Constructing the Inn took about two years, from 1912 through 1913, and involved a series of alterations to an existing hotel building located on a parcel of land adjoining Yama-no-uchi. When first opened, Yama Farms Inn hosted one hundred guests, almost all close friends of Seaman and Sarre’s. There were thirty-two rooms, most with private bathrooms and porches overlooking the grounds. Eventually more guestrooms were added along with three small cottages and a series of “tent houses” that had running water, electricity, and other amenities. Guests could eat in the dining room, with its French chef, Monsieur Parraudin, or at the more informal “Grill,” located in the Upper Gatehouse near the main road to Napanoch. There was even an outdoors kitchen at Jenny Brook Camp, only a short walk away. There, amidst the scenery and open air, another cook was available to prepare freshly caught trout, or anything else the guests might want, at any time of day. Throughout the Inn, meals were served at all hours, as were drinks (prohibition failed to make much of a dent on Yama Farms as Frank had hired a former French champagne maker to produce a special Yama Farms wine from grapes grown in the Yama Farms vineyards).  The 1300 acre resort offered tennis, golf, walking, hiking and horseback riding on miles of trails, trout fishing, various winter sports, as well as indoor activities such as movies and illustrated talks at the Inn’s own theater and reading in the Inn’s 4000-volume library. The Inn also had such added attractions as a Native American family from Nova Scotia who spent summers encamped in the woods by Jenny Brook, as well as outdoor pageants presided over by Wild West showman Buffalo Bill Cody. 

In addition to a dining room in the Inn’s main building, presided over by a series of French chefs, there was also a less formal dining room (the Grill) located in the Lodge (at the upper gateway), as well as an outdoors kitchen at the Jenny Brook hatchery.

Initially, almost all the Inn’s guests were personal friends of Seaman’s and Sarre’s. The Inn ultimately adopted a “by invitation only” policy. 

Guests desiring a more rustic experience could stay in one of several “tent houses” (each had running water, electricity and other amenities).

The Inn staged outdoor “pageants,” some featuring Buffalo Bill Cody.

Chief Peter, of the Mi’kmaq People of Nova Scotia, spent part of every year at the Inn, lecturing on Native Americans and instructing the guests in various outdoors pursuits and Native American lifeways  and philosophy.

The Inn’s 1300 acres allowed guests the freedom to hike, horseback ride, or simply wander through the Japanese-inspired gardens.

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