The Joyce Estate is a great place for a day trip while you’re staying at the resort itself. Or if you just want a simple day or weekend trip in the great outdoors.

The historical estate is heir to the Joyce family fortune originating in the lumber taken from the North Woods of Minnesota via the Itasca Lumber Company, David Joyce of Chicago built up the 4,500 acre resort from 1917-1935 with forty buildings: Main Lodge Complex, Garden/Greenhouse, Caretakers area, and a recreational area too. The resort even had its very own golf course, private telephone line, and airplane hanger.

The resort was used by the Joyce family until 1972. The U.S. Forest Service now manages this site which is considered a National Historic Place. As of today at the Joyce Estate a few buildings remain along with numbered posts which represent where buildings were in the past. You can still enjoy the features of the unique Adirondack style architecture in the Main Lodge Complex or enjoy a picnic lunch by the wooded peninsula on the West side of Trout Lake which back then was the “social gathering area” for the Joyce family and their guests. The rustic log architecture and stick work a characteristic of the Adirondack tradition which used native materials, such as logs and stone, to be in harmony with the natural landscape of the beautiful resort.

Everyone is Welcome!