Lake Placid, NY. This same track was built in 1930 and used for the 1932 Olympics, too, but started a 1/2 mile further up the mountain. Today the athletes use a refrigerated track.

For more detailed information read the Mount Van Hoevenberg Olympic Bobsled Run National Register Nomination. Even pictures are included on this digitized NR!

Lake Placid Olympic Complex

December 17, 2008Leave a comment

On Friday the 19th, the USA Skeleton team members on the Intercontinental Cup Circuit compete in Lake Placid, New York. Two weeks they were in Park City, as Annie O’Shea describes in her blog. You, as spectator, could actually attend these races. The Lake Placid Olympic Sports Complex is not a gated community. It’s a tourist destination itself as well as being in a popular tourist region (the Adirondack Mountains).

The bobsled/luge/skeleton track at Lake Placid

A slider on the almost horizontal track, moving as fast as a vehicle (or faster!)

A slider on the almost vertical track (here), moving past spectators as fast as a vehicle (or faster!)

These athletes compete on the bobsled/luge/skeleton track from the 1980 Olympics. The 1932 Olympic sliding track remains near the 1980 track, but technology has since advanced and it is no longer used in competition. You can take a (modified) bobsled or luge ride down the 1980 track if you so desire (not during competition, obviously). Or, if you like the ice, but not the speed, you can ice skate on the outside speed skating track (at your own pace).

Also in the Olympic Complex, you can see skiing, skating, the biathlon, and other winter events. There is a museum dedicated to the 1932 and 1980 Olympics. If you’re a hockey fan, the Herb Brooks Arena is open for skating and viewing (as in the 1980 USA Hockey Team, featured in the movie Miracle). To hockey fans, this is an important part of history, even though it dates to 1980, far from our typical historic benchmark of 50 years. It’s interesting to consider whether we, in the present, are capable of discerning places, events, and people who will be just as important fifty years down the road.