Nature reclaims its estate
The star-crossed lovers fled the paparazzi and stole north to their mountain hideout, an over-the-top manse in the backwoods of Hamilton County.
This smitten pair was used to being in the spotlight, and not without notoriety. He, Hollywood’s silent film-era heartthrob Rudolph Valentino, had just done jail time for bigamy; his flame was the dazzling and aloof costume and set designer, Natacha Rambova. In August of 1922, Valentino stole to her arms here, slipping into Johnsburg, disguised in a fake beard and dark goggles.
Their refuge was Foxlair, a sweeping wilderness estate owned by the legendary cosmetics magnate Richard Hudnut, also Rambova’s adoptive father. Today, the huge manor is no more. The land is now part of the Adirondack Forest Preserve, and the state is planning public trails and other upgrades. The land is within the footprint of Adirondack Mountain Club’s “Eastern Trails” guidebook, which I author, so I set out over two summers to find what’s left of the fairy-tale hideaway.
Route 8 has some long, lonely stretches, and but for a remnant meadow or two, deep forest closes in on both sides. At the forgotten
