In 1944, Charles Brown, a hotel owner, acquired the Black Appel Inn in Loch Sheldrake, New York, for $70,000 from the Appel family, who had constructed it in the early 1920s. After spending another $100,000 on renovations, the hotel reopened as Charles and Lillian Brown's Hotel and Country Club, quickly gaining a reputation for attracting affluent guests. To compete with larger resorts, the owners emphasized exceptional dining and high-caliber entertainment, featuring acts from famous performers such as Bob Hope, Buddy Hackett, Jackie Mason, Woody Allen, and musicians like Sammy Davis Jr. and Tony Bennett. The hotel also welcomed celebrity visitors, including Jayne Mansfield and boxer Jack Dempsey, while the presence of Italian and Jewish gangsters was notable during the 1940s, with crime-related incidents tied to the area. By the 1950s, the hotel became one of the top destinations in the Catskills, alongside Grossinger's and The Concord, offering a family-friendly environment and attracting guests with slogans like “There’s More of Everything.” The hotel operated from April to early November each year. In the summer of 1954, Jerry Lewis controversially held the world premiere of his film "Living It Up" at Brown's, resulting in a fallout with co-star Dean Martin. For nearly 20 years, Brown's Hotel also served as the host for the annual Louis Tannen's Magic Jubilee. In 1978, Charles Brown passed away, and during that summer, Bob Hope made a notable appearance at a Catskills venue, earning $50,000 for it. At that time, Lillian Brown, who owned the hotel entirely, began to give her grandson Bruce small shares of stock. Unfortunately, societal shifts had taken a toll on Borscht Belt hotels, and Brown's Hotel struggled to remain viable. By 1985, Brown's Hotel, along with the Pines Hotel and Kutsher's, initiated a revival effort, with family members from various generations still in management. They aimed to attract families seeking second homes in the Catskills by building residences and offering access to the resorts' recreational and entertainment features. They launched model luxury townhouses, complete with cathedral ceilings and fireplaces, targeting a market different from typical hotel visitors. Hotels International invested in this project, with plans to construct hundreds, potentially thousands, of new homes in the region. Bruce Turiansky, who was the vice president and general manager of Brown's Hotel, held onto a sense of optimism about the initiative. However, as financial troubles deepened in 1986, accountant Bernard Lipsky convinced Lillian Brown to step down as president, allowing Bruce to take charge. This decision was aimed at projecting a fresh direction for the company. Yet, the revitalization plan ultimately faltered, leading Lillian to file for bankruptcy protection in 1988 when a deal to sell the hotel to another lodge owner fell through. Lillian Brown passed away on May 30, 1997, at the age of 93 in Miami Beach, Florida. Her memorial service was held in Monticello, New York, located just 14 miles from the former Brown's Hotel property. By this time, fewer than ten hotel resorts remained operational in Sullivan and Ulster counties, marking a significant decline for the once-bustling region. In early September 1988, the Times Herald-Record released an upbeat report about the Catskills, labeling it as the area's best summer in years. Paul Carlucci, president of the Catskills Resort Association, expressed optimism for Brown's Hotel's recovery from its financial struggles, a sentiment echoed by the hotel's president, Bruce Turiansky. However, after operating as a flourishing 570-room mountain retreat, Brown's Hotel shut its doors for the season on November 11, 1988, never to reopen again. Just 18 days later, the property, which spanned 160 acres, was sold at a foreclosure auction for $5.3 million to Vista Environments Inc., a Brooklyn-based real estate development company. Rubin Margules, the company's president, aimed to continue running the facility as a hotel. The sale proceeds were primarily used to cover a $5.2 million mortgage debt. In 1997, renovations commenced, transforming the site into the 396-unit Grandview Palace condominiums. Many original features were kept intact, including swimming pools, tennis courts, a miniature golf course, a chapel, a synagogue, and a bar, along with the preservation of the Jerry Lewis theater. The former hotel's restaurant, however, remained closed. The revamped property attracted a mixed community of residents, some seeking weekend getaways while others relocated permanently, showing promise as nearly 75% of the units sold out within the first few years after the renovations were completed. In March 2012, the city of Fallsburg threatened to condemn the Grandview Palace condominiums over numerous violations, including broken sprinklers and fire alarms. The owners responded by promising to address these issues. Due to concerns about fire safety, security personnel were required to patrol the grounds every half hour. On April 14, 2012, during one of these patrols, a guard noticed a wood-burning odor near an old boiler room at 5:05 p.m. but did not see any smoke. A tenant later reported smoke rising from the main building at 5:20 p.m., yet they did not think it was serious enough to call the authorities. By around 6:00 p.m., the guard checked the boiler room again after receiving more reports of smoke and found heavy smoke and flames at that point. The fire was officially reported at 6:06 p.m. However, the local fire chiefs from Loch Sheldrake, who were usually just 1.1 miles away, were out of town that weekend, necessitating the response from the Hurleyville Fire Department, located five miles away. The fire escalated into a massive blaze with flames reaching 20 to 30 feet high, leading to the involvement of over 43 fire companies and 300 firefighters. This event is regarded as one of the largest fires in Catskills history, spreading across nearly 20 acres of the local pine forests. The century-old wooden structure of the condominium complex suffered severe damage, with seven of the nine buildings destroyed, aided by connected hallways. Propane tank explosions worsened the situation, requiring the evacuation of over 100 residents, all of whom escaped serious injuries. Many of those affected were relocated to the sports complex at Sullivan County Community College, just under two miles from the property. Four firefighters suffered minor injuries, and the fire was finally brought under control by Sunday morning. On May 24, it was revealed that the fire had started in the main building of the condominiums, which had completely collapsed, initiating from an old boiler room that was part of the former Brown's Hotel basement. The damage was so extensive that the county's public safety commissioner, Dick Martinkovic, commented, "We’ll never be able to go in there and identify one specific cause.”