The 1870s and the 1880s were the Golden Age of summer resorts in the Town of Pelham with most facilities located in the Pelham Bridge and City Island area of the Town. One of several spectacular summer resorts at the time was the Bay View Hotel, occasionally referenced as the "Bay View House" and "Von Liehn's Bay View Hotel."
When the New York Athletic Club of New York City bought the island it renamed "Travers Island" in Pelham Manor, there stood on the island a beautiful old home known as the "Old Hunter House." Named after John Hunter of Hunter's Island who had remodeled and improved the home during the mid-19th century, the main portion of the home was said to have been built in 1812 for Temple Emmett, a member of the Emmett Family that long resided in the area.