est Milford has an incredibly detailed history, from the earliest iron and ice cutting industries – to farming and turn-of-the-century tourism. On Union Valley Road remains one of Newfoundland’s most beautiful and impressive structures. Of all the hotels that one graced the region, only one, a former resort hotel known as Idylease, remains standing as proof of a once thriving tourism industry. Most new residents (and many older residents) of the township are unaware of the richness of local history or possess only a passing familiarity with it.
I hope this site will inspire younger residents of West Milford to discover the rich local history of the area. For the older residents, it may bring back happy recollections of yesteryear. In either event, perhaps the next time you drive past Idylease, you may pause a moment and view it with a new understanding of it’s contribution to the history of the community.
No part of this web site may be reproduced without the express written permission of the author.
DR. EDGAR ARTHUR DAY: BUILDER OF IDYLEASE
When Dr. Edgar Arthur Day built his resort hotel on land he purchased overlooking the village of Newfoundland in 1902, he named it Idylease from Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King.
NO EXPENSE SPARED IN 1902
The building was constructed during the summer of 1902 and expense was not spared in making it an attractive and homelike
NO EXPENSE SPARED IN 1902
The building was constructed during the summer of 1902 and expense was not spared in making it an attractive and homelike
CUSTOM PRESS THUMBNAIL ACTION.
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A MODERN HEALTH RESORT
The lighting, heating, and plumbing also were the best that could be devised for the time period.
FLEXIBLE / FLUID LAYOUT.
You can control the size of the grid with CSS or JavaScript, basically it has an adaptable layout which makes it the perfect candidate for any type of project.
IDYLEASE INN - 1903
Teddy Roosevelt was President and Orville Wright took to air at Kitty Hawk
VIMEO AND YOUTUBE SUPPORT.
All you have to do is to include the link from YouTube or Vimeo video that you want to display and the lighbox will display and play your video. The size (width and height) of each video can be set easily.
NOTED GUESTS
Read more about Thomas Edison, Mary T. Norton and others.
AMAZING PERFORMANCE ON MOBILE DEVICES.
This grid is using the GPU (hardware acceleration), the rendering speed and performance are impeccable on desktop computers and most importantly on mobile devices.
CONSTRUCTION BEGINS IN 1902
The Inn was built for a group of 11 investors calling themselves The Newfoundland Health Association headed by Dr Edgar Day from Brooklyn, NY in 1902.
LOAD MORE THUMBNAILS FEATURE.
This is an awesome feature which improves the overall performance and speed of loading because in this way not all the thumbnails are loaded and displayed at once. For example if you have a total of 120 thumbnails you can show them in sets of 50 thumbnails, and so initially in the grid the first set of 50 thumbnails are loaded and displayed, and when the "load more thumbnails" button is pressed the next set of 50 thumbnails are loaded and displayed, and finally when the "load more thumbnails" button is pressed again the 20 remaining thumbnails are showed. The number of thumbnails to load per set is customizable, it does not have to be 50 it can be any number that you consider. This feature is optional, if it is disabled all thumbnails are loaded and displayed.
RATES IN 1903
Room rates were from $20-$25 a week
VIMEO AND YOUTUBE SUPPORT.
All you have to do is to include the link from YouTube or Vimeo video that you want to display and the lighbox will display and play your video. The size (width and height) of each video can be set easily.
NEWFOUNDLAND IN STORY & PICTURE
Written in 1904 by J.P. Crayon it chronicals the history of Newfoundland up to the turn-of-the-century.
ZOOM AND PANNING SUPPORT FOR IMAGES.
You can zoom in and out an image and you can pan the image, in this way you can see the image in great detail (optional).
IDYLEASE INN BROCHURE - PDF
Idylease Inn Brochure printed by Pulus Printing Company in Brooklyn, NY in 1904.
1904 HOTEL BROCHURE
Idylease Inn Brochure printed by Pulus Printing Company in Brooklyn, NY in 1904.
SUN PORCH & MUSIC CONSERVATORY
Salient feature popular at the turn of the century
CUSTOMIZABLE SKIN AND COLOR THEME.
The entire color theme can be modified, and also the skin can be replcaed with your own.
TRANSPORTATION
Access was from the Susqehanna Rail Line to the Newfoundland Station. Twenty-Five Cents for carriage from the depot.
CUSTOM TEXT CAN BE ADDED HERE AND FORMATTED WITH CSS.
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IDYLEASE AT THE CREST OF THE HILL
Taken from a hilltop down into he Newfoundland Valley. Brown's Hotel stand at what is the intersection od Green Pond Road & Rt. 23 South
THUMBNAILS DESCRIPTION OR MEDIA ICONS.
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NOTED GUESTS
Idylease attracted the well-to-do and accomplished writers and artists of the day.
THUMBNAILS DESCRIPTION.
each thumb can have a short description with a transparent background under it or a media icon which represents a link, video or image, this are visible when the mouse is over a thumbnail, the text can be formatted with CSS, the background color and opacity also can be modified
ORIGINAL STOCK CERTIFICATE
Issued to Dr. Edgar A. Day who had Idylease built in 1902.
ORIGINAL STOCK CERTIFICATE
Issued to Dr. Edgar A. Day who had Idylease built in 1902.
est Milford has an incredibly detailed history, from the earliest iron and ice cutting industries – to farming and turn-of-the-century tourism. On Union Valley Road remains one of Newfoundland’s most beautiful and impressive structures. Of all the hotels that one graced the region, only one, a former resort hotel known as Idylease, remains standing as proof of a once thriving tourism industry. Most new residents (and many older residents) of the township are unaware of the richness of local history or possess only a passing familiarity with it. 