Prospect

Mountain Lake Resort

A five-year, multi-million-dollar effort has turned a run-down lakeside camp into a posh new nature experience for visitors to the southern Berkshires.

Prospect a year-round retreat situated on the shores of Prospect Lake in Egremont, is nestled on 30 carefully curated acres with 49 individual cabins and a bevy of amenities to soothe and calm harried 21st-century spirits.

“We have been having fun with this project,” said real estate developer Ian Rasch, co-owner of the design-build firm Alandar. With his partner, Jade-Snow Carroll, co-owner of the block-printed bedding company, Sister Moons, he has transformed a dilapidated RV camp into a luxurious landscape hotel experience.

The campus includes a cluster of climate-controlled lakefront cabins, each with floor-to-ceiling windows that maximize lake and forest views. Every cabin is appointed with organic Sister Moons bedding, Sangean Bluetooth speakers, coffee and Rishi tea provisions, camp chairs and biodegradable bath amenities.

There are two sizes of cabins from which to choose—40 with 400-square-feet of space to accommodate small families, while nine others are intimate, 135-square-foot “hideaways.” Because the focus is on a return to nature each cabin offers lake views and internet service but no TVs or phones.

The 40 larger cabins have kitchenettes and private bathrooms with showers. The nine smaller cabins share a bathhouse. Five or six cabins are pet friendly.

The cabins all have a spare Scandinavian feel in their design, with rich wood tones providing an earthy feel. The style choice is not surprising—Rasch spent formative years in Norway, sleeping in hyttes—little wooden cabins symbolizing closeness to nature.

“I spent a lot of time growing up in Europe where the cabin culture is pretty important,” Rasch said, “The idea of being in a cottage in nature is to provide an immersive experience. I’m a big fan of Frank Lloyd Wright and all those other architects who created structures that were light on the land and spoke to the natural setting they were in. I would say some of the concept is architectural but it’s as much integration of the buildings into landscape.”

To that end, the architects chose cedar siding for the little buildings which will weather naturally, greying and darkening like the trees around them and blending into the space.

The cabins are lovely retreats but guests are not expected to spend their days in them. Waterfront activities will lure visitors out to swim, paddleboard, kayak and sail. Other onsite amenities include tennis and pickleball, a seasonal saltwater pool, Finnish-style saunas, lakeside saunas and communal fire pits.

Revitalizing the waterfront and landscaping was a priority throughout the project. Over the decades that the property was used as a campground, a second-growth forest of uncultivated pine trees took over, dominating other plants. Human interference degraded the ecology resulting in soil erosion and eutrophication of the 56-acre lake.

The owners worked with the Yale School of Forestry and Raina Weber, a local landscape designer specializing in ecological restoration, to clear vegetation responsibly. Weber focused on the waterfront, hand-planting 200 native species and removing the camp’s beaches, replacing them with docks to better support the local ecosystem.

“We worked with a restoration plan for the lake’s edge to support biodiversity,” said Rasch. “There’s a bald eagle that lives across the lake and foxes and coyotes have been seen on the property. We decreased the density of the number of sites from 135 to 49 and created lots of outdoor space to create habitat. There are lots of footpaths with no paved surfaces. It’s not just an architectural exercise but building something that is sustainable on the land.”

Thus, the cabins are reached by foot, bike or golf carts with large vehicles limited to a single driveway. Prospect offers two ADA-compliant cabins, and they are the only accommodations with adjacent parking spots.

Rasch said that while Prospect is now open to guests, it will continue to grow. “We have an outdoor pavilion where we have put in a foundation and this fall it will become a spa,” he said.

At the heart of the property is the 5,000-square-foot Cliff House, originally built in 1876, and newly restored. With a large fireplace, indoor/outdoor lakefront seating and full-service bar and restaurant, The Cliff House is the central destination for guests. The Cliff House also hosts a calendar of events such as wine tastings, readings, art exhibitions and wildflower workshops open to locals and guests.

“We’re really striving to be open to locals and visitors alike,” Rasch said. “We don’t want to be an island of the wealthy. The restaurant is open to the public as are the programming and events.”

The culinary program at Prospect has been created in collaboration with Nancy Thomas, co-founder of Mezze Hospitality Group. Committed to the local food movement for three decades, Thomas and the culinary team will create a seasonal menu true to the region’s agricultural heritage.

Prospect can also host larger events for 40 to 200 guests with in-house catering. A separate wedding pavilion is available.

The Cliff House opens at 8AM for a continental breakfast and the restaurant serves dinners Thursday through Sunday, starting at 5 PM. For reservations, click here.
Click Here. A store at the front of the Cliff House offers grab-and-go fare.

Steps from The Cliff House is a nature preserve with meandering hiking trails, with native habitat, pollinator gardens, wetland gardens, diverse hardwood forest, an orchard, bee hives and resident sheep.

The property has long been a center for outdoor enjoyment. As long ago as 1876, according to the Egremont Historical Society, John E. Van Bramer noticed the trend toward families taking summer vacations in idyllic rural settings. Van Bramer, a farmer and mill operator on what was then known as Winchell’s Pond built an imposing structure on a rock outcropping on the eastern edge of the lake.

The building, the original Cliff House, served as a platform from which visitors could enjoy the view of the surrounding lake and hills, as a scenic residence for the owners and as a small tavern with rented rooms for guests.

Over the years it was expanded to include a promenade and boathouse and an adjacent picnic ground was added. Subsequent owners opened it to the public as a campground and then as a summer RV park for as many as 135 trailers.

The newly redesigned park recently opened to the public following a rolling soft opening to try out its many features. “We still have openings for the summer,” said Rasch, “but bookings are picking up.”

Cabin rates start at $75 per night during the low season. During high season, nightly rates range from $175 midweek for a King Hideaway to $550 for a Lakeside Cabin on weekends. Prospect offers discounts for longer stays or multi-room bookings. A $30 daily “adventure” resort fee covers activities such as the pool, sauna, tennis, pickleball and aquatic sports.