 Built as a summer home from 1890-95 by lumber and ice baron Albert Lewis (1840-1923), Bischwind celebrates its 25th year as a bed and breakfast. People often ask the origin of the mansion’s name, which is derived from the German language, meaning gentle zephyr, or small breeze. As one sits on the terrace overlooking the Bear Creek waterfall, that small breeze adds to the serenity of the moment.
With its noteworthy history, visitors who breakfast in the Presidential Dining Room might find two presidents and an inventor nudging them at the table. Known as Mokawa Inn, or Castle in the Wilderness, the grand estate hosted Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, and Igor Sakorsky, inventor of the helicopter. The estate was built strategically on a hilltop overlooking a waterfall created by a timber and crib dam that blocks the Bear Creek, forming Bear Creek Lake.
Lewis’s first wife, Elizabeth (Lizzie) Crellin (1853-1885), died of tuberculosis. Legend has it that her death occurred in a gazebo known as the Glass House. The gazebo sat on Top Knot, a mountain directly across from the Mokawa Inn, with a commanding view of the dam and Bear Creek Village.
Lewis’s second wife, and the Castle’s gracious hostess, was Lily (1868-1950), an English lady. He first saw Lily while traveling in England and, at first sight, confided to a companion, “That’s the woman I’m going to marry.” Three children were born to them: Albert, Jr., Hugh (aka Dick), and Lily (aka Wiffy). Albert, Jr., met an early death “in a loky accident” on the Beaupland Track. Dick’s first wife was the Flagler heiress of the fabled Florida family who owned the still-elegant Breakers Hotel. This marriage terminated in divorce and Dick continued to live in the house called The Cabin, built at the rear of the lake. Dick later married Helen Brown and had a beautiful daughter, Ann, who is an able and respected real estate agent in Wilkes-Barre.
Wiffy married her first cousin at an early age. Unfortunately, he died in a boating accident shortly thereafter. Her second husband was Colonel Seneff, and this union ended in divorce. Wiffy was an accomplished horse woman, following in her father’s footsteps.
Albert, Sr., expertly drove a coach pulled by four horses and often delivered guests to the Glen Summit Hotel from his home in the village.
The central portion of the Mokawa Inn burned in 1922 and was rebuilt under the supervision of architects Inns and Levy. It has been told by Mr. Ken Hauck that the fire was started by sunrays passing through a paperweight laid upon the master’s desk. Brave workers bucketed water from the lake and put out the blaze. Fortunately, the Tiffany transoms in the Presidential Dining Room were saved and reset.
Another magnificent feature of the dining room is the double chimney, bisected by a large, beveled glass window. Many visitors mistake it for a painting and are in awe of the construction, with its lamb’s ear cut stone. The grand entry, with hand-hewn chestnut beams, a massive fireplace, French doors, and a doubled back staircase, create an aura of a hunting lodge.
What is now the Crystal Room, with Austrian chandeliers, was originally the Ballroom. A detailed frieze ornaments the upper walls and unusual hand-leaded paned doors accent the room. A white Greek columned fireplace dominates the space. The Ballroom, which has gone through many metamorphoses, is now a gathering place for parties; chair covers and satin bows add to the luxurious perspective. Austrian shades are removed during the summer months for viewing of the terrace, pool, dressage arena, and the lake, framed by gigantic pendulous pines.
In 1959, Barbara and Alfred (Doc) Von Dran purchased Bischwind, beginning a love affair with its restoration. Their story began when they drove to an affair on the mountain with realtor George Bell. They passed an over-grown and tattered mansion with a “For Sale” sign teetering precariously above surrounding scrub.
“This house has been on the market for seven years with no takers. The word is you cannot heat it,” said Bell.
Barbara and Doc soon became the owners of the biggest white elephant on the mountain. “Jumbo” had a sieve-like roof, non-functioning furnaces, and some siding with ends bent toward the middle. The underlying
structure, however, had dinosaur bones formed from hand-hewn beams of gigantic dimensions.
Doc’s mother, Amelia, came to help and stayed for a month. When she left, Barbara sat down on the entry hall steps and asked herself, “Will I ever manage this house, three children, and a job and complete a bachelor’s degree?.”
They bought their first pony, a Shetland blond stallion named Taffy, continuing with the Trakehner breed (German warm-blood horses).
In 1986, the couple converted its historic treasure from a family home into a bed and breakfast, and, 17 years ago I, and my husband, Ralph, assumed the ownership and responsibility of managing Bischwind. Each day, the couple strives to enhance Bischwind and plan to continue sharing our historic bed and breakfast long into the future. Bischwind Bed and Breakfast is located at 1 Coach Road, in Bear Creek. For more information, visit www.bischwind.com. For reservations, call (570) 472-3820.
Bear Creek Village & Albert Lewis
Bear Creek Village evolved in the 19th and early 20th centuries as a company town, designed to support industrial activities as well as the lifestyle of Albert Lewis.
Since his industrial enterprises were located in a rather remote area, it was necessary to provide living accommodations for workers and required services for his family.
Lewis constructed single dwellings and boarding houses for the immigrant workers. In particular, the early company housing types found at Bear Creek reveal a heavy emphasis on the communal boarding of workers, and several early company boarding houses are believed to remain.
The village had its own electric power plant for industrial operations and the community– electric power was free to village residents. In 1903, Lewis incorporated the Bear Creek Water Company to supply water to the community. The village had a general store and, in 1911, Lewis built a Catholic church for the workers. St. Elizabeth’s Catholic Church was formally dedicated on September 7, 1911. In 1913, a one-room schoolhouse was built along White Haven Road for the education of the village’s children.
While certain structures such as the ice plants, ice company office, and boarding house have been destroyed, the resources that remain– the lake and dam themselves, the workers’ houses, store, and chapel, and railroad depot– provide ample opportunity to understand turn-of-the-century life at Bear Creek Village.
Albert Lewis’s original house, the “White House”, was enlarged in 1891 in preparation for his second marriage. It stood on the west side of the lake but was destroyed by fire in the 1950s. Lewis also constructed a boathouse (to hold a 33-foot steamboat transported to Bear Creek by rail), carriage house, and bowling alley for the recreation of his guests and summer residents. A large picnic ground and pavilion were also constructed. By 1895, Lewis’s growing family required more space; as a result, he had Wilkes-Barre contractors Monks and Shepard construct a large new home, known as the Mokawa Inn. This mansion was sided with hemlock bark shingles, which were also used on many of the Lewis estate’s other structures.
It was at the Mokawa Inn that Lewis entertained Teddy Roosevelt in 1910 and 1914 and William H. Taft in June of 1919. On November 7, 1922, a fire destroyed the central portion and south wing. Lewis retained Wilkes-Barre architects Donald F. Innes and Charles L. Levy to reconstruct the home as a Tudor Revival mansion, but lived in the home for only six months before his death in 1923.
Near the Lewis’s home, perched on a high knoll, stood the stately home of Daniel Stull, a business associate who operated the village’s general store. This home was passed on to Arthur L. Stull, who became a partner in the ice business with Lewis. It was later sold to the prominent Reynolds family of Wilkes-Barre, in 1892. Several other large, seasonal residences stood nearby, along Bear Creek Boulevard, on land leased from Lewis.
Bear Creek Village possesses other remarkable monuments to his interests, patronage, and taste. Foremost are Grace Chapel, built by Lewis in memory of his first wife, and the monuments in the adjoining Lewis family cemetery, many designed by the Tiffany Studios of New York City. Together with the bowling alley, boathouse, and other service buildings, these resources present a remarkably complete picture of the world that Albert Lewis created for himself and his family.
More information about the architecture and history of Bear Creek can be found at www.mapcenter.org/community/bcv-history.html.
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