St Johns in the Wilderness - Paul Smiths NY

William G. Distin (1884–1970), an architect of

Saranac Lake, New York Saranac Lake is a village in the state of New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 5,406, making it the largest community by population in the Adirondack Park. The village is named after Upper, Middle and Lower Saran ...

, was an early associate of

Great Camp __NOTOC__ The Great Camps of the Adirondack Mountains refers to the grandiose family compounds of cabins that were built in the latter half of the nineteenth century on lakes in the Adirondacks such as Spitfire Lake and Rainbow Lake. The camp ...

designer

William L. Coulter William Lincoln Coulter (1865–1907) was an American architect who came to Saranac Lake, New York, in the spring of 1896 in an effort to cure his tuberculosis, and stayed to design some of the finest Adirondack Great Camps and Cure Cottages ...

who went on to design a number of Adirondack Great Camps. Born in

Plattsburgh Plattsburgh ( moh, Tsi ietsénhtha) is a city in, and the seat of, Clinton County, New York, United States, situated on the north-western shore of Lake Champlain. The population was 19,841 at the 2020 census. The population of the surrounding ...

, his family moved to Saranac Lake in 1889. After graduation from

Saranac Lake High School Saranac Lake High School is located in the village of Saranac Lake, New York, USA. There are currently about 350 students in grades 9 through 12. It is under the jurisdiction of the Saranac Lake Central School District, whose offices are housed o ...

in 1900, he was hired by William Coulter as a draftsman; his apprenticeship lasted six or seven years. After Coulter's death in 1907, Distin attended

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, graduating in 1910. After a short period in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, working for S. S. Beekman designing houses, he traveled for a time in Europe. Returning to Saranac Lake about 1912, he joined the successor to Coulter's architectural firm, run by

Max H. Westhoff Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

, Coulter's former partner. In 1917, Distin worked for the Army building hospitals in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

After the war, he returned to Saranac Lake to reopen Westhoff's firm, the latter having moved to

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

. In 1920, he designed

Distin Cottage Distin Cottage is a historic cure cottage located at Saranac Lake in the town of Harrietstown, Franklin County, New York. It was built about 1920 and is a two-story, "L" shaped wood frame single-family dwelling with Colonial Revival style det ...

for his father, photographer William L. Distin. ''See also:'' He and his firm, Distin Wilson, designed the ice arena in Lake Placid for the 1932 Winter Olympics. After some smaller commissions for camps on

Upper Saranac Lake Upper Saranac Lake is one of three connected lakes, part of the Saranac River, in the towns of Santa Clara and Harrietstown, near the village of Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks in northern New York. Upper Saranac Lake is the sixth largest lak ...

such as

Camp Intermission Camp Intermission, also known as William Morris House, is a historic Great Camp located on Lake Colby just outside the village of Saranac Lake in the town of Harrietstown, Franklin County, New York. It was built in 1928 for theatrical agent Willi ...

, he designed Camp Wonundra for

William Rockefeller William Avery Rockefeller Jr. (May 31, 1841 – June 24, 1922) was an American businessman and financier. Rockefeller was a co-founder of Standard Oil along with his elder brother John Davison Rockefeller. He was also part owner of the Anaconda ...

in 1934. In 1937 he built "Eagle Nest" at

Blue Mountain Lake Blue Mountain Lake may refer to: * Blue Mountain Lake (Arkansas), a reservoir in Arkansas * Blue Mountain Lake (New York lake), a lake in Hamilton County in the central Adirondacks, New York * Blue Mountain Lake (hamlet), New York, a hamlet in the T ...

for Walter Hochschild, in 1940

Debar Pond Lodge Debar Pond Lodge is a historic Great Camp and national historic district located within the Adirondack Forest Preserve at Duane in Franklin County, New York. The camp was designed by William G. Distin and built about 1940. The main lodge is a r ...

, and in 1948, Camp Minnowbrook, in the same area, for R.M. Hollingshead. There were also seven smaller great camps on Lake Placid, and work on the

Lake Placid Club The Lake Placid Club was a social and recreation club founded 1895, in a hotel on Mirror Lake in Lake Placid, New York, under Melvil Dewey's leadership and according to his ideals. It was instrumental in Lake Placid's development as an internatio ...

. ''Note:'' This includes an
''Accompanying photographs''
/ref> Distin also designed a number of notable churches, including St. John’s in the Wilderness Episcopal Church in Paul Smiths, Saint Barnards Catholic Church in Saranac Lake, Saint Eustace Episcopal Church in Lake Placid, and the Island Chapel, on

. He also designed the replacement of the original

Adirondak Loj The Adirondak Loj (pronounced "Adirondack Lodge") is a historic lodge in North Elba, Essex County, New York. It is near Lake Placid in the Adirondack Mountains. The current facility, located on the shore of Heart Lake, was built in 1927 and i ...

, which burned in a catastrophic fire that swept Essex County in 1903.

References

Further reading