For many Catskills residents, over many decades, the place of choice to celebrate a festive occasion was the sprawling inn at the “Four Corners” where Wittenberg Road crosses Route 212 in Mount Tremper — mere steps from where the storied Beaverkill flows into the Esopus Creek. Most locals remember it as the fine French restaurant La Duchesse Anne, which opened in 1978.
In 2012, it became a bed-and-breakfast called the Four Corners Country Inn, but the circa-1850 building had begun to show signs of aging; customer reviews online increasingly complained about shabby accommodations. By the time Eva and William Clark first laid eyes on it in 2017, the facility “had been slowly going out of operation,” Eva says with some delicacy. In fact, the welcoming wraparound porch that was one of the restaurant’s chief charms had rotted out and needed to be entirely replaced.
The Clarks purchased the property in late 2019, just before the pandemic struck, and have invested nearly four years into a gradual and thorough renovation, involving “lots of reuse of materials when possible,” according to Eva. Both Cleveland natives who relocated to New York City, “Neither of us had restaurant experience, except for very short stints in our teens and 20s.” Eva earned her MA in Food Studies at NYU, with a particular focus on sustainability, followed by a marketing career at HowGood, a software platform designed to help food companies track their carbon footprints.
William came to the repurposing game via a different route: After studying design at the University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning, he became “a patternmaker on Seventh Avenue,” in Eva’s words, but then switched to a legal career. He got his Law degree at Fordham, worked his way up to assistant district attorney in the Bronx and developed an interest in urban housing issues. “Then he went into property management in New York City,” she relates. “He gained an understanding of how buildings work – including the unsexy parts of running a building. In fact, he designed the HVAC systems here.”
“Here,” the former Duchesse Anne, is now the Howland House, which under the Clarks’ care has reclaimed the name it bore as a boardinghouse in the 1920s. From the 1940s to the early 1970s, it was the Norwegian Lutheran Children’s Camp and Home, offering summer getaways to city kids, before its transformation into an elegant restaurant. Eva tells of excavating a former closet to discover shelves labeled as storage for boys’ and girls’ bathing suits; there had been a swimming pool on the property in the old days.
Those shelves, along with other old wood and metal hardware found throughout the building, were painstakingly restored and put to new use. Showing HV1 Room One on the first floor — one of ten available as overnight accommodations, at prices ranging from $175 to $340 — Eva relates how the couple tore up “layer upon layer of vinyl” to expose and refinish the inn’s original hardwood floors. They’re committed to honoring all the phases of the building’s history, so the décor is an eclectic mix, with features ranging from rustic to Victorian, Mid-Century Modern and beyond.
This bedroom’s state-of-the-art, wheelchair-accessible shower stall has post-industrial Minimalist lines, but the bathroom floor is tiled in a black-and-white pattern evoking prewar New York City apartments. William has painted the walls with hand-mixed limewash, subtly pigmented with caseins. Eva describes the furniture as “a mix of vintage and found pieces,” plus finely crafted shelving and cabinetry that William built by hand. Every room is different, but all the disparate components harmonize.
The Howland House reopened as an inn in November 2022, while renovations continued on the building’s former restaurant facilities. Effective December 2023, the tavern section has been unveiled to the public, with work still in progress on a larger dining room. “The kitchen was actually in the best shape” when they took over the building, Eva notes. The Clarks describe the eatery side of the business, Oliver’s, as “a neighborhood bar and tavern serving savory pies and seasonal salads and stews in a British pub-inspired setting,” and the cuisine as “familiar, not common.”
Working with Isaiah Martin of IDM Construction, the Clarks wanted to evoke the acclaimed restoration job accomplished by Keith McNally of the historic Minetta Tavern in Greenwich Village. La Duchesse Anne’s much-loved mahogany bar was preserved, under the original tin ceiling. The walls are clad in wood wainscoting upcycled from elsewhere in the building, lined with banquettes that used to be church pews and the restaurant’s old tables, now topped with zinc. The atmosphere is cozy, warm and convivial – the way a neighborhood pub is supposed to be.
The Clarks, who first began their Catskills residency with a Woodland Valley weekend cabin in 2015, were cognizant from the get-go that they would be judged as “outsiders” if their project were perceived as catering to well-heeled City-based vacationers. Accordingly, they are making every effort to restore the tavern’s homey appeal as a community gathering place. Aside from the pub ambiance, they’re taking steps to keep food and drink prices affordable. The fancy cocktails by general manager Jill Meerpohl are mixed in batches, priced from $12 to $16. Dinner entrées top out at $20 for the chicken pot pie.
The chef, Christine Campbell, runs a Saugerties catering service called Rootless Kitchen and has taught at the Culinary Institute of America. The Clarks discovered her talents when she was cooking for the Dutch Ale House. Campbell has also worked as a “whole-animal butcher,” Eva explains, and has brought her nose-to-tail approach to Oliver’s. Using cheaper cuts of meat makes it more feasible to provide “good quality food that’s not going to break the bank,” Eva says. “She’s working on developing a beef-heart chili.”
Savory hand pies at $7 are the traditional pub appetizer on offer; we tried the steak-and-kidney version, which also comes in an entrée size at $19. (The kidneys are puréed, so there are no gristly bits to bite into.) The pastry crusts on both the hand pies and pot pies are outstanding. The French Onion Grilled Cheese Panini — one of several vegetarian choices on the menu — was also a big hit with our party. Some of the daily specials sounded enticing, but sold out before we could pounce on them.
Another way of keeping Oliver’s friendly to locals is a policy of not taking dinner reservations. We visited on a busy Friday evening and had to wait to be seated. The tavern section can accommodate about 40 diners and drinkers at one time; the dining room will hold 30 to 40 more once the renovations are completed. When the weather warms up, there will be plenty of outdoor seating as well. The Clarks have not only rebuilt the large wraparound porch, but also converted a former sunroom into a smaller one, and there’s a “big lawn with a big firepit,” Eva says.
All this careful planning seems to have struck the right chord with the hometown crowd who remember this place fondly from decades past. Some have already reclaimed their old favorite seats at the bar. “People here are so lovely. They say they’re so happy that we’re here,” says Eva. “It really does feel like a community place. You don’t have to get dressed nicely, but it still feels special, and the food is really good.”
Oliver’s at Howland House is located at 1564 Wittenberg Road in Mount Tremper. At present, hours of operation are from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and from 4 p.m. until 9 p.m. on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Expect additional days and lunch hours to be added in the near future. To learn more about the menu, including the $55 three-course prix fixe Valentine’s Day special, visit www.oliversny.com.
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