The first of two hotels called the Kent House was built in 1875 east of the Lakeview House, on a site later partly occupied by the present day Chautauqua Lake Yacht Club. Its 103 bedrooms accommodated 500 guests, opening off one-quarter mile of hallways, while two miles of gas lines supplied light and power, and a 400 foot long wide dock allowed large steamers to unload broadside. This frame building burned to the ground in 1887. In 1888, a second Kent House opened on the same site, a massive five-story hotel with a 125 foot ornamental tower and observatory. Antique oak furniture and fine woodwork in its 250 guest rooms and lobby made it a showplace, and fire prevention measures included electric fire alarm bells and fire extinguishers placed every few feet throughout the building. After 1903, as the resort hotel business grew out of styles, the hotel ceased operations. Its entire contents were auctioned off in 1909, the building was razed in 1916, and salvaged material, including 600,000 feet of kindling woods, was used in constructing many village homes.