Alberta Lodge
xx Alberta Lane, Freehold
Arloff family - 1924-1940
John & Isabella Singer1950-1979
Erling & Laverne Nelsen - 1979-1992
xxx - 1992-2001
xxx - xx-xx
currently, owned by church but not actively used
This was originally Ernest Slater's father's farm. In 1924 it was bought by Mr. and Mrs. Orloff and given the name Alberta Lodge for their adopted daughter from England. In 1958 it began to be a boarding house under the new owners, the John Singers. Slowly the Singers built and refurnished old buildings. They added a swimming pool in 1953 and later renovated the old barn into the Hay Loft recreation hall. When they sold the Lodge to the Werner Nelsons in 1979, they were taking 100 to 118 guests.
from Linda Murry & Jeannette Rose (daughters of John & Isabella Singer)
… While vacationing in Greenville in 1949, they had a realtor show them places for sale. They often remarked that the first time they drove up the road and saw The Alberta Lodge they fell in love with the house and property.… they bought Alberta on March 17, 1950 …
…When Isabelle and John bought Alberta, they knew that it had not been open for ten years and that there was NO guest list—they had to build up their business by themselves. When the Arloff family owned and operated The Alberta Lodge as a resort from 1924-1940, they named the resort after their daughter, Alberta; the Singers decided to keep the name. From March through the beginning of July, Isabelle and John were the carpenters, painters, wallpaperers, landscapers, etc., trying to get the house ready to open.
On July 4, 1950, The Singers opened “their” Alberta Lodge. They depended on family and friends as guests; Isabelle did all the cooking, baking, and reservation-taking for the first couple of years; and John planned all the activities and took care of the maintenance and yard work, while their daughters did the dishes by hand. One family member took care of the rooms, and a friend was the waitress. They were happy to have a dozen guests a week the first season (1950) they opened -- July 4th through Labor Day Weekend. The second season saw 20-30 guests per week, the fifth season 50-60 guests, etc. Each year as the business grew through recommendations, they hired more employees, and the season was extended from Memorial Day Weekend through the last Weekend in September. Many improvements were made over the years; the barn on the property was converted into a night club “The Hay Loft”, while a pool, motels, bungalows, cottage, tennis courts, etc. were added.
…. In 1979, John thought it was time to retire as he and Isabelle built Alberta from a farm house in 1950 to a beautiful and prosperous business of 120 guests a week. … The Alberta Lodge was sold in 1979, …
the Main House, Dining Room
Alberta Lodge was a full service, 50 room resort. My family, Laverne and Erling (Werner) Nelsen), owned it from 1979 to 1992. My mother worked there as a chambermaid for a number of years prior to it going up for sale, ...
...We continued to operate it as a family run resort -- my parents, my sister Joanne who ran the office, and I worked as the general manager from 1979 to 1992. My parents moved to Florida in 1988 permanently and I ran it alone until the transition in 1992. During those years, we restored the three hole chip and putt golf course, putting green, modified & modernized the Hayloft, whose name we retained, by installing a state of the art sound booth over the stage and expanding the musical venue. We expanded the social director programs and began to film the guests activities during the their stay, renovated the main building, which we renamed the Windmill Inn, by sectioning, personalizing, and creating a more intimate ambiance, installing a full service bar in the dining room, a fire place, a state of the art sound system booth, and a full service menu and restaurant which we opened, for the first time, as a year round resort for hunters and skiers. I...
... I cannot remember the name of the family to whom we sold it to. ... They owned the Birch Hill snowmobile outlet on Rt 23 ... The sale was to a private family, whose father had retired from IBM and son had left IBM for personal reasons. They continued to operate it as a family run resort; however they changed the name of Alberta Lodge to "The Benchmark." They continued to run it as a public resort, which remained on the tax rolls, for the following 9 years when they sold it to the current owner -- a church. During that time period they made their personal modifications to the resort as well.