Chamounix

Chamounix was also described in the HABS, but not until 1972, when it had been a hostel for eight years. This report from 1995 draws heavily on Jessica Sloop's 1994 historic structure report of the mansion.

The Chamounix Mansion Hostel's first guests ride away after their stay, continuing their honeymoon in 1964.

Today the hostel caters largely to groups rather than individual tourists, due to its relatively remote location, but it's charting a sustainable course in the twenty-first century.

The Chamounix Mansion, built in 1802, sits in the Northwestern end of Fairmount Park. Purchased by the city in 1871 despite the pleas of the resident Johnsons, Chamounix was put to various uses, as a concessions stand, residence for park personnel, and perhaps even a boarding house. A fire in 1962 might have doomed the building to the fate of The Cliffs, but a group successfully advocated for its conversion to a youth hostel. The hostel opened to travelers in June 1964, the first American hostel owned by a city. The last half-century has seen the hostel expand into the carriage house, and it now boasts 80 beds. Catering primarily to European tourists and large groups who use the meeting facilities on site, Chamounix has proven to have its own particular appeal.