Ron Resden's Photo Archives (Set 01) of the Sunset Hill House Resort
Bob Jensen at Trinity University 

In Summer of 2017 a friendly stranger walked up our drive
He introduced himself as Ron Resden, a gunsmith from Guildhall, Vermont
He recalls both the old iron mine of Sugar Hill, NH and the 1880 Sunset Hill House Resort that was torn down in 1974

Our cottage sits where the main hotel of the 1880 SHH Resort was located
I previously wrote about the history of this resort
Scroll down to Cottage History at
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Pictures.htm

When he departed Ron Resden left me with a CD containing many pictures of the former SHH Resort
I will now share Set 01 of Ron's pictures, most of which are taken from historic post cards
In a couple weeks I will then share Sets 02 and 03 of the pictures he gave to me
The current Inn at Sunset Hill is a small hotel today that was the former Annex where the employees of the SHH Resort slept
Today's Inn at Sunset Hill has about 24 rooms. The demolished SHH Resort Hotel could sleep over 300 guests 1880-1973
Most guests in the early years arrived by horse carriage from the train depots in Sugar Hill and Lisbon
Before the days of air conditioning guests came for long visits to escape the heat and foul air of the big cities

In the early years there was no refrigeration
The SHH Resort produced nearly all of the fresh meat, vegetables, and eggs for guest meals
There was a separate casino, bowling alley, golf course, and tennis courts
A swimming pool was added decades later
This summer resort was closed in the harsh winter months of the White Mountains of New Hampshire

The following picture was taken in 1920

The highest mountain of the left is the second-highest mountain in New Hampshire --- Mt. Lafayette
You can also see the V-shaped "notch" known as Franconia Notch bordered on the right by Cannon Mountain
Franconia Notch later became a New Hampshire State Park

Ron Resden states:
"Some amazing woodwork in the bowling alley not done today. Not unlike what you see in the pro shop on the golf course."

My small barn is a small building beside the bowling alley
That building was once the power house that generated electric power for the SHH Resort

Our cottage (Cottage 3) at one time was the club house for the golf course and (later) the tennis courts
Years after it was converted into a summer cottage before being moved in 1977 to where the red arrow points
In 1974 most of the resort buildings were demolished, incuding the big hotel

Cottage 3 (called the Pavilion) was moved to the site of the old hotel in 1977
In 2005 Erika and I purchased this cottage

I show pictures of the preparation work prior to the moving the cottage and its four fireplaces
     http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/CottageHistory/OldSite/Set01/Set01.htm

Next I show pictures of the move to the new site along with its four fireplaces
     http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/CottageHistory/NewSite/Set01/Set01.htm 

Next I show the pictures of a 1980 spectacular fire on one of the remaining three cottages
www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/CottageHistory/Fire/FireSet01.htm

This is our cottage today (with it's added garage and master bedroom) and deep basement

Many years ago there was an iron mine tunneled into Ore Hill, The mine is now boarded up
Iron Ore was hauled by pack mules down to a smelter in Franconia Village
The high grade iron was then fabricated into high quality Franconia Stoves
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/2007/Tidbits070924.htm

This is a part of Ore Hill as seen from our living room (slightly zoomed)
Natural springs on Ore Hill provided the SHH Resort water and still provide water for the smaller Inn on Sunset Hill

Below is a picture of hotel guests enjoying a warm summer day in 1962
The brown Cottage 1 visible below still stands as a home
Cottage 2 behind the tree near the pool burned down
www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/CottageHistory/Fire/FireSet01.htm

Concerning the photograph of the pool below Ron Resden states:
"This photo was taken in the summer of 1962 and I was in the little shack washing dishes that day while
the photographer was setting up. I can name 9 of the people in the photo if that’s any value to you or history of the SHH."

This is a close up of Cottages 1 and 2 from the north side in 1933
Guests in the cottages shared all hotel privileges with guests inside the big hotel

The aerial photograph below was taken before there was a swimming pool

This golf club house eventually replaced Cottage 3 as the golf house
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/GolfCourse/GolfCourseSet01.htm

The picture below with the cottages on the right and the hotel on the left was taken before there was a swimming pool

This picture shows the hills (not mountains) to the north in 1929
The picture was taken from the Lookoff Hotel lawn above the SHH Resort
Some barns of the SHH Resort were not yet torn down

The four big resort hotels in Sugar Hill are all gone now
Air conditioning and newer highways into the White Mountains spelled doom for these big resorts served by railroads

One surviving SHH Resort building after the demolition in 1974 was the Annex for SHH Resort Employees

This is the Annex used for employees of the SHH Resort. After most of the resort was demolished this became the Inn at Sunset Hill

In the 1980s the Annex was remodeled and is now a small hotel known as the Inn at Sunset Hill
http://www.innatsunsethill.com/

Video
The Inn on Sunset Hill (just down from our cottage) ---
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5cqUX0LcbU&t=9s

Set 01 of my cottage pictures --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/NHcottage/NHcottage.htm
Set 02 inside the cottage --- http://www.cs.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/2009/Tidbits090723.htm
Set 03 inside the cottage --- www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/Cottage\Inside/Set03/Set03InteriorCottage.htm 
Set 04 inside the cottage --- http://www.cs.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/Cottage\Inside/Set04/Set04InteriorCottage.htm  
Photographs of Putting a New Rubber Roof Under Our Widow's Walk
http://cs.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/CottageHistory/WidowsWalk/WidowsWalk.htm

Indoor  Plants --- http://www.cs.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/IndoorPlants/IndoorPlantsFavorites.htm
Amaryllis --- http://www.cs.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/2008/Tidbits080212.htm   

The Inn on Sunset Hill (just down from our cottage) ---
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5cqUX0LcbU&t=9s

Sunset Hill House Resort History Set 01 ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/CottageHistory/Hotel/Brochure/Brochure1900.htm 

Historic Photographs (Set 01) of the Sunset Hill House Resort Shared by Gunsmith Ron Resden from Vermont
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/Resden/01ResdenSHH.htm
 

After the Sunset Hill House Resort was nearly all demolished in 1974, our cottage (before it was ours)
was moved in 1977 from the golf course across a tennis court and up to where the former hotel site.
I show pictures of the preparation work prior to the moving the cottage and its four fireplaces
     http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/CottageHistory/OldSite/Set01/Set01.htm

Next I show pictures of the move to the new site
     http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/CottageHistory/NewSite/Set01/Set01.htm 

Next I show the pictures of a 1890 spectacular fire on one of the remaining three cottages
www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/CottageHistory/Fire/FireSet01.htm

Iron Ore --- http://www.cs.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/2007/Tidbits070924.htm

Sunset Hill House Hotel:  The American Dream ---
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/SunsetHillHouse/SunsetHillHouse.htm

Part 1 of the History of the Homestead Inn Torn Down in 2015
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/Hotels/Homestead/Set01/Set01.htm

Part 2 of the History of the Homestead Inn
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/Hotels/Homestead/Set02/Set02.htm 

More of Bob Jensen's Pictures and Stories
http://facuolty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Pictures.htm

Blogs of White Mountain Hikers (many great photographs) ---
http://www.blogger.com/profile/02242409292439585691

Especially note the archive of John Compton's blogs at the bottom of the page at
http://1happyhiker.blogspot.com/

Question
Are there trails in our White Mountains of New Hampshire that have ice in summer as well as winter?
See "The Ice Gulch, Would I do it Again" by John Compton, August 5, 2011 ---
http://1happyhiker.blogspot.com/2011_08_05_archive.html

Okay, you might ask, is there really ice in the Ice Gulch, even in August? Yes, there is! The next photo shows one small patch of ice. There were many larger patches, but they were at the bottom of some of those deep gaps that I mentioned above. I took some photos, but none of them really turned out, even with using a flash to illuminate these dark, dank, deep spots.

 White Mountain News --- http://www.whitemtnews.com/

On May 14, 2006 I retired from Trinity University after a long and wonderful career as an accounting professor in four universities. I was generously granted "Emeritus" status by the Trustees of Trinity University. My wife and I now live in a cottage in the White Mountains of New Hampshire ---
http://facuolty.trinity.edu/rjensen/NHcottage/NHcottage.htm

Bob Jensen's Blogs --- http://facuolty.trinity.edu/rjensen/JensenBlogs.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called New Bookmarks --- http://facuolty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called Tidbits --- http://facuolty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called Fraud Updates --- http://facuolty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm
Bob Jensen's past presentations and lectures --- http://facuolty.trinity.edu/rjensen/resume.htm#Presentations   

Our address is 190 Sunset Hill Road, Sugar Hill, New Hampshire
Our cottage was known as the Brayton Cottage in the early 1900s
Sunset Hill is a ridge overlooking with New Hampshire's White Mountains to the East
and Vermont's Green Mountains to the West

Bob Jensen's Threads --- http://facuolty.trinity.edu/rjensen/threads.htm

Bob Jensen's Home Page --- http://facuolty.trinity.edu/rjensen/