Cranmore Mountain Lodge History North Conway

 

The Cranmore Mountain Lodge in North Conway has origins tracing back to the mid-1800s, during the post-Civil War era. If you take a closer look, you’ll notice that the architecture of this building is what’s often referred to as a “center hallway” or “center passage.” This architectural style was quite common in the colonial states during the 1700s and 1800s for several reasons. The design allowed the house to have a more open plan and provided a great deal of flexibility for the family that inhabited it. The style has also been revered for its aesthetic appeal and efficient space utilization.

 

To give you a clear idea: a double doorway opens to a center hallway, with stairs leading up to common rooms on either side. At the very top of the stairwell are three original bedrooms and a bathroom. From the same center hallway, some stairs also lead down to the basement. This original section of the basement has a granite foundation large enough to walk on, and there’s a walk-out door leading to the pool and spa area of the current grounds. The center section, which includes our lobby area, the large country kitchen, and a few additional bedrooms, was likely added sometime before 1930.

Legend has it that around the 1890s, the octagon wing was added, and the property was converted into an inn. This octagon wing is only two stories and includes just a couple of rooms; originally, it was intended for the staff dining room, the cook’s room, and sundry storage.

A Legacy of Cherished Owners & Special Guests

Through the 1930s, the inn was known as the “Bybrook Lodge,” as the property was near Kearsarge Brook, and Cranmore Mountain Resort was still in the early stages of development under Harvey Dow Gibson, an affluent businessman from North Conway. This resort would later become a big part of the inn’s story.

In 1938, the property was conveyed to Richard W. Flanders, his wife Eleanor, and his grandmother, Susan F. Flanders; they paid just $9000 for the Bybrook Lodge, which was an excellent deal at the time! The sellers were Martin and Almira D. Schoonman. Susan Flanders gave the property to her grandson Richard to operate, and soon after he began running things, his wife Eleanor suddenly passed away. Greatly saddened by her passing, he remained resilient and continued building up the inn at the same time as Cranmore Mountain was becoming an exciting destination for skiing and snowmobiling.

 

Then in the summer of 1939, Babe Ruth came to North Conway for a golf tournament, and the story goes that during an unexpected rainstorm, Mr. and Mrs. Babe Ruth and their daughter, Julia, were introduced to Flanders. Richard Flanders married Julia Ruth in 1940; the wedding was written about in TIME Magazine, and the bride’s father was happily present; he even presented his daughter with one of his old bats! He’d also find himself coming to stay at his daughter’s inn every once in a while – Room 2 was his favorite, and to this day, it still displays the original furniture from when he visited!

 

Also in 1940, Mr. Flanders filed a name change to rename the inn to its current moniker, the Cranmore Mountain Lodge. He and Julia lived at the inn for several years; during this time, they added the dining room extension, a fireplace in the common room, a chimney and fireplace, and other features including bookshelves and furniture.

Sometime in 1954, the property was sold to William F. and Mary R. Sheehan; they also had a young daughter, Loretta, who’d grow up at the Inn as her parents ran things. The Sheehans would own the inn for several years, until selling it to Paula and Stafford Young in 1965. However, they’d continue to visit for the next 20 or so years!

 

When the Youngs took over and moved in, they also brought their three sons, Peter, Christopher, and Timothy. Stafford Young and his family mostly operated the inn during the wintertime, converting the original barn to a bunkhouse for youth groups to use during their ski vacations. Eventually, they began offering snowmobile rides. Stafford also built the new animal barn and repositioned the pond. From the new barn, they were able to offer horse riding lessons for local youth.

Words from a Former Owner

In 2016, Peter Young, the youngest son of owners Stafford and Paula Young, was able to verify many of the historical tidbits by providing his memories of his years growing up at Cranmore Mountain Lodge:

“We boys lived in Room 8 at the NW corner. We used the two bedrooms and bath. In the laundry area, there was a bunk for the ski bums that helped out in the winter. My parents used the bedroom above the living room (Room 7). They bought the house (879 Kearsarge Road sold to the Youngs by Merrill H. Taber and Annie C. Taber) in 1970 I think. Arthur Wilms (both he and his wife were artists and good friends with my parents) had installed a concrete goldfish pond directly east of the granite retaining wall that my dad built. Unfortunately, it (concrete goldfish pond) heaved with frost and was never much good for anything but a burn pit. My father made a concrete dam and put in a larger pond that he used to put brook trout in.”

“I got a horse for my 12th birthday. We kept it at the lodge in the summer. We built a corral north of where the horse barn is. I boarded it at Nestle Nook Inn in Jackson, I cleaned stalls two weekends a month to help pay board. We built the barn a year later. Peter Gray owned North Country Produce and ran Pacers [a standard-bred horse that is used for pacing in harness racing]. Mr. Gray gave us a retired one and another that would not pace. We also had an albino horse and a pony for a while.”

 

“My dad worked for Lloyd Drew for a summer to get some construction experience prior to building the new animal barn. We boys helped out. We would help Sonny Lynch's hay fields up in Bartlett in exchange for hay. I was horribly allergic to hay. That was no fun. We boarded horses sometimes. I gave riding lessons. I was the president of the local 4H horse club.”

“Whit Duprey was the one that converted the original cow barn to a dorm. He also put in the existing pond to help with the constant Alder migration south. There was a day and overnight camp, Hidden Acres at Cranmore Mountain Lodge for two summers, perhaps in 1971 and 1972. Also, I think maybe six boys from NY and MA would stay for a month, and some local boys also on a daily basis. In 1973 there was a camp for special needs campers. Charlie Bond owned Carroll County Hardware and lived North West kind of across from the Taber house (879 Kearsarge Rd) in the old Pope house. His wife Sue had a camp there for two years but it became too popular and they needed more space. She rented from Cranmore Mountain Lodge for a year.”

One other important development that occurred during the Young’s ownership was they established the connection with the Mount Washington Valley Theatre Company; in 1970, the inaugural season, the Youngs hosted and welcomed summer stock actors and technical staff, which included future Academy Away winning Geena Davis, as well as future Academy Award nominees David Strathairn and John Sayles.

Keeping Things Fresh and Up to Date

The Young family ran the inn until 1977, before transferring ownership to Bob and Dawn Brauel. The Brauels were quite busy during their ownership tenure; they redecorated almost every room in the main house, added four rooms to the loft of the original barn building, and added numerous other amenities and features including the swimming pool, Jacuzzi, tennis court, basketball court, and even groomed the pond for ice skating. They remained open year-round and continued the Young’s tradition of offering snowmobile rides to winter guests. During the Brauel’s tenure, the inn also often served as a headquarters for the judges and officials for the Volvo International Tennis Tournament, which was held at Mount Cranmore from 1975 – 1984.

 

In 1986, Dennis and Judy Helfand purchased Cranmore Mountain Lodge from the Brauels and moved in with their two young sons, Aaron and Daniel. The Helfands did a lot of major redecorating, but perhaps their greatest achievement was bringing numerous modernities and quality-of-life improvements to the inn, such as private guest bathrooms, fire alarm, and sprinkler systems, a paved parking lot, auxiliary electric heating, ceiling fans, in-room phones, storm windows, and many, many more. They’re even responsible for the Lodge’s first website, email address, and phone number! They truly helped to bring the Lodge into the modern era without compromising any of its storied history and charm.

They also made sure to strengthen the existing connection with the Mt. Washington Valley Theatre Company by welcoming the cast and crew, along with their families, to the inn. Many opening night parties were held at Cranmore Mountain Lodge, and Judy Helfand eventually served on the board of directors for the theater company! 

 

The Helfands were also honored to play host to John F. Kennedy, Jr., during March of 1991. Young Mr. Kennedy was in town with one of his Brown University fraternity brothers; they checked in late, and the reservation was in the fraternity brother’s name. The next morning at breakfast, Mrs. Helfand happened to be talking with the two guests and sensed something familiar about one of the young men. After inviting them to dinner later that evening, she learned that she had been chatting with none other than JFK, Jr! For the record, the next year Mr. Kennedy tried to return to Cranmore Mountain Lodge, but there was no room available at the inn.

The Cranmore Mountain Lodge Through Today

In 1997, the Helfands decided to sell Cranmore Mountain Lodge to Natalie and Garrett Blake. With their background in banking, culinary arts, real estate development, and general construction, they were ecstatic to further improve the Lodge. During their years of ownership and management, one of their most exciting changes was covering the 40ft swimming pool and making it available to guests year-round. They also added laundry rooms for guests and converted the 40-bed bunk house into three ground-floor suites, also adding a patio deck off the main dining room. 

 

In December 2001, Cranmore Mountain Lodge was sold to owners Kevin and Jean Flanagan. During their tenure, they brought many technical enhancements to the inn including the design and installation of a VoIP phone system, allowing the inn to sell private calling cards for long-distance calls, as well as the installation of a wireless intranet network with web access for guests. Additionally, they began offering certain “pet-friendly” accommodations. The Flanagans also continued the tradition of having farm animals for the guests to enjoy, making sure the barn was always freshly painted and updated.

 

In December of 2006, the Flanagans sold the inn to Thierry and Frederique Procyk; however, the house at 879 Kearsarge was not part of the sale. With their three children, the Procyk family held down the fort at Cranmore Mountain Lodge until 2021. As of 2024, Cranmore Mountain Lodge is owned and operated by Shirley Chu.