In spring 2025, when Kelly LaHart Collins bought the Stagecoach Inn, in Lake Placid, she knew what she was getting herself into. Collins’s people go way back in this little community. Her grandfather, Hurley Devlin, was born on the John Brown farm while his parents homesteaded there. Her grandmother, Mae LaHart, whose Quebecois roots go back to the 1600s, was raised in Black Brook. Collins’s uncle Art Devlin was an Olympic ski-jumper and uncles Mike and Matt Devlin ran her grandfather’s Arena Grill, a bar known for its colorful patrons, after he passed away. While Collins grew up in Cortland, time in Lake Placid with family was a constant. She heard the stories about her grandparents’ camp, where “God Bless America” singer Kate Smith’s warbles drifted across the lake and she’d zip her famous friends around in her Chris-Craft.
And now, after 35 years of living and working in Washington DC, Collins is back in what she’s always considered her “emotional home.” She’s spending time with her family, connecting with old friends and making new ones—skiing, golfing, paddling, biking the Rail Trail—and ushering an Adirondack landmark into its latest chapter.
Collins always loved the Stagecoach, staying and dining here through the years, even choosing this spot for her engagement party in 1991. But buying a piece of local history—a centuries-old building that served as a boarding house and stagecoach stop—has its challenges. She’s been renovating and upgrading, all the while honoring the inn’s rustic, woodsy charm.
The vibe is casual and elegant. This is a place for intimate celebrations, where Collins hopes visitors will “linger longer”: A cocktail in the bar or beneath a cozy throw on the porch. A fireside “elevated meal,” as she calls it, prepared by chef Vicky Breyette. Dessert on a deep couch or out back by the campfire. And, for out-of-towners, an overnight in the inn’s guestroom or suites, each named after a local character—John Brown, Kate Smith, Melville Dewey and Collins’s grandmother, Mae LaHart.
Year-round the Stagecoach is something special, but during the holidays “it’s magical,” says Collins, when the inn is blanketed by snow, its lights twinkling and fires crackling.
If You Go
You can find the Stagecoach Inn (stagecoachlp.com) at 3 Stagecoach Way, in Lake Placid. Dinner reservations are a must; call (518) 523-9698 or email hello@lakeplacidstagecoachinn.com.
