Classic Shot

About this Photograph: When it opened in 1902, Briarcliff Lodge was America's premier resort hotel. Located some 30 miles north of New York City, the magnificent Tudor-style building was surrounded by dairy barns and greenhouses, all built by Walter Law, "the laird of Briarcliff Manor." Scenes of costume balls, golf outings, the dining room, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, the tennis courts as well as exterior shots of the buildings reflect the opulence of the resort. Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt were hosted at Briarcliff Lodge, as were Tallulah Bankhead, Johnny Weissmuller, Jimmy Walker, Babe Ruth and other luminaries. Opera diva Madame Lillian Nordica sang in the ballroom in 1911 to an audience including John D. and Laura Spelman Rockefeller, Frank A. and Narcissa Cox Vanderlip and Chauncey M. and May Palmer Depew. The hotel business declined in the 1930s, here and at other nearby resorts, but Briarcliff Lodge continued as the home of the Edgewood Park School from 1936 to 1954 and as the King's College from 1955 to 1994.