The Mohonk Greenhouse (Mohonk Mountain House)

Mohonk Mountain House begins in 1869. According to the history published by the resort, Alfred Smiley spots the site in September of that year and his twin brother Albert buys a ten-room inn, Stokes Tavern, on the shore of Lake Mohonk; the hotel opens in June 1870 with room for forty guests. Albert Smiley is described as a passionate gardener. An archive post written in 2021 by a family descendant says that in 1888 he turned a steep slope into a formal garden of nearly twenty acres, with wagonloads of fertile soil; Historic Hotels of America dates the first gardens to the 1880s and today describes a garden of about five acres.

The present greenhouse continues that tradition: the resort presents it as the place where its award-winning gardens get their start. The available landmarks are recent. In 2013 a Chronogram article notes a grounds team of ten at high season, three of them in the greenhouse; in 2016 the local press quotes Mohonk's greenhouse manager. The official page, modified in July 2026, lists it as open year-round on weekdays, and the resort, a National Historic Landmark since 1986, offers seasonal tours there led by its gardeners.

The photograph the resort publishes on the greenhouse page (uploaded in May 2025) shows a greenhouse with glazed walls and glazed roof slopes on a light frame, standing near two shingled buildings, one of them fronted by a tall free-standing chimney; to the right, a growing tunnel with a dark covering completes the group. OpenStreetMap maps the group under the name "Mohonk Greenhouses", in the plural, with a footprint of about 880 m²: that figure comes from the outline, not from a greenhouse area published by the resort. Mohonk places it a short walk from the Mountain House, the hotel's Victorian mountain castle, and near the Victorian garden, which puts the production site right beside the beds it supplies.

The official page presents the greenhouse as the place where "our award-winning gardens get their start": the plants meant for the resort's plantings are therefore prepared there. The resort sells plant, succulent and cactus arrangements there in place of floral arrangements, and a neighbouring Garden Shop offers seasonal plants and gifts.

Historic Hotels of America describes, for today's Mohonk, an annual Victorian Show Garden of 72 themed beds, a historic rose garden, perennial borders and seasonal displays. In spring the Tulip Festival shows more than 30,000 tulips in the Victorian Show Garden (the day-pass page speaks of 40,000: the figures differ); in 2019, for the resort's 150th anniversary, 20,000 bulbs were planted. A Garden Holiday week at the end of summer offers, among other things, workshops on bouquets and flower crowns.

The greenhouse stands a short walk from the Mountain House and near the Victorian garden, so it is naturally visited together with the garden, the Garden Shop and the resort's trails. Mohonk is private property. Entry requires an overnight stay or a day pass; the greenhouse is listed among the places included in the Summer Sports and Hiking Trail passes, and the hiking pass page specifies that parking is at the gatehouse, about 2.2 miles from the main building, from which visitors continue on foot. The greenhouse is open on weekdays only, with no appointment needed.

The garden's highlights are the Tulip Festival (26 April to 7 May 2027) and the late-summer Garden Holiday week (29 August to 3 September 2027). In winter, according to the resort, a greenhouse visit offers a warm break between walks in the cold.