Glen House

For the estate in the Scottish Borders, see The Glen, Scottish Borders.

Glen House is the name of a series of grand resorts and hotels, dating back to 1852, in Pinkham Notch very near Mount Washington in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, USA.

Glen House in a stereoscopic photograph by the Kilburn Brothers

Stereoscopic photograph of the summit of Mount Washington and the Glen House stage coach by Kilburn Brothers circa 1872. The cog railway line is visible in the background, along with the Summit House atop the peak

Stereoscopic photograph by John B. Heywood of the Glen House and Carter Range near Mount Washington in the White Mountains

Haying scene in front of the Glen House (by John P. Soule)

Stereoscopic image of the drawing room at the Glen House by John P. Soule

Mount Washington from Glen House in a stereographic image by John P. Soule

Stereoscopic image of "Bear at Glen House, White Mountains, N.H." by Bierstadt Brothers

Stereoscopic image of the Glen House with (l-r) Mount Jefferson, Mount Adams, and Mount Madison in the background (by John P. Soule)

Glen House from Mount Washington carriage road

Glen House from base of Mount Washington by John P. Soule

Dining hall

Glen House from Jackson Road

Glen House in a hand colored albumen print

Glen House from the summit of Mount Washington

Glen Ellis Falls on the Ellis River near Glen House

"Garnet Pool" near Glen House; photograph by Joseph L. Bates

History

The completion of the Grand Trunk Railway in 1851 established a route from Portland, Maine, to Gorham, New Hampshire, and brought increased visitors to the area. John Bellows converted a farmhouse into a hotel the same year and then sold it in April 1852 to J. M. Thompson, who renamed it the Glen House and finished work on its rooms. Expanded by 1866, the grand hotel featured views of Mount Washington, Tuckerman Ravine, and the northern Presidential Range. Guests could visit Mount Washington on the newly opened Carriage Road (now the Mount Washington Auto Road) to its summit, visit other natural attractions in the area, or recreate in the hotel's game rooms, parlors, library, listen to an orchestra, dance, play lawn tennis, fish, play croquet, hike, horseback ride, enjoy a guided carriage ride, or take in a theater show. Guests included Albert Bierstadt, and the Bierstadt Brothers captured stereoscopic photographs of scenery in the area including a bear. John P. Soule, G. W. Woodward, Nathan W. Pease, and the Kilburn Brothers also captured stereoscopic images from the area, including mountain landscapes and other scenery as well as some of the grand hotel and its interior spaces. In 1869, Albert Bierstadt discovered hotel proprietor Col. Joseph Mariner Thompson's body down river from his sawmill following a heavy fall rainstorm. Ownership was then taken over by the Milliken brothers. This first Glen House was completely destroyed by a fire in 1884.

Rebuilt and expanded over the next few years, the second Glen House burned again in 1893 and was not rebuilt.

Property ownership was subsequently acquired by the Libby family of Gorham who converted the existing servant's quarters into the third Glen House, a 40-room hotel, that was also destroyed by fire in 1924.

In 1925, a smaller fourth Glen House was constructed, now serving winter sports enthusiasts as well as summer travelers. In March 1967, this hotel also caught fire and burned to the ground.

The fifth Glen House opened at the base of the Mount Washington Auto Road in September of 2018.

Further reading

• The Glen House Book by Charles Milliken (1889)
• The Grand Resort Hotels of the White Mountains by Bryant Tolles