Veasys Camp???
 

Hello. New to this board. Spent at least 7-9 summers at a small private camp called Veasys from what I recall. It was between 1955 ad 1963.
Had running water for bathing but we had to walk 3/4 mile for water. had 4-5 cabins and several small docks. we were fairly close to the large boat that
toured the lake (washington??).
any help appreciated in learning more about location, history, etc.
thanks

Veasey Shore Rd, off Leavitt Park in Meredith comes to mind. Off Rt 25 right at the Center Harbor line. Could this be it?

Veasey Shore Road
 

I live on land that was part of an estate that had a big house and cabins. It was called Sunbeam lodge and had a cabin right on the lake shore. The large house has been replaced and all the cabins except mine are gone. If this is the place you stayed I do have some knowledge of the history of the estate. I built here in 1994 but originally did some ice fishing here in the early 1960's. My home is across from Beaver Island

I have attached a photo of my cabin. Do you recognize it? It used to have a huge leaning pine tree but it blew down in a storm.

I know Sunbeam Lodge very well, having lived next to it from 1944 till we sold our house and boathouse. The original house has been torn down and a huge white house stands where my house used to be. The log boat house is still there and a log house has been built in back of it.


Your Sunbeam Lodge was owned by the Coty family.. They were from Manchester, NH and owned Sunbeam bread. The property was as you described..large house and 3 cabins. They sold to the Clark family. The cabin you are living in is not part of Veasey,s......Veasey was our caretaker and lived on the right hand side of the road about a mile in from the highway. He had cabins for rent just past his house down on the lake but not as far as the Cody house.

Do you know the story of your Sunbeam cabin? It used to be on Beaver Island and was brought across the ice one winter. Ben Ames Williams wrote " Leave her to Heaven" in your cabin!

Sunbeam lodge
 

You may have known David Del Prete who owned that house sometime around 1990 and he sold it around 1994. It was torn down by George Serrano who built the white house you refer to. Later he split the lot and built a new house behind the old boathouse. I saved and am using an old pine door from the house as a family room table.
I think this whole area was owned by Aldrich and Pritzer. Frank ...... owned the last old house and cabins and when he died his children sold of the house and it was torn down.I heard about the Ben Wiiliams Ames story but would like more Information on him and his writings. I am attaching a picture of the last cabin That I saved from destruction. I would like to have any more information you have or feel free to visit. Maybe other forum members have information on this property.

Does this look familiar

I did not know DelPrete unless he was the man to whom we sold our house.....which was called Blen Eden. But that is cool that you saved one of our doors for a table. Next summer we will come by boat and hope to catch you at the cabin, if that is OK? Yes, Frank was the last owner of the Coty house....it was Clark before Frank. Look up Ben Ames Williams on Google.

Sunbeam Lodge
 

Thanks for the information. I remember there was a built in the ground concrete bunker in back of your house. I remember the huge beautiful granite fireplace and wished I could have saved the stones before they demolished it. There was also a huge pine and oak tree in front of the property and they were also cut down. There was a small brook that flowed into the lake near the boathouse. that is still there. We still have all the original granite boulders right where mother Nature left them. I would love to spend time with you recalling your history of your home and any photos you may have. I spent time with Frank and his memories before he passed away. You are welcome anytime you are in the area and tie up at my dock next to the cabin. We will be back in May.

Ben Ames Williams
 

Interested in karma girl's info about author Ben Ames Williams on Beaver Island. He took flying lessons at the Weirs with Bob Fogg, as did his son, Chuck Williams. There's an article from the Laconia Citizen about him coming to Beaver Island in a Sikorsky S-38, a big twin-engine amphibian airplane that carried up to 10 passengers and could land on land or water. I'd love to know more about where he stayed on Beaver, when he was there, and what writing he did while there.

Did the Del Prete home also belong to Bud Fitkin at one time? Williams co-owned Beaver with an attorney from NYC.

Yes, the property was owned by Helen and Bud Fitkin. You describe the property well. The concrete you mentioned was a bomb shelter that my Dad built I believe sometime in the 50's. It was stocked with canned goods and dehydrated space type food. There was also a couple of radiation proof space suits! It was a neat place! My Mom had a great rock garden on the upper part of the brook and on the flat between the house and boathouse we 4 kids built a horseshoe pit with clay we would wheelbarrow from just down the road before getting to the Beaver Island dock. We will definitely visit next summer...do you have another house nearby or just use the cabin?

Sunbeam Lodge
 

It looks like Karma owned it from 1944 until Del Prete bought it. But Frank the old timer who lived next door told me that Pitkin owned a lot of land in that area. Williams would have stayed at the old John Beaver house on Beaver Island I think he purchased it from Dartmouth College and when he passed away he left it to Dartmouth rather than his two children. Dartmouth sold it to a private family last year. You have a lot more information on this
subject than I do. Did you live here or in the area? Maybe you know who the "KINGDON" was that was chiseled into the big rock on Beaver or the grave on the back side near the cut between big and little Beaver.

Sunbeam Lodge
 

Great information. My home is next to the bunkhouse. Looking forward to your visit. Do you remember this rock?

Kingdom was an owner of Beaver who had his ashes sealed in the ledge rock at the rear of the main house. The grave is my sister's who died in infancy in June of 48' while my father, who was care taker for Alexander Shepard, and mom lived in one of the camps on the island. I used to have nightmares about the ominously unusual stone fireplace in the main house. Guess it was scary to a little kid. The fireplace was built in the early 1900's by a Mr. Sibley from Moultonborough. He built the watering trough at the spring on Sibley road using the same kind of gnome stones.

I don,t think the rock is familiar...is it on Beaver Island or near your bunk house?

Really enjoying reading this thread.

Me, too...How'd I miss it? :confused: Each Lake Winnipesaukee island must have volumes yet to be written!

I was doing a little research into the following post, which reads in part:

That rang a bell, as my Dad had recognized the attached "Osa's Ark" Sikorsky S-38 amphibian this past summer, and identified it as flown by a married couple who professionally filmed tribes of headhunters on Papua New Guinea. :eek2: Their films were merged into Hollywood movies in those same years. When events got too hot, the couple flew off, but returned with an armed posse. The posse wasn't needed, as the tribes had since seen the movies, and were embarrassed into civility! :laugh:

In those same years of the 1930s, author Ben Ames Williams could have been taxiing his Sikorsky S-38 past Beaver Island as suggested in the attached photograph.

Love that photo APS.

Sikorsky S-38 and Waco Seaplane Photos Found...
 

There's a huge website of WWII-era aircraft, which has taken all afternoon to visit. One photo stuck out, showing the Travel Air SA6000 floatplane that's been featured in 1930's videos of Lake Winnipesaukee.

I don't believe I've seen a Sikorsky S-38 at the Weirs before. A greatly-enlarged photo appears below. Both the Travel Air SA6000 and a new-to-me Waco floatplane photo appear below that one.

A website of the Weirs seaplane base appears here. It's a one-page site, but rich in Weirs postcards of that seaplane era. One SA 6000 postcard has been "colorized", but from all appearances, the colorization was done from memory. :eek2:

S-38
 

Here's a video of the last "flying" S-38B....Albeit a Replica. Check out the amphibious landing gear arrangement when the plane is parked at the beach. Turn up the sound. :) NB

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9ERfeD-jCM

Thanks for the link. That was great to watch. Love those rotary engines; nothing sounds quite like them. My wife and I are going there (Lucerne) for her 60th in July. Her family is Swiss. Maybe we'll see it!

This thread has got a little Off Track...but I find the off track of interest. For those interested in Aviation History I offer THIS:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kermit_Weeks. If you want to FLY in an OLD airplane ..GO HERE. Pick a Video and go flying ..IN THE COCKPIT...Pick a Plane...BELOW....

http://www.youtube.com/user/KermitWe...o/videos:look: NB

PS: "Negative Further"...: :D

We use to stay at Veasys Camps for many years.
I have more info if anyone is interested.
CEP

I would be interested in any information or pictures you may have for Veasey camps or Veasey Shore road. I have some information gathered from a former neighbor.

Do you remember if Veaseys Camp was called "Sunbeam Lodge" or was this description applied later?

It was always called Veasey's Camps for may years.
The camps where located in a cove close to the small Island near the shore.
I can't find any pictures that would show the exact location.
Sorry!

CP

Veasey Shore Road
 

I think the small island is Little Loon Island about 50 feet off the shore just beyond the end of Cottage Farm road . At that time there was an old camp there with a stone wall right on the lake. There are still a lot of small cottages on that road and some may have been there when you were there. They are very close to Leavitt Park Beach,.Can you recall any other details and I will try to see if any match with what is there now

I wonder if your name is Del Prete from Duxbury. I think the home you are referring to was torn down and the lot split. the boathouse is now attached to a new home built by George Serrano and recently sold. I remember the bomb shelter that was in back of the home. I would appreciate your sharing any memories that you have of your years there. I was a good friend of "Frank ??"
who owned the brown house next door with three cottages.
I own the swinging kitchen door made of beautiful southern pine. It is all that is left of that home and it now serves as my main dinning table.
Incidentally i worked for Del Prete when i was attending college and lived in Duxbury and could tell you the story as to how i came to own
Sunbeam Lodge.

Sunbeam...are you at the lake now? Would love to catch up with you this summer. Karma Girl


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