Historic photograph 
Detail from the c. 1905 map of "Paul Smith's Adirondack Park" From the
Glover Cottage (No. 10 on the c.1905 map of "Paul Smith's Adirondack Park"), built c. 1890, is the center cottage in the row of gambrel-roofed Paul Smith's Cottages. It is also the smallest of the three cottages. Due to almost continuous occupancy since the 1940s by Paul Smith's College presidents and other administrators, Glover Cottage has experienced the best maintenance and also the most change over the years.
Glover Cottage is a symmetrical 2-1/2 story, gambrel-roofed frame building, with three prominent pedimented dormers, each with paired six-over-one double-hung sash windows cut into the gambrel roof which overhangs the first story. Its gambrel form is unusually broad, three bays in each direction. The attic of both gambrels has a cameo window with many small rectangular panes. The veranda, which spanned the full front of the house, has been removed, making the cottage look smaller and exaggerating the irregularity of its set-back. The central Dutch door has narrow, leaded-glass sidelights above wooden panels, framed by shouldered architrave molding and a heavy molded cornice at the level of the second story overhang. Windows are six-over-one sash of the same size, with the exception of those in shallow bays on either side of the central entry. Each bay features a slightly larger central sash window flanked by two very narrow ones. Shingle siding below the bays tapers into the wall at the foundation line. The foundation is stone and mortar, and the roof is an asphalt replacement. The remnant of the veranda on the east side of the building has been enclosed with narrow, single-pane casements. A small deck has been added to the north corner of the west facade, and three small casement windows have replaced a sash window above the deck. A non-contributing, detached, double-bay garage with overhead doors, is located to the rear (east) of the house.
Although repeated interior renovations have concealed, if not removed, some of Glover Cottage's original character, its basic character-defining features remain largely intact. The original center hall floor plan remains intact, including a living room with fireplace, dining room, library, kitchen and bath on the first floor, and four bedrooms (one with a fireplace) and a bath on the second. Woodwork and wainscotting are largely intact throughout.
Glover Cottage, the smallest of the three cottages, was apparently built c. 1890. It had five bedrooms, two baths, living room, dining room, kitchen, two beautiful fireplaces, and porches all around. In 1894, the opening date for the hotel was June 15th. On this day, C. C. Glover of Washington, D. C., was listed as an early arrival, along with Dr. Trudeau, William G. Rockefeller, H. M. Twombly and the Robert Hoes. 1
Charles Carroll Glover was a Washington, D. C., financier, who became the chairman of the board of Riggs National Bank in 1921 and retained the position for many years. He "...inaugurated and successfully carried through Congress projects for establishing of Rock Creek, Potomac and Zoological parks, the erection of the P.E. Cathedral, the American U. buildings, the new Corcoran Art Gallery and other important projects." 2
In the summer of 1926, President Calvin Coolidge, staying at nearby White Pine Camp, used the Glover Cottage at Paul Smith's Hotel as the Summer Executive Mansion, the nation's temporary administration building, from July 7 until September 18. The availability of Glover Cottage may well have been a political favor provided by C. C. Glover. Its use was described in the contemporary press:
On the first floor is a reception room, where Patrick McKenna presides; across the hall is the President's office, containing an open fireplace, a heavy oak desk and a number of comfortable chairs. Other offices are on the same floor. Above, on the second floor, Everett Sanders, secretary to the President, has his offices, and near him are the clerks and stenographers and Edward T. Clark, private secretary to the President. The telephone and telegraph offices are also here.
Two White House telegraphers sit at the key, while another White House attache operates the telephone board . . . [which] is active twenty-four hours. 3
Which cottage was used as the telegraph office staffed by a dozen expert operators, is unknown. "One of the favorite pastimes of the local residents and hotel guests," wrote one historian, "was to congregate on the road above the cottage and watch the president at work through the windows." 4
Comments
Footnotes
1. Collins, Brighton, 108. Her source was an article in a Saranac Lake newspaper.
2. Who's Who in America. Vol. 19, 1936-37, 993.
3. Charles R. Michael.; New York Times Magazine, Sunday, August 1, 1926, 1.
4. Neil Surprenant, "The Great Camp No One Knows", Adirondac. May 1989, 23.
