Inn at Crystal Lake and Palmer House

In 1884 Nathaniel Palmer built his unique, Greek-Revival home overlooking Crystal Lake and Eaton's Little White Church. Nathaniel ran his home, known as The Palmer House, as a small hotel taking in some of the many visitors that came to spend time enjoying the mountains and lakes. After Nathaniel's death in 1899, his wife, Mary, continued to take in guests and their son, Frank, continued this until the 1940's. In the late 1940's, The Palmer House was purchased by the Buckelew family who started Camp Star Acres. In 1961, it was turned into a boarding school known as The Palmer House School. The school closed in 1974 but  was converted back to inn in 1976 by the Gospodarek family who called it The Palmer House Inn. In 1986, the inn changed hands again and was purchased by Walter and Jacqueline Spink who renamed it the Inn at Crystal Lake. The current innkeepers, Bobby Barker and Tim Ostendorf, took over in 2001 and are happy to continue the tradition started in 1884 by Nathaniel Palmer.