Mount Stephen House was a hotel located in

Field, British Columbia Field is an unincorporated community of approximately 169 people located in the Kicking Horse River valley of southeastern British Columbia, Canada, within the confines of Yoho National Park. At an elevation of , it is west of Lake Louise a ...

from 1886 to 1963. It was owned by the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

(CPR), and was a central feature of

Yoho National Park Yoho National Park ( ) is a National Parks of Canada, national park of Canada. It is located within the Canadian Rockies, Rocky Mountains along the western slope of the Continental Divide of the Americas in southeastern British Columbia, bordere ...

. It was named for the eponymous

Mount Stephen Mount Stephen, , is a mountain located in the Kicking Horse River Valley of Yoho National Park, km east of Field, British Columbia, Field, British Columbia, Canada. The mountain was named in 1886 for George Stephen, 1st Baron Mount Stephen, Geo ...

, which was named for a president of the CPR, George Stephen. Along with Glacier House in Glacier National Park and Fraser Canyon House (aka Canyon House) at North Bend in the

Fraser Canyon The Fraser Canyon is a major landform of the Fraser River where it descends rapidly through narrow rock gorges in the Coast Mountains en route from the Interior Plateau of British Columbia to the Fraser Valley. Colloquially, the term "Fraser Ca ...

, it was designed by Thomas Sorby. Because of the steep grade of the " Big Hill" east of Field (which climbs to the

Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...

), heavy dining cars could not be hauled over this section of track. The hotel was designed as a simple meal stop between Banff and Golden. The demand for overnight visits increased as tourists began to explore the surrounding area. Between 1900 and 1902, the hotel underwent a major expansion designed by architect Francis Rattenbury. Sorby's small rectangular building was augmented with fifty new rooms, as well as amenities such as a billiards room and modern plumbing. Rattenbury changed Sorby's Alpine architecture to something closer to English Tudor design, adding gables and exposed wood beams. In its heyday between 1885 and 1918, the hotel was frequented by wealthy Europeans, and had a large dining room, ballroom, and a library. The hotel was managed by Annie Mollison; her sister Jean was the manager at Glacier House. Mount Mollison in the nearby Ottertail Range is named for the sisters. In 1918, the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

took over the management, and it became primarily accommodation for CPR employees. In 1953, CPR resumed the management, and the next year demolished all but the 1902 wing to provide space for a new station. In 1963, the remainder of the building was demolished.

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{{Commons category-inline, Mount Stephen House, British Columbia Canadian Pacific Railway hotels Hotels established in 1885 Yoho National Park 1885 establishments in British Columbia