Upper Saranac Camp to be auctioned
Camp Iroquois will get new owner Friday; last priced at $3.25 million
Camp Iroquois, along Upper Saranac Lake in the Adirondack Park, has been owned by only three families since it was built in 1906. On Friday, an auction will be held to find the next owner. The property was formerly priced at $3.25 million.
The camp was established by John Tod, a coal and iron dealer whose father, David Tod, served as the governor of Ohio during the Civil War. John left the property to his daughter, Edith, who was married to James Sheffield. The property remained in the Sheffield family after his death, until Kevin and Betty Ann Keane bought the camp in the early 1980s. Upper Saranac is quiet and popular with loons. Camps along the shoreline are tucked inconspicuously among the trees. Only the boathouses indicate the grandeur under the canopy.
Camp Iroquois is a series of cabins, similar to Camp Woodmere, a compound on Upper
St. Regis Lake built in 1883 and sold for $5.21 million in August. There are 11 buildings at Camp Iroquois, including five sleeping cabins comprised of 13 bedrooms. The dining cabin has a huge stone fireplace, and plenty of room for a 12-seat dining table. It has a cathedral-style ceiling, diamond-shaped windows and original, oak-leaf wallpaper. All the structures are painted green and meant to blend with the forest surroundings, rather than stand out. A new roof has been added to each cabin during the last 15 years, and subtle additions have been made to modernize the compound. There is a tennis and basketball court.
The cabins, each with a porch, are positioned toward the water. The 8-and-a-half-acre lot includes
510 feet of lake front and a boathouse.
In 2003, the Keanes donated numerous camp items and photographs to the State Museum, where they are part of the Sheffield collection.
The Keanes were summer residents at Camp Iroquois until Kevin Keane’s death last year at 86. According to his obituary, Kevin Keane was a founding member of Astronics Corporation, a leading supplier to the global aerospace, defense, electronics and semiconductor industries. He was active in environmental causes. He was a member of The Wild Center Board of Trustees in Tupper Lake from the year the center opened until 2013 when he joined the advisory board. Keane supported the Upper Saranac Lake Foundation, the Nature Conservancy, the Land Trust, Adirondack Medical Center and Paul Smith’s College.
Betty Ann Keane said of her decision to sell the camp, “We’ve had 36 summers here. We truly love Camp Iroquois, our children and grandchildren love it, and we all are very attached to it, but there’s always a time in life to move on.”
All the furnishings on the property, including artwork, canoes and kayaks, a piano and original Stickley furniture are part of the sale. For information on how to register for the auction, call 800-262-5132.