Camping has been a major part of the Adirondacks since before Europeans came to the area, and one form of "camping" involves the creation of a permanent camp. Camps have ranged from open-faced lean-tos to elaborate and luxurious (though always "rustic") compounds recently labeled "Great Camps".
Great camps were grandiose family compounds of cabins that were built in the latter half of the nineteenth century on lakes in the Adirondacks. The camps were summer homes for the wealthy, where they could relax, host or attend parties, and enjoy the wilderness. In time, however, this was accomplished without leaving the comforts of civilization behind; some great camps even contained a bowling alley or movie theatre.
The style of the Great Camps was influenced by the British Arts and Crafts Movement and the related American Craftsman style as well as by Swiss chalet design. William West Durant, an early developer of the camps, was familiar with all three styles and adapted them to local materials and the skills of craftsmen.
Camp Cobblestone 
A boat house at Camp Topridge 
Birch Island boat landing 1886. Stokes Records, vol I, after p. 230; also in Camp Chronicles, p. 38. 
The boathouse at Knollwood Club. The front of one of the cottages can be seen on the extreme left. 
A covered walkway at Prospect Point
Examples of various historic camps include:
On Lake Kiwassa
On Oseetah Lake
At Santa Clara:
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Prospect Point (Navarac)
On Spitfire Lake:
On Osgood Pond:
Plattsburgh Press, May 29, 1906
Many of the yearly visitors to the Adirondacks are already at the Riverside inn, where they will remain for a few weeks before re-opening their camps on the different lakes in the neighborhood. It is prophesied by the hotel, men that this will be a record season for summer business. All the large houses in the village and on the outskirts have been thoroughly renovated during the past month.
Comments:
2012-05-10 06:17:35 nice post... —59.164.1.140
2012-06-01 11:07:46 Boulder Island —76.27.150.181
