The Great Camps
The idea of the ‘Great Camps’ began during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when the affluent families of the Industrial Age built summer homes in the Adirondacks of upstate New York. What started as a summer retreat for ‘roughing it’ quickly evolved into elaborate large scale homes where the architecture reflected the surrounding environment. Local lumber and rough hewn timbers, along with indigenous stone, where used to construct the home sites. Many of these homesteads became self sufficient compounds, growing their own food and raising livestock, and were operated by a year-round staff. Often the surrounding neighbors of the Great Camps would share a common lodge, either as a communal meeting location or as a guest home for visitors. The Great Camp lifestyle appealed to those who enjoyed the idea of luxury living in the wilderness.
The Adirondack Great Camps inspired similar sites in the Great Lakes region, the Rockies, and in the Appalachian Mountains. Although very few of the Great Camps today survive as self-contained operations, the desire for the lifestyle persists, and reminders of the Great Camps are evident in the lodges of Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Rainier National Parks.
Sunalei embraces the concept of grand parcels of land and encourages the planning and construction of a main home in the Adirondack Mountain Style. The size of the home sites, known as Homesteads or Camp Lots, are determined by the suitability and lay of the land. While large in size, ranging from 2-7 acres, the sites are designed to remain intact, accommodate entire families, and be passed down to future generations. The Forest at Sunalei continues the tradition of the Great Camps with a communal Lodge and Clubhouse surrounded by spacious homesites-- a grand retreat community in the wilderness.
