ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION WEEKEND: SUMMER
June 28 – 30, 2019
Join us for our summer 150th anniversary celebration weekend at Mohonk Mountain House. Back in 1869, Albert Smiley purchased 300 acres and a small 10-room inn by the side of a majestic glacial lake. And now, 150 years later, our magnificent Victorian castle continues to thrive. The Smiley family—owners and operators of Mohonk Mountain House since those early days of Albert Smiley—will lead the weekend. Family members will guide guests on hikes and tours, and host special events—including an anniversary reception, a breakfast cookout, archery tournaments, mindfulness sessions, and more. Celebrate with us for a weekend that’s been 150 years in the making as we party like it’s 1869!
Availability is limited. For reservations, please call .
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
FRIDAY, JUNE 28

Welcome Reception with the Smiley Family
5pm
Start off our anniversary weekend with some light refreshments and meet members of the Smiley family in our historic Parlor. Join us for a look back in time as Pril Smiley presents recently discovered film footage from the archives shot in the 1930s by Albert K. Smiley (1883-1964), the nephew of our founder. We’ve put together highlights from over 100 reels of these vintage films to give you a glimpse into the history on our mountaintop.
SATURDAY, JUNE 29

Early Morning Canoe on Lake Mohonk
7:15am
Start of your morning with the beauty and tranquility of Mohonk’s glacial lake. Join Smiley family member Wendy Smiley and Naturalist Michael Ridolfo as they share the history of Lake Mohonk and its lasting impact as an essential experience for every Mohonk guest!
Advanced sign-up is required, limited to 14 participants. For ages 13+.
Smiley Family Breakfast Cookout
8am
Dating back to 1950, breakfast cookouts were hosted across Lake Mohonk at Open Camp or a short hike up Huguenot Drive at Garden Overlook. Relive this tradition and enjoy an ol’ fashioned style breakfast cookout with members of the Smiley family.
Reservations are required. Limited availability. Advanced sign up will begin on 6/11/2019. Weather dependent.
Ruth H. Smiley Memorial Fern Trail Walk
9:30am
Ruth first came to Mohonk in 1936 as a guest and soon after married Keith Smiley. With a master’s degree in horticulture and landscape design from Cornell University, her talents and passions perfectly aligned with Mohonk’s reverence for the natural environment. For the next 50 years she dedicated her time as a horticulturalist, naturalist, nature photographer, and author to highlight the importance of nature stewardship. Join Ruth’s daughter Sandra Smiley for a stroll through the Fern Trail to absorb the history and the art of nature around us.
House History Tour with Robyn Gullickson
11:15am
Accompany Smiley family member Robyn Gullickson on a history tour of the Mountain House. Great for first-time guests and longtime stayers who want to learn more from a family member!

Mindfulness in Minutes with Nina Smiley
12pm
Join Nina Smiley, Ph.D., our Director of Mindfulness Programming and co-author of The Three Minute Meditator and Mindfulness in Nature. She will teach you how to bring meditation into your life.
Please Note: Class is for ages 16+ and space is limited to 24 participants. Please arrive 5 to 10 minutes prior to the start of class.
Archery Tournament: You vs. the Smileys
3:30pm
Join our President Eric Gullickson (great-great grandnephew of our founder) along with his wife Robyn and kids out on the range. Put your target skills to the test in this fun and friendly competition accompanied with prizes!
Ages 13 and up. Limited to 30 people. Closed-toed shoes are required. All participants must go through a 15 minute safety protocol at the beginning of the session. This cannot be repeated if missed.
Tea and Cookies with the Smiley Family
4pm
Indulge in our long standing tradition of afternoon tea and cookies, served by members of the Smiley family.
An Introduction to Mohonk Consultations with Patty Matteson
5pm
Join 4th generation Smiley family member Patty Matteson as she leads an introduction on Mohonk Consultations. This nonprofit organization founded in 1980 by A. Keith Smiley continues to help our regional communities thrive in practical ways, focusing most of its efforts right here in the Hudson Valley. Its mission to foster a clearer awareness of the interrelationship of all life on earth and to find practical means to sustain life. Enjoy a short video that captures the essence of Mohonk Consultations, followed by a Q&A session with Patty.
Barnival!
7:30pm – 10pm
It’s a Carnival at the Barn! — Everyone is welcome! Come out and enjoy an evening of fun with the fantastic one man sideshow David Darwin followed by live music with Smiley family member Sevan Melikyan’s disco band “Fishbowl.” There will be tastings from local food, wine, beer, and spirit vendors, chair massages, a Bounce House, craft expo, games, and even an ice cream sundae bar featuring our signature flavor “Mohonk Mountain Crunch!”
SUNDAY, JUNE 30

Early Morning Walk with Keith Matteson
7:30am
Join 4th generation Smiley family member Keith Matteson for a walk around the property to learn the history of the Granary, buildings of the Mountain House, and Mohonk’s past as a self-sustained community. The walk will also include a visit to our Barn Museum and the remains of the original ice house.
Chamber Music Concert Hosted by Maria Guralnik
10:30am
Rachel Orcutt, an accomplished young artist came to Mohonk to demonstrate the choralcelo, a hybrid of the piano and organ in 1919. She married proprietor Francis Smiley soon after and established a long-standing tradition of musical performances for guests in the Parlor. Today, 4th generation Smiley family member Maria Guralnik, daughter of a concert pianist, continues her grandmother’s musical vision through the annual Festival of the Arts, which celebrates 30 years this summer. Join Maria as she shares the history on Mohonk’s musical arts, featuring live chamber music performed by Yuri Kharenko (violin), Stanislav Orlovsky (cello), Laryssa Krupa (piano), and Catherine Thorpe (soprano).
MEET OUR PROGRAM LEADERS

Pril Smiley
Mohonk Board of Directors and Art Director
Pril Smiley was raised at Mohonk, along with her fourth generation siblings and cousins. As an adult, she balanced her Mohonk involvement with a career in electronic music. While still a student at Bennington College, in 1963, Pril started working at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center in New York City. Following college graduation, she became established as a teacher and administrator at the Center. More notably, she was a pioneering composer—writing electronic music for over forty theatre, film, and dance productions, and serving for six years as Electronic Music Consultant for the Vivian Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Center after it had just opened.
She was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1975. Her electronic compositions continue to be performed internationally.
Meanwhile, on the Mohonk front, Pril was elected to the Mohonk Board of Directors in 1972, and became involved in many facets of the business over the ensuing decades. Currently, she continues her work at Mohonk Mountain House as a member of the Board of Directors and as Mohonk’s Art Director.

Sandra Smiley
Sandra Smiley is a fourth generation Smiley family member and daughter of A. Keith Smiley (former president of Mohonk Mountain House and founder of Mohonk Consultations). Since 1985, she has been a board member of Mohonk Consultations, a not-for-profit sister organization of the Mountain House. Sandra was raised a Quaker at Mohonk, playing in the woods and climbing through the rocks. She moved to California to raise a family and continue her education before returning to Mohonk in the 1970s. From an early age she has had a vast array of jobs at Mohonk, ranging from “relish girl” to summerhouse roof thatcher, to Housekeeping floor supervisor and coordinator of Holistic Way programs. In the outside world, she has worked as supervisor of a residence for developmentally disabled clients and as a counselor for a Marist College program in Danbury Federal Prison. Sandra is dedicated to carrying on the founding Smiley family’s legacy of environmental stewardship and the promotion of dialogue on current social and humanitarian issues. She is committed to living lightly on the Earth so that our grandchildren and their grandchildren have an Earth to live on.

Nina Smiley, Ph.D.
Director of Mindfulness Programming
Nina Smiley, Ph.D. graduated from Vassar College and earned a doctoral degree in psychology from Princeton University. She is co-author of The Three Minute Meditator, Mindfulness in Nature (2017), and the CD Mini-Meditations That Will Enhance Your Life. Nina taught psychology at the University of Maryland and worked at the American Psychological Association. She has studied mindfulness with Jack Kornfield (founder of Spirit Rock Meditation Center), Sharon Salzberg (co-founder of Insight Meditation Society), Joseph Goldstein, and others. Nina’s work has been featured in The New York Times, Real Simple, Shape, Prevention, and O, the Oprah Magazine. She delights in sharing insights about mindfulness meditation and well-being.

Eric Gullickson
President of Mohonk Mountain House
After a 10 year career in journalism and public relations, Eric joined the Mohonk Management team in 2010 as the Director of Hotel Operations. Eric was promoted to General Manager in 2014 and was appointed as Vice President in 2016. Throughout his life, Eric has been involved with the resort in a variety of ways, ranging from seasonal jobs in his teenage years to serving as a member of the Board of Directors in his adult years, giving him a unique perspective on the operation from the inside out.

Wendy Smiley
Wendy Smiley graduated from Springfield College and University of Pennsylvania with degrees in physical education and physical therapy respectively. She practiced as a therapist for 50 years in both Cambridge MA, and the Hudson Valley. From an early age, she became interested in arts and crafts, sharing various skills such as knitting, quilting, felting, candling, doll making, in both structured and informal settings.

Maria Guralnik
Fourth generation Smiley family member Maria Guralnik grew up playing the flute and has wonderful memories of many Mohonk concerts featuring her grandmother, Rachel Orcutt Smiley, at the organ and her father, concert pianist Robert Guralnik. Maria graduated from New York University with a flute performance degree and has a master’s in non-profit organizations from Case Western University launching a career in performing arts management and education. She is the past president of the North American Performing Arts Managers and Agents and served as the general manager of the Van Cliburn Piano Competition in Fort Worth,Texas.
Maria moved back to the Hudson Valley in 2009 to assume a full-time faculty position with Purchase College (SUNY) where she currently serves as Assistant Professor and department chair for the Arts Management and Entrepreneurship program. She is the personal representative for internationally acclaimed concert pianist Frederic Chiu and is the Artistic Director of Mohonk’s annual summer Festival of the Arts, established in 1989 by her parents. Maria is committed to continuing the outstanding legacy of music and the arts at Mohonk. Her husband Sevan Melikyan directs Wired Gallery which is often on-site at Mohonk. Her son Robert is a physics major at Ithaca college who can often be found performing with campus vocal ensembles.

Patty Matteson
Patty Matteson grew up at Mohonk as a fourth generation Smiley family member. Her parents, Rachie S. Matteson and Ben Matteson, supported Mohonk in the last half of the 20th century as Interior Decorator and CEO respectively, among other roles as well. Patty holds a doctorate in Nineteenth-Century American literature from the University of Colorado at Boulder (1996). She has taught in the Boulder Colorado public school system, the University of Colorado at Boulder and Southern Utah University. When she returned from the west in 2004 she joined Sandra Smiley in supporting Mohonk’s sister organization, Mohonk Consultations, as its Administrative Coordinator until 2017. She continues her work today as a board member.
Availability is limited. For reservations, please call .
When you visit for Spring Anniversary Celebration Weekend, your overnight package includes:
- Three meals daily featuring fresh, locally sourced cuisine from our farm-to-table partners
- Daily Guided “House History” Tours of our National Historic Landmark resort
- Ice skating in our open air pavilion
- Yoga, Meditation, and Fitness Classes
- Indoor Heated Pool with underwater music
- Afternoon tea and cookies in our historic Lake Lounge
- Nightly Evening Entertainment
- Special Events and more! See schedule of activities >
A la carte experiences available to overnight guests:
- A full menu of nature-inspired treatments at our award-winning spa
- The Carriage Lounge, featuring a full bar and handcrafted cocktails as well as hyperlocal draft beer and hard cider
- An award-winning wine list in our Main Dining Room