The Inn at Erlowest, a Queen Anne style Stone Castle, has recently been meticulously transformed from a private residence into a luxurious Four Diamond Inn and Gourmet Restaurant. Originally built in 1898 by Mr. Edward Morse Shepard, it was part of “Millionaires Row” in the Adirondack Park on Lake George in upstate New York. Mr. Shepard, a prominent attorney and politician from Brooklyn was also an author, humanitarian, and vestryman devoted to Saint James Church. The name “Erlowest” was inspired by the hometown of Mr. Shepards’ parents called Westerlow. The Grand Dining room at Erlowest regularly entertained many influential people such as George Foster Peabody, and Spencer & Katrina Trask. Never having married, when Shepard passed on July 20, 1911, he left his beloved Erlowest to his sister, Agnes Hewitt.

During World War I, Agnes invited convalescing officers to enjoy much needed rest and relaxation at her Erlowest home. In 1922, the mansion was leased as a summer home to Nathan Miller, then Governor of New York. Shepards’ niece, Lucy Hewitt, married Russell Cornell Leffingwell, a corporate lawyer and international banker. He also became Assistant Secretary of the Treasury and Board Chairman of J.P. Morgan & Company. The Leffingwell’s lived at Erlowest until the 1960’s, when Mr. Charles “Charlie” Wood bought Erlowest. A local entrepreneur who founded such business ventures as Storytown and Ghostown, (now known as the Six Flags-Great Escape), Charlie was also co-founder of the Double H Hole in the Woods Camp for critically ill children (along with Paul Newman). Mr. Wood sold the Erlowest / Sun Castle to the present owners who have renovated it into a magnificent Inn.