Dorothea Rosenthal Gordon Remembered

This is a photograph of my grandmother that I found doing research online.  It is from her high school yearbook.  Her name was Dorothea Rosenthal Gordon and with my grandfather, Albert Gordon, acquired Penwood in 1953.  She was an artist and a creative talent ahead of her time.  She attended Northwestern University and became a journalist when there were few women in journalism.  She was a fine painter, as a hobby, but her work was quite exceptional.  Today, she could have sold it at auction, in a gallery, or on Etsy or ebay at least.  It is strange to continue to learn about her 16 years after her death, and to be learning about her using technology she could never have imagined possible. More importantly, I think, is the fact that the more I learn about her the more extraordinary I think she was. She possessed a tremendous creative impulse -- to paint, write, read, do needlepoint.  She created magnificent dollhouses, had an exceptional antique doll collection, and seemed happiest when she was engrossed in a creative pursuit.  She also loved gardening.   I wish I could talk to her now about what she planted at Penwood, and why, and where and what she would say about what we have done to the landscape.  We used to have special lunches out on the town and would talk about how Penwood looked when she first moved in.  She had a very particular and wise eye regarding its history and its preservation.  I would like to go back to the 1950's and visit with her for a long day on the dock.  She had much to say that I could not really have understood when we had our talks, when I was in my early 20's.  

Easingwold No More

When my mother was a child spending summers on Fourth Lake, there was only one neighbor close to Penwood: the Knights of Easingwold.  There was a footpath between Penwood and Easingwold over the woods now occupied by three newer camps.  The Gordon and Knight children hiked back and forth over the path to play.  Easingwold, the Knight camp, was a classic Adironack camp, designed to be used only in the summers, with a large porch and a rambling wing of bedrooms and stairways.  Betty Knight and her husband were fond of drinking with friends on the lake, including my grandparents.  As a child, I remember Betty Knight sitting on the porch of Easingwold chain smoking cigarettes and drinking cocktails.  Her granddaughter Shelby and I were sometimes friends.  It must have been in the 1970's that I remember Betty Knight and Shelby, because Shelby once told me she had met Elton John, who was at that time as big as Michael Jackson was in the next decade.  We would swim back and forth between the Penwood and Easingwold docks.  There was nothing but water in between them.  Later, after Betty Knight died, her son Dick and his wife Jane moved back to Easingwold and winterized the house. They were, as I recall, sensitive to the historic character of the house; it must have been hard and expensive to winterize that place.  But it was lovely - I think it was even older than Penwood but had similar characteristics - lots of woodwork, beadboard, wood siding. Not as many large beams as Penwood has, but intricate and detailed woodwork nonetheless.  I liked the fact that there was just Easingwold on one side of Penwood, but acres away, on one side, and Twin Coves, also acres away, on the other side.  The two bays sat like sentries guarding the place which juts out into Fourth Lake on its peninsula.Eventually, Dick and Jane sold Easingwold and moved to a new "Easingwold" in the lot next door.  They also sold two adjacent lots, one of which borders Penwood. The "new" Easingwold, built in 1989, is for sale now for $1.875 million. The original Easingwold died when it was remodeled by the new owners, the Johnstons.  They replaced the wood with vinyl siding and built a huge addition with a wall of windows, effectively subsuming the Adirondack camp into a pseudo-suburban mcmansion.  

The Original Adirondack Camp

There were at least two or three lean-tos on the Seymour Point property -- one by the waterfront on Fourth Lake, one on a point, and one in the woods facing the lake.  One survives. I remember sleepovers in the lean-to during childhood summers.  My mother would camp out with us.  During the night, we would get spooked by the sounds of the woods and scamper up the hill back to our beds.  My mother woke up alone in the cold.  After a few of those episodes, she no longer joined us on our camping adventures in the lean-to.  Sadly, the lean-to is not much used these days.   I think we need to add a carpet and some pillows to encourage more guests to lounge in that great old shelter, the original Adirondack camp.

A Wedding at Penwood

On August 23, 2008 Robert Gordon Burstein was married to Dajung Chung at Camp Penwood on Fourth Lake.  The Clearwater picked up guests at hotels around the Fulton Chain and brought them to the camp, where a ceremony was performed by Rabbi Sheldon Ezring of the Temple Society of Concord, Syracuse, New York. The bride and groom reside in Fort Lee, New Jersey and recently returned from their second wedding with the bride's family and friends in Seoul, South Korea.  Congratulations Rob and DJ!

Neverland

Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch, in Los Olivos, California has fallen into disrepair since Mr. Jackson's departure from the United States last year. New pictures recently published on the web show the once pristine grounds now covered with dead grass, wilting flowers and general lifelessness. This has gotten me thinking about the massive undertaking of keeping up an Adirondack property. It is really a full time job. The trees alone keep us busy -- constantly falling, dying, needing to be cut and removed. New trees need to be planted to replace the old, fallen ones. And then, there is the history to preserve. An old wood shed that needs a new roof, a dock to be rebuilt. It is a never ending labor of love. The challenge -- one of them -- is to rebuild and replace in keeping with the original. The roofing material should be cedar shakes, not new 30 year roofing. The posts must be real, bark-on trees, cut in winter to preserve the bark. And to what end, all of this Adirondack preservation? Is it worth the effort and expense or should we just bid farewell to a lost era and enjoy what's left?

Pen and Ink Drawings of David R.C. Oster

A few years ago, my parents discovered a local artist named David R.C. Oster. David works in pen and ink and does wonderfully detailed drawings. Many of his subjects are beautiful adirondack camps, including the drawing we commissioned a few years ago. David is now focusing more on nature drawings, which are extraordinary. Detailed and hand colored, they are an expression of his talent, not to mention his patience with his art and his subjects. We became friends with David and his friend Tyler, whose family has a house right across Fourth Lake from Penwood. David works and lives in Utica, New York, and frequently appears at local art and craft shows.

Sunset on Fourth Lake

Photo by Joel Levy

Camp Penwood in Winter

Aerial View of Penwood 2004

Skip and Trudy on Penwood Porch

Skip and Trudy are close friends of my Uncle Chuck and Aunt Julie. Chuck and Julie invited Skip and Trudy to the camp from time to time, and here they are sitting on the Penwood front porch. This must have been taken in the early 1970's. I was a few years old - three or four? You can see the original hemlock bark siding on the house, the (possibly) original green trim color and the porch as it was more than 30 years ago. Skip and Trudy look very groovy.

Mark Water Skiing, Fourth Lake

Photo Credit: Jeffrey Watson

This photo was taken when I was first learing to waterski. I was using Cypress Gardens trainers, as you can see from the way the rope is tied to the skis. I think I used these only once or twice, and they have been sitting in the boathouse ever since. Our good friend and annual Penwood guest for many years, Jeff Watson, took this picture (I think). He is an excellent photographer and gives us a photograph every year, which hang in Penwood and Nina's Camp.

Staircase to Main Camp, Penwood

An Adirondack Screen Porch

An empty screen porch at Penwood is packed up for the winter. During the warm weather and through the fall, a screen porch is an extraordinary place to while away the afternoon. The Adirondack Boys live on their porch from morning to night, watching the kayakers trying to get a glimpse of the house, and watching nature move through its rhythms. We have had black bear visit us here, as well as ducks, loons, and other creatures of the woods.

The Mail Boat

Penwood's only remaining original mail bag, used for sending and receiving mail by Mail Boat. The Mail Boat was started at the request of President Harrison, who wanted to receive his mail at his Summer White House on First Lake, twice daily. The Mail Boat delivers mail on the Fulton Chain of lakes to this day, giving tours of the lakes in the "President Harrison" mail boat. The second Penwood mailbag was lost in Fourth Lake and never recovered.

Welcome to the Adirondacks!

Welcome to our blog! We are two guys who built a home in New York State's great Adirondack Park and love to share its treasures with our friends. We have been on the hunt for the best of the Adirondacks in a single place, one great reference for all things fabulous in the Adirondacks. And this is it! We can't wait to share our Adirondacks with you -- from its Great Camps to its great camp. -- The Boys