According to its website, The Club represents: “True Westchester County Senior Living. The opportunity hoped for in the style deserved. Discover a premium address, entertainment, enriching activities, fine dining, friendship, leisure, comfort and peace of mind — in a historic setting with views of the Hudson River.”

However, it’s not The Club itself that interests me as much as what was on the site before: The Briarcliff Lodge:

The Briarcliff Lodge was a luxury resort in the village of Briarcliff Manor, New York. It was a notable example of Tudor Revival architecture, and was one of the largest wooden structures in the United States. It was also the first hotel in Westchester County. Walter William Law had it built on his estate, and the Law family owned it until 1937. When the lodge opened in 1902, it was one of the largest resort hotels in the world. The lodge hosted presidents, royalty, and celebrities, and was the scene of numerous memorable occasions for visitors and local residents who attended weddings, receptions, and dances in the ballroom and dining room. For a long time, the lodge was situated among other businesses of Walter Law, including the Briarcliff Farms and Briarcliff Table Water Company.

In 1933, the lodge ended year-round service and housed a “health-diet sanitarium” until the Edgewood Park School for Girls began operation there from 1937 to 1954. From 1936 to 1939, the lodge was run again as a hotel in the summer months while the school was closed. From 1955 to 1994, The King’s College used the lodge building and built dormitories and academic buildings. Abandoned and unmaintained after 1994, the Briarcliff Lodge was destroyed between 2003 and 2004 (Wikipedia).

This was once a swimming pool. As I was taking these pictures I had a conversation with another dog walker who had lived in the area much longer than I had. He told me that what is now a “pond” has a tiled floor.

Looks like this is one of the few parts of the lodge that still remain.

The Lodge was still standing when we moved to the area in 1998. I even got to see it once, but at the time I was not so much into photography and didn’t have a camera with me. I thought that I would come back later. Unfortunately, it burned down before I could get around to it.

The lodge as it looked around 1905 (Image from the collection of the Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough Historical Society (BMSHS)).

Taken with a Panasonic Lumix GF-1 and Panasonic Lumix G Vario 14-42 f3.5-4.6 II