The Eastern Slope Inn is a historic hotel at 2760 White Mountain Highway (

U.S. Route 302 U.S. Route 302 (US 302) is an east–west spur of U.S. Route 2 in northern New England in the United States. It currently runs from Montpelier, Vermont, beginning at US 2, to Portland, Maine, at U.S. Route 1. It passes through the states of Verm ...

) in

North Conway North Conway is a census-designated place (CDP) and village in eastern Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,116 at the 2020 census. A year-round resort area, North Conway is the second-largest village within the town ...

, Carroll County,

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. Built in 1926, it is one of the community's most prominent examples of large-scale Colonial Revival architecture, and is historically important as a major element in the popularization of

downhill skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel Ski binding, bindings, unlike other types of skiing (Cross-country skiing, cross-country, Telemark skiing, Telemark, or ski jumping), w ...

in the area. The inn was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1982.

Description and history

The Eastern Slope Inn stands at the northern fringe of the commercial downtown area of North Conway, on the west side of White Mountain Highway, the town's principal thoroughfare. It is a three-story wood-frame structure, with a

hip roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...

crowned at its center by an open

widow's walk A widow's walk, also known as a widow's watch or roofwalk, is a railed rooftop platform often having an inner cupola/turret frequently found on 19th-century North American coastal houses. The name is said to come from the wives of mariners, who ...

. A four-column pedimented

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

projects at the center of the main facade, and single-story porches extend from it to either side; that on the left has been enclosed. The interior features richly decorated public spaces. The hotel was built in 1926. It was designed by Harold E. Mason of

Haynes & Mason S. Wesley Haynes (1892–1983) was an American architect from Massachusetts. Life Wesley Haynes was born in Leominster in 1892. He attended the schools in that town, later moving to Boston to continue his education there. He worked as a d ...

, architects of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, with apparent inspiration from the Mount Vernon estate in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. It was the third hotel on the site, the first two (dating to 1864) having succumbed to fire. Originally the Hotel Randall, it was purchased in 1937 by

Harvey Dow Gibson Harvey Dow Gibson (March 12, 1882 – September 11, 1950) was an American businessman. Early life Harvey Dow Gibson was born on March 12, 1882, at North Conway in Carroll County, New Hampshire. He was the son of James Lewis Gibson (1855–1933) a ...

, a native of North Conway, who was by then president of Manufacturers Trust Company of New York. Gibson added the hotel to the Manufacturers Trust's National Hotel Management Company (NMH) range of hotels, which was then overseen by hotel pioneer

Ralph Hitz Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...

. The hotel was renamed the Eastern Slope Inn as part of a larger effort to promote

in the area. Gibson developed the nearby

Cranmore Mountain Resort Cranmore Mountain Resort, operating in the summer as Cranmore Mountain Adventure Park, is a ski area located in North Conway, New Hampshire, United States. It began operations in 1937, and was owned until 1984 by the Schneider family. During the ...

into one of the most successful ski areas of the time, and used the Eastern Slope Inn as a year-round facility. In 1977 the inn was purchased by Eastern Mountain Sports and converted into a retail establishment. As part of this conversion many of the public spaces were altered to accommodate retail functions. Around 1982 it was sold to an ownership group, which has rehabilitated the property and converted it back into a hotel.

References

External links

Official Eastern Slope Inn website
{{NRHP in Carroll County, New Hampshire Hotels in New Hampshire Buildings and structures in Carroll County, New Hampshire Hotel buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in New Hampshire Hotel buildings completed in 1926 Colonial Revival architecture in New Hampshire National Register of Historic Places in Carroll County, New Hampshire North Conway, New Hampshire

Description and history

See also

References

External links