Thompson

Contributed by H.R.S. (Tim) Ellis

Percy Thompson acquired “Karsalie” (now the Shadow Lawn Inn) from the Robertson estate and made additions to the original structure. He removed the cedar hedge fronting the property and replaced it with a brick wall. The coach house was converted into a garage to house a number of expensive cars, including a Marmon Roadster that made many young boy’s jaw drop in envious awe—chrome everything, including a massive swiveling headlamp at the driver’s elbow.

Mr. Thompson was interested in developing golf courses. He began with Riverside and built a large home on the edge of the coarse. His sister Mabel was a championship golfer. His only son Eric was also an athlete, an amateur baseball player who pitched for the village team on summer evenings on a ball field located on the present site of the Rothesay Park School. Owing to a dispute over property taxes, Mr. Thompson relocated from Rothesay to East Riverside and later Pinehurst, North Carolina.