Lexington House was designed by local architect Jerome Campbell and built for John P. Van Valkenburg in 1883 as a middle class resort.

Its construction coinciding with the development of the Catskill and Tannersville Railway, the Lexington House is a rare surviving example of mid-scale, railroad-era resort architecture.

Expansive porches and open-air balconies were an essential feature of the resort hotel, providing guests with vistas of the surrounding wilderness and pleasant public spaces for social gatherings.

Verandahs also served as sanitary and therapeutic retreats from which to enjoy the healthful and moral atmosphere of nature, reflecting the popularity of resorts not only for pleasure and recreational activity but also for escapes from the crowded, disease-ridden and immoral conditions of the suddenly industrialized cities of the northeast.

The ground floor, still virtually intact in spatial configuration and restrained architectural detailing, provided large public spaces for a variety of reception and entertainment uses.

Lexington House was particularly progressive for its time, featuring an elaborate system of gas lighting throughout the building and fire-stop framing between the wall cavities and dwelling units.

[T]he Lexington House was, according to a number of late-nineteenth century accounts, considered to be one of the finest, most popular resorts of the period, offering a broad range of entertainment and activity.

[5] A year later, Weisberg met a group of young actors seeking to start a theatre company and invited them to take residence at Lexington House and its surrounding facilities.

[8] A not-for-profit founded in 1975, Art Awareness operated gallery and artist retreat space at Lexington house over 25 years, until the property was sold to Ensemble Studio Theatre.