Excerpts from "The Great Camps of the Adirondacks"by Harvey H. Kaiser

It is generally agreed that the first camps were more or less impromptu constructions. As with the development of other architectural styles, the Great Camps did not spring from any single source. Unspoiled nature, a hunger for greater privacy in the deep woods, ready availability of materials, and ample wealth to command absolute comfort mingled to produce the unique character of the Great Camps. A journalist in 1908 wrote: 'The architectural perfection that is apparent in the Adirondack camps of the finer class is due, in great measure, to the artistic principle of suiting a design to its use and to its situation.

An architecture expressing a special approach to natural surroundings was created through deliberate choices in the building site, materials, and the imaginative incorporation of rustic design features. Because the special character of early camp building was quickly recognized as appropriate to the Adirondack environment, a regional style soon developed.

Top: An exterior at Camp Kill Kare. Bottom: Precisely cut log sheathing at Wildair, the earliest of the permanant St. Regis camps.

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