As 2014 drew to a close, a Skaneateles landmark celebrated 40 years of revitalization. It was 1974 when a new owner purchased the Sherwood Inn. He re-opened the shuttered property, and started a series of massive renovations, restoring it to its former glory. Candace Hopkins has a look back at that transformation.
SKANEATELES, N.Y. -- It seems Skaneateles' Sherwood Inn has always been here, an anchor of the community.
And it basically has.
Historians say the inn was built around 1807, a full 26 years before the village was incorporated. The first owner, Isaac Sherwood, opened the inn to cater to weary stagecoach travelers.
"He wanted to have a spot where people could stop, get off, rest, and that's what they did here," said Sam Mason, the current general manager of Sherwood Inn.
With that, a vibrant inn was born. It flourished despite the construction of the Thruway bypassing Skaneateles, and remained open through 11 owners.
In 1918 it even served as a hospital during a flu epidemic. But by the early 70s, there was a plan to tear down the historic building and replace it with a Holiday Inn.
But local residents fought back.
A group called the "Seven Dwarfs" purchased it and ran it themselves for several years.
"They saved the inn, but they couldn't revive the inn, so they closed it, put a for sale sign out," Mason said.
Syracuse native Bill Eberhardt was working in the restaurant business and was restoring an old farm house in Skaneateles in his spare time.
One day he noticed the for sale sign while driving through the village. He purchased it in 1974, but wasn't prepared for what he found inside.
"It was dilapidated, deferred maintenance for many, many, many years, and in very, very bad condition," Eberhardt said.
But Eberhardt wasn't deterred.
He started by renovating the bar and restaurant portions, and went to work on the inn's rooms a year later. But with each renovation, he has been careful updates haven't meant altering the soul of the building.
"If you look around it's all original antiques, everything in here is antiques, every room that we have is individually designed, it's not a cookie cutter stamped out," Mason said.
"There are not a lot of these left, they've either gone their own demise, or been torn down and replaced," said Eberhardt.
But it survived, and staff pride themselves on its upscale but inclusive atmosphere.
"Going back to Issac Sherwood's first vision of an inn, where people could come in, and get refreshed, in the company of others, and that's what we are here now, you can come in, eat, there's all walks of life here," Mason said.
In a storied building that has withstood the test of time.
"History is important and tradition is important and that's a lot of the reason people come here, because some of their communities, they've lost that, and this truly is a walking, restored, historic community," Eberhardt said.