The Ice House / The Woodshed

The Ice House, also, The Woodshed. . The Ice House , Built in 1903, this building is named for its original function on the estate – storing ice year-round. Large chunks of ice were cut from lake Lacawac and stored in a giant stack inside this building., The lodge is equipped with a vintage walk in ice box. That box was built using local American Chestnut wood which was known to be very resistant to moisture. The box was very well insulated too, with walls over a foot thick. It was serviced by a hand operated crane on the southeast corner of the building (which you can still see today). The crane was used to hoist the large square chunks of ice into a trap door above the kitchen. There it could easily slide to the inside of the lodge along a special wooden shelf where it eventually came to rest inside the top of the ice box where it melted slowly providing cool air to keep the families (sic) perishables cold., Ice was cut and harvested on Lake Lacawac by local farmers hired by the Connells and later the Watres. It was hoisted to the top of the stack by a crane which hung just inside the gable. Inside the ice was kept in tall stacks from floor to ceiling and insulated by covering each layer with saw dust. The building was so tight and the walls so thick and well insulated that blocks of ice would last throughout the whole year. In fact, it was so cold inside, locals often took advantage by hanging their harvested game animals inside the ice house to preserve them throughout the fall and winter and during periods when their beloved family members were not expected., The windows and second interior floor were added in the 1950’s (sic) when the structure was converted to a winter cottage – north country style – to be used by Arthur and Isabel Watres. It was common practice for Adirondack-style estates and such ornate summer vacation homes in Minnesota, Ontario and Maine to have large airy summer houses on the lake and a smaller, heat efficient cabin for the family to retreat to during the cold winter months. Today the Ice House is used to house guests and visiting research scientists., The Woodshed , In the rear of this building is the woodshed where firewood was stacked and stored. The lodge was serviced with fire wood for the 2 fireplaces via an outside door right next to the parlor fireplace chimney. Here, staff could pass cut logs directly through the outside wall and into the wood box built into the interior just adjacent to the fireplace. This way the family never had to go outside to get wood to tend the fire, and the help never had to carry it in through the parlor or dining room thus further maintaining class separations.