Hospitality business operating just as it has for the last 121 years, passed parent-to-child the entire time
By Holly Riddle
The Waldheim may be the longest-running family business in the Adirondacks, operating just as it has for the last 121 years, passed parent-to-child the entire time.
E.J. and Harriet Martin, along with E.J.’s brother Charlie, opened the classic Adirondack camp to guests in 1904. After decades of E.J. expanding and fine-tuning the Big Moose Lake property, eventually, his son Howard took the reins. Today, E.J.’s granddaughter holds that honor. The semi-retired matriarch of the family, Nancy Pratt, 77, and her husband, Roger, now oversee The Waldheim, along with their children and grandchildren. All told, the family has only missed one summer of operations since the property’s founding, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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A ‘free’ childhood
Nancy recalled growing up within the business: “I pretty much ran free. We had lots of woods. We did lots of swimming. My parents both worked seven days a week. When I was young, we did have a babysitter, but in my teens, I worked right along with everyone else and learned the business.”
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She noted that her parents never necessarily expected her to take over the business. She went away to college and married life, but would return in the summer months to work alongside her parents, bringing Roger, who was a teacher with summers free. They moved away for 13 years. However, when Howard’s health declined, Nancy stepped in to help her mother full-time, calling the transition “natural.”
A smooth transition into the next generations
For Nancy and Roger’s son, Jason, 51, and their grandson, Jameson, 21, joining the family business likewise seems almost seamless.
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“I’d always worked here,” said Jason, “every summer since I was 13. No one wants to work for their parents [until] they go away and realize how good their parents are and how good they really have it. I love the place,” he said. Jason also married a teacher and moved back permanently after a few summers helping out with the business.
Eight family members currently work at The Waldheim. Roger still keeps the books and helps get the property ready for the summer, in the spring months. He lovingly refers to Nancy’s role as “the designated worrier.” Jason oversees a lot of the maintenance and construction, and Jameson is spending most of the summer working in the kitchen.
“As long as I can remember, I’ve always said I’m going to run The Waldheim when I’m older,” Jameson added. “I’m the fifth generation and I don’t want to be the generation to lose it.”
Generations of returning guests
The Waldheim isn’t just multigenerational in its ownership and operations, though. Multiple generations of employees have come to work at the property, and multiple generations of travelers visit each summer. One family has been coming to The Waldheim since 1908.
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“It’s four or five generations of friendship, really,” said Roger.
One of The Waldheim’s primary selling points is that legacy and history, and it’s something the Pratts are striving to retain.
“Our job maintenance-wise is to modernize the place, but make it look like we never did anything, to keep the character,” said Jason.
Nancy joked that every spring the family talks about selling the business to avoid the work of getting The Waldheim prepped for guests, but then they more or less brush aside the idea as ridiculous.
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Roger added, “I’m usually pretty burned out by the time we open, but then you see the first batch of guests come in and you just see them relax. Someone yesterday just said, ‘Thanks for doing this. We really needed that.’ — and I needed that, too.”
Photo at top: Original boathouse circa 1910. Photo provided by Roger Pratt
This is an echo to my family history. We cannot prove an exact date, but my great great grandparents built a house (Minglewood) on what is now Lake Paradox Club as their summer home in the very early 1900’s, possibly even before that. They then started renting that house to guests and expanded to have 10 more cabins. This story could have been about my own family history, recently featured on NPR. I am 5th generation, with my young children (6th generation) in tow. My grandmother speculated the business was in operation circa 1910, but it is speculated to have started before that. My grandmother added the 12th cabin in the early 2000’s.