KENOZA LAKE — With the anticipated demolition of The Fern Hotel, Kenoza Lake is expected to lose one of its distinctive landmarks. It has been sad to see the deterioration of the building in recent years. 

Now that the dangerous shell of the once stately building is gone, we can remember The Fern as it used to be, a bustling, joyful community meeting place.

When Kenoza Lake was in its heyday—the early 1900s—The Fern was literally at the center of the action. Along with the Kenoza Lake Hotel, The Fern defined “downtown” Kenoza Lake. Overseen by Richard Schoaf, its jolly proprietor, the bar was full of both vacationing New Yorkers and locals drinking and socializing. 

The bowling alleys, built in 1906, competed for patrons with the alleys of DeLap’s Kenoza Lake Hotel, which sat kitty-corner across the street. Upstairs, the rooms held boarders who came for the summer, year after year.

The Fern’s story begins in 1893 when Warren P. Coventry gave up his partnership in the Jeffersonville Cash Store to go into the hotel business. He had his “splendid new hotel” built in a prime location near the lake and called it The Coventry House. The Coventry House opened on June 22, 1893 but was destined to survive only a few years. Coventry had lost the hotel to foreclosure by 1896. He went on to have many other businesses, but even his obituary had to admit that he could not be “rated highly as a business man—too easy going.”

The hotel, next called the Mansion House, was run by several different managers until it was bought by Fred Ludwig and his wife, Emma Hessinger, in 1903. The Ludwigs changed the name to The Fern and ran the hotel successfully for six seasons.  They added the bowling alleys and upgraded the interior with a tin roof and a green and gold decorative scheme in the parlor and dining room. 

The Fern was lively at this time with bowling parties, dinners, and entertainment. One Sunday after church, some visitors from a local boarding house held their version of a religious service in the bar. As reported in the September 13, 1907, Sullivan County Record, “a discourse on the futility of matrimony was delivered by the Wrong Reverend Mr. Sullivan...there were many ‘dead men’ after the ceremony, and Pa Marsh [saw] that the subject should not become too dry.”

In 1908, Richard Schoaf, a Brooklyn bar owner, bought The Fern. He put in a larger bar which he brought from New York, and he was known for inviting his New York bar owner friends to come and spend the summer. 

The old-timers said that Schoaf pumped out enough draft beer from The Fern bar to fill Kenoza Lake.

The Fern played a major role at the yearly Kenoza Lake carnival. Thousands of people would come to watch athletic contests and admire decorated boats on the lake.  The Fern, along with the rest of the town, would lavishly decorate for the occasion. In 1916, “fully 2,000 people attended the carnival and both the Fern and DeLap’s hotels were taxed to their utmost capacity,” according to the Sullivan County Record on August 10, 1916. 

The Fern and the Kenoza Lake Hotel not only provided food and drink but also hosted the dancing contests in their ballrooms that year.

Sadly, Richard Shoaf died on December 30, 1929 at age 54 of acute gastritis and cirrhosis of the liver. The proprietor of The Fern for 21 years, he was a larger-than-life character, well-known for his good nature and big heart. 

After Schoaf’s death, his wife Marie and daughter Harriet continued to run The Fern until Marie’s death in 1948. Marie was appreciated as an exceptional cook who could make a simple dish like stew into a memorable meal. After Marie died, Harriet married Fred Schwenger, and the couple took over operation of the hotel.

When The Fern’s days as a popular hotel had finally passed, Charles and Margo Frank bought the property in 1969, turning it into a restaurant serving German and American cuisine. Charles was an experienced chef, having worked at Gebhardts, a German restaurant in Glendale, Long Island. He touted himself as “a Graduate of Chicago Restaurant Manager School, International Bartender School and the School of hard knocks,” according to the restaurant brochure. The menu featured dishes such as Sauerbraten, $2.75; Pot Roast, $3.75; and Roast Long Island Duckling, $4.25.

Finally, The Fern became a residential facility for adults, owned first by Phyllis and Freddy Fiorillo and then by others. The elderly residents were a common sight rocking on the porch and waving to passersby. However, a fire in the early 1990s extensively damaged the building and hastened the demise of the once-beautiful hotel that holds a proud place in the history of Kenoza Lake.