The Farm  Maple Grove House Maple Hill Farm |
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| During the 1880's the Lake Sunapee Area became a very popular summer resort destination area. There were many "grand hotel resorts" around the lake and in the towns nearby. |
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In 1880, the Messer family turned the farm into Maple Grove House, a "summer boarding house" serving the summer visitors to the Sunapee area.
"Summer guests" were taken in after the first major renovation to the house. The central chimney was removed and the second and third floors added. |
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The Messer family vacated their bedrooms and they were rented out to visitors.
The family prepared and served 3 meals each day to the guests and the guests would spend their summer vacation by the lake, playing croquet, enjoying summer theater, fishing and hiking in the beautiful Sunapee area. |
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| Guests would travel from as far away as Washington, D.C. by train then board a steamer boat to cross Lake Sunapee. The Messer's would meet the steamer at George's Mills landing, about 2 miles away, and transport the guests to the "Inn". |
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The official New Hampshire Guide book of 1911 stated that you could stay at Maple Grove House for 1 week and get all your meals for $11.
Maple Grove House continued to serve summer guests up until the 1950's. The entire tourist industry in New London and around Lake Sunapee had been drastically altered by then. |
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| When the Great Depression occurred, there wasn't much money for summers in Sunapee, and the steam boats and hotels began to disappear. The automobile and road building gave the traveling public much greater freedom to get around. The trains stopped running and the steamers were no longer used and all of the grand resort hotels were gone, marking the passage of an era long gone. |
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