Originally part of Albert and Alfred Smiley's Mohonk Mountain House property, the Minnewaska Mountain House, or Cliff House, was built in 1879 overlooking Lake Minnewaska; it could accommodate 225 guests. After managing and developing Mohonk's early growth for ten years, twin Alfred H. Smiley purchased and developed Minnewaska separate from Mohonk, but the brothers exchanged courtesies to each other's guests. A second hotel, Wildmere, accommodated 350 guests. In 1955, Kenneth B. Phillips, Sr., the Minnewaska general manager, bought the property from the Smiley family. Cliff House was abandoned in 1972 due to maintenance costs; it burned to the ground in 1978. Wildmere closed in 1979 and burned to the ground in 1986.