Richard Beatty Mellon turned Rolling Rock into a rural retreat for his friends and family to hunt, fish, and ride.
From this, it steadily developed into an establishment that, in addition to the usual country club necessities — swimming pool and golf course — also boasted stocked trout streams, duck ponds, game birds, and shooting ranges.
The club also kept a pack of English fox hounds, raised pheasants, and ran the Gold Cup Steeplechase (from 1933 until 1983).
The golf course at Rolling Rock Club in Laughlintown, Pennsylvania, was designed by Donald Ross and was built as a nine-hole course in 1917.
Vestibules and fenestrated entrance hall additions were designed to increase the area to an average of 2,400 square feet (220 m2) per unit.