Photography

Rose Haven’s Abandoned Swimming Pool

April 16, 2011 / 59 Comments

Rose Haven Welcome Sign

Call the pool cleaner back... Don't spill the... Too late. Enter and Exit Here New Pool Entrance Sand Filter Malfunction Sorry, your pool idea doesn't hold water.

I came across this place by accident.  Rose Haven was a resort in the Catskill Mountains, near Cairo, New York, that has been abandoned for some time.  Sadly, the only thing left of this place was the foundations of where the buildings used to stand, and of course, the steel deck swimming pool, which I photographed above.

UPDATE:  The following photograph has been graciously provided to me since this post was first published.

UPDATE: More pictures provided by Jim Velsor.

Rose Haven Pool - 1972

59 Comments

  • marie santoro

    March 29, 2012 at 5:48 PM Reply

    I’m not sure if i have the correct place to send this, but rose haven was a place my family and i went to every summer. Wwe stopped going in 1959. We went there for many years it was a very nice resort. I was wondering if there were any picture of people who were there for vaction. I would like to see if any were of my family.

    I was a teenager at that time, and I would go down the road to a store and get a bannana split. I do o not remeber the name of the store but they had good ice cream.

    Thank you!

    Marie Santoro
    nandm@compueasy.com

      • Laurie

        June 10, 2012 at 2:54 PM Reply

        My grandparents used to take my brother, cousins and me there when we were kids. It was probably late 60s early 70s. I don’t think I have any pictures, but I have some memories. Where the sign was there was an above-ground shuffleboard court with lattice surrounding the outside of it. The pool had a snack shop underneath it. If I remember correctly, there were 2 fires there probably around 1974-5. After the fires, my family started going to Acra Manor, which isn’t far from Rose Haven. Last time I was there was a year after I graduated high school, 1984? I used to walk from Acra to see Rose Haven. I can’t believe that nothing was ever done with it. I hope to be going back up there soon to see for myself. Thanks for taking these pictures and posting them, they bring back great memories for me.

        • Thomas

          June 10, 2012 at 3:05 PM Reply

          Of course, I would love to hear more about the places I photograph. You should really see the place now, in person. It’s truly an amazing sight to see. I’m familiar with the Acra Manor as well. I photographed an abandoned stone mine in Acra in the not-too-distant past. If you know of any other abandoned places in the area, I would really be interested in knowing about them as well. I photograph abandoned places as a specialty.

          • J. Mat

            July 24, 2012 at 10:18 PM

            I too, was a guest at Rosehaven with my family back around 1970. Great memories. I wish I had photos. I recall the attractive female owner showing us to our room. We also stayed at Acra Manor, Pleasant Acres. Now we are annual guests at Pollace’s in Catskill which is still going strong.

      • Kevin B Westley

        November 23, 2021 at 4:54 PM Reply

        My Aunt Pat and Uncle Pete took me there in late ’50’s. During meals they played Volare by Domenico Modugno. EVERYONE would sing the chorus! Unfortunately, the water in the pool turned green from lack of maintenance. We switched to Sugar Maples after that. We would walk to the pizza place in the evenings. I have a photo or 2, but I don’t see how to attach them.

  • bruce

    June 12, 2012 at 2:28 PM Reply

    I worked therefor 2 summers in the early 60’s. handyman/dishwasher. Took care of the pool.”the largest above ground steel pool in the Catskills” said the brochure. It was owned and run by Sam and Frances Perrone. There daughter was rthe bartender. There was a large 3 story building and a smaller motel The bar ans restaurant was on the main floor and the waitresses and chambermaids slept in the attic.
    Not surprised it burned. The fate of many of those old wooden structures.
    Good memories

  • Fran

    June 28, 2012 at 9:53 PM Reply

    Thank you Thomas..!!This is incredible..! I have been looking to see if anyone has posted online or Facebook about Rose Haven. I used to go up once to twice a summer with my family in the very early 70’s. It was really a great place. I remember so much about it.. They had a game room and a bocci court..I remember the rooms in detail,the dinning room.. the entertainment at night.. It was a bit like “dirty dancing”.. just a smaller scale..It is so sad to see what has come of it..

    Thanks to Laurie..!! I couldn’t remember the name of the other place,Acra Manor!! Geez,that seems like 100 years ago!! I have the best memories of my summers there! I do have some pictures around ,however,my scanner is not working at this time.. I will try to find them and put them up.. we should make a facebook page for Rose Haven.. Any thoughts on that?

    Fran

    • Thomas

      June 29, 2012 at 7:30 AM Reply

      As far as Facebook is concerned, I don’t use it. I prefer to post all of my content here. I’m sure you could also use Flickr to post these photos, and in doing so, would likely achieve a much better result.

      If your scanner is not working, you are more than welcome to send me the pictures and I will post them on my website (with credit to you, of course), and then return the photos when I’m done. I will, however, need you to sign a release.

      I’m also looking for any information that you or anyone else has concerning the Hotel Adler Spa in Sharon Springs, New York.

      Let me know.

      Thomas 🙂

      • Doreen

        September 24, 2012 at 12:17 PM Reply

        Hi Thomas,
        I want to thank you for the pictures of Rose Haven. I went there a few years in a row in the early 1960’s. I have wonderful memories of the place. There was a counselor, her name was Jeanine and she taught me how to swim.
        Just last weekend my husband and I were coming home from a wedding in Lake Geoge and we rode around Cairo, I was looking for Rose Haven, any sign of it. We never found it but we came across Carson City which is now up for sale. I have a video of a bathing beauty contest around the pool at Rose Haven, it was men wearing their wives bathing suits. I will look to see if I have any still pictures.

        • Thomas

          September 25, 2012 at 8:47 AM Reply

          If you have any photos, I will gladly scan them and post them here for you, with credit as well. Video is usually a bit more involved and generally requires being outsourced to a conversion company which can get a little pricy depending on the format.

          The Rose Haven sign is still there, at least it was last week, however it is so overgrown with brush that it can be quite difficult to spot. Anyhow, let me know what you find; I’m also interested in the digital/online preservation of Carson City as well, though I haven’t had a chance to photograph the location as of yet.

    • Tom Carabellese

      January 12, 2020 at 2:25 PM Reply

      I would vacation at Rose Haven 1967, and Villa Maria 1968… I remember the “Rose Haven guests” announcement… the game room with jukebox… I would play Bocci with the older guys (I was 7 or 8 years old)… would go and catch frogs in the nearby creek. Have a picture of that…

  • Steve

    October 21, 2012 at 6:26 PM Reply

    Was the guitarist w/bands summer of ’62 (Ivy Rocks) and ’63 (Ronnie and the Jesters). Both summers were great – Perrones and daughter Gloria treated us well!

    Steve

  • michael

    October 30, 2013 at 6:59 PM Reply

    I too worked there as a handyman and pool caretaker. I think in 1966 or 67 along with my older sister Kathy. I dated the perrones granddaughter a very beautiful linda my first love. Still miss her what a summer. Lots of memories lots of crazy times lost my viginity and the rest of my life was rooted in Rose Have memories. Linda where are you?

  • Marc Perrone

    January 10, 2016 at 8:32 PM Reply

    These are all great comments. I have heard lots of stories and many memories from my family about Rose Haven. My father Anthony worked and visited there with his Uncle Sam and Aunt Frances. I remember my father driving us there and walking through the rubble and seeing the old pool.

    I still go and check on the place and love seeing the history. I haven’t been there in several years. I would like to still get old articles and anything I could to learn more about my family’s property.

    Marc Perrone

    • Michael Hendler

      March 11, 2016 at 5:09 PM Reply

      read your post about rose haven. Wondering about linda braglia. Would like to know how life treated her. Michael H.

  • Laurie Fluet

    March 11, 2016 at 5:42 PM Reply

    Hi Marc,
    Did you ever go there when it was open? Is the property still in your family? I was up there a couple years ago with my husband. Can’t believe that nothing ever got done with it in all of these years. I hope to get up there again soon.
    Laurie

  • Joseph Linzalone

    August 1, 2016 at 4:04 AM Reply

    My parents went on their honeymoon there in June 1952.They are deceased now.I have the pictures and postcard memorabilia books from the original rose haven motel.They went up to Acra from Manhattan.It looked like a great place.I have many photos.

  • Tony Cicchetti

    September 1, 2016 at 9:59 AM Reply

    My family also
    started out at Rosehaven and moved to Acra Manor after the fire. This was in the early to mid 70’s back when the hotels still played against each other in softball. Still can’t figure out why that tradition seems to have ended. If there are people who still have their pictures of either of those places, I can promise a lot of people would love to see them.

  • Ron Biegel

    October 4, 2017 at 8:59 PM Reply

    I worked in the Rose Haven kitchen the summer of 1973 as a dishwasher. I initially worked with Jimmy who showed me the ropes. We would scrub and clean all the pots and dishes after each meal using some large sinks and a round automatic dishwasher. Jimmy left as I recall and I was joined by Omar for the rest of the summer. The entire restaurant operation was well run and the workers were given meals and a room as part of the compensation. I actually stayed a few miles away with my family and rode my Yamaha motorcycle and parked it just outside the back door of the dishwasher area. Lots of fond memories but no photos as this was way before handy smartphones with cameras. I do have some cassette tapes as I used to carry my portable Grundig recorder with me all the time. Of interest might be recordings of lunch and dinner announcements and some conversations I had with some of family’s children and another worker in that coffee shop beneath that metal pool. I could convert them to digital files and send if interested.
    Ron

    • Thomas

      October 4, 2017 at 9:18 PM Reply

      Yes, PLEASE convert those tapes to digital files! I’m sure that a lot of people would be very interested in hearing those recordings, gauged by the number of comments this post has received.

      • James Velsor

        May 10, 2018 at 10:21 PM Reply

        I worked at Rose Haven from 1970 to about 73/74. I am the Jimmy Ron is talking about. I left in the middle of my last summer when i had a disagreement with the new owner but came back around labor day to help end the summer.

          • Ron Biegel

            July 5, 2020 at 9:11 PM

            Hi Jimmy! I am just seeing your responses over a year later. No, my sister never worked at Rose Haven. I vaguely recall the rest of the kitchen staff Penny, Jessica, Amy?, Then there was the small coffee room below the pool with a jukebox run by ??. I was only 17 and I didn’t stay there so was a bit of an outsider. I’m back in the area this weekend and thought t would be fun to ride by what little remains of Rose Haven. The rusting sign is still there and an overgrown entry road but fenced off with lots of private property signs so could not walk around. Are you still in the area? Ron

          • Thomas Slatin

            July 5, 2020 at 9:29 PM

            Hello Ron! The last time I was there I had permission to photograph the pool, which was the only thing left on the property. Everything else seems to have been taken down a long time ago.

          • James Velsor

            July 5, 2020 at 11:31 PM

            I still live on Long Island. I drove by there many years ago when some of the half burnt building were still there. Since the pool was steel I guess that is all that is left. Many good memories from my 5 years working there. Tom posted some of my pictures under Rose Haven – Jim Velsor

          • Ron Biegel

            July 6, 2020 at 9:06 PM

            Tom – Did I send you some audio files of the Rose Haven lunch and dinner announcement? When I worked there the summer of 1973, I used to carry around a small Grundig tape recorder and did impromptu interviews. I think there is even one of Jim and I talking to the owner’s kids at the front desk. I still have the tapes and can dig them out again if interest.
            Ron

          • James Velsor

            July 7, 2020 at 12:46 PM

            Tom
            Then it goes back to my question earlier. If others sent in pictures and in this case tapes where can we find them posted within your web page? The pictures I submitted are not readily available for others to see when reading Rose Haven

  • Cathy Cinciatta

    August 10, 2018 at 5:33 PM Reply

    I remember the meal announcements verbatim.

    Example (Breakfast):

    “Rose Haven Guests , Breakfast is now being served…”

    They would repeat it two or three times (but it was always the same
    number of times, whatever that number was… I just can’t quite remember).

    I guess it is fair to say I
    am obsessed with this place.
    I have been checking on the web every now and then for about 10 years,
    never got any hits— leaving me to wonder if I had imagined this place
    from my childhood. Then this lovely URL presented itself.

    My parents did not take us on vacation— there was only one in my
    childhood. For whatever reason, they decided to take my middle sister
    and I (We had an eldest sister too, but for whatever reason she didn’t go)
    to Rose Haven in the summer of ’74. I was 10 years old.

    Well, I don’t think my memories could be any better if it had been
    Disneyworld.

  • Veronica Ahearn

    April 25, 2021 at 1:18 AM Reply

    Wow I’m 36 years old and I actually live A min. Away from it and I always saw the sign going by it and this old road says no traspessing I always interested in wantibg to go look I dunno why it’s like something telling me I get these feelings I can’t explain but one day I would like to go see it back then old school days were the bomb alot of fun the seeing places going down hill threw time when you see it little by little it’s dying then truly see it makes me so sad I wish I can do something bring it back to life

  • Joann famighetti

    May 26, 2021 at 8:29 PM Reply

    We used to go there when I was a little girl in the early 60s. I have some fun and find memories. The pool was up on the deck but underneath was a coffee/luncheonette shop.
    When watching the movie Dirty Dancing and Rosehaven reminded me of that resort.
    I remember every night there would be a different function in the dining room after dinner. One year they had a costume party and my parents trust me and my little brother up as Adam and eve using the big fig leaves they had on the property!
    They also had a bathing beauty contest for the dance tap on the pool deck and then they jumped in the pool. I still have the pictures of my father just in a bikini!!
    If anyone is interested I would be happy to share the pictures I have. I believe I also have pics of the main building where we slept in the dining room was .

  • Joann

    May 26, 2021 at 8:40 PM Reply

    My parents just passed away and I was looking through pictures and came across multiple pictures of us even including the brochure /advertisement and postcard from there

    Who would I send copies of this to?

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