When it opened in 1902, Briarcliff Lodge was America's premier resort hotel. Located some thirty miles north of New York City, this magnificent Tudor-style building was surrounded by dairy barns and greenhouses, all built by Walter Law, "the laird of Briarcliff Manor." Here, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt were hosted, as were Tallulah Bankhead, Johnny Weissmuller, Jimmy Walker, Babe Ruth, and other luminaries. The hotel business declined in the 1930s, here and at other nearby resorts, but Briarcliff Lodge continued in use as the home of the Edgewood Park School from 1936 to 1954 and as the King's College from 1955 to 1994.
