Purchased in 2001 by Bob and Kristina Doliszny, the old “Croft Hall Hotel” was about to go through its greatest resurrection since being built almost 100 years earlier. With dreams inspired by vision of high-end luxury, chic sophistication, first class amenities, and upscale elegance, Bob and Kristina were planning a new business venture, a dramatic change in their New York City area corporate careers, a new home for their family, and most importantly, a much better quality of life in Ocean City. They took on a mission to restore and renovate the “grand old lady of Ocean City” into the Island’s premier and most luxurious, comfortable, and award-winning place to stay.

Ocean City’s Grand Victorian was originally built in 1905 by one of Ocean City’s founding fathers, Reverend James E. Lake, who together with his brothers (the Lake Brothers) founded Ocean City in 1879. In 1894, the original tract of land, on which the building currently stands, was purchased from the State of New Jersey. Following the completion of one of Ocean City’s most majestic Victorian buildings, Rev. Lake and his wife Emily M. Lake moved in on May 17, 1905. As the property’s founding and first prominent owners, the Lake family both resided here and rented guest rooms until April 15, 1922, when they sold the property to Edmund V. and Martha Holcroft. In the roaring 1920s, the Holcrofts, the property’s second prominent owners, built a large addition to the back of the building, bringing the home to its current square footage of roughly 10,000 square feet, and named the property the “Croft Hall Hotel”. The building consisted of 30 rooms, 4 apartments (one which doubled as a restaurant for some time), 9 shared baths, outside showers with dressing rooms, and a laundry facility.

Throughout the early 1900s, distinguished high-society Philadelphians vacationed in Ocean City’s Lake Home/Croft Hall Hotel and published its address as their own summer/vacationing address in the Philadelphia society page newspapers. On August 1, 1945, the Holcrofts sold the property to Louisa T. Corson, who flipped the property 6 months later to Edwin J. Harriette E. Pelkey on April 9, 1946. Two years later, on June 15, 1948, the property’s third prominent owner, Jonas Jasinskas, acquired the property and sold it on July 9, 1975 to the fourth prominent owners, Theodore and Janina Mychailyshyn, who eventually sold it to their daughter and son-in-law, Kristina and Robert Doliszny, on March 24, 2001.

Although the property remained in the family, it was in dire need of rehabilitation. After purchasing the property, the Dolisznys did their best in “fixing up” the building and continued to run the property as a guest house for one season under its new name, the “Atlantis Hotel”. The original Lake House/Croft Hall Hotel/Atlantis Hotel was run as a seasonal family guest house for almost 100 years before her final and complete renovation transformed her into the beautiful “Atlantis Inn Luxury Bed & Breakfast”. The all-encompassing renovation project began on June 24, 2002, and was completed on June 30, 2003.

Overall, the Luxury Inn’s complete transformation lasted approximately one year. The Dolisznys gutted the building completely down to the studs. Surprisingly, the original lumber was in exceptionally good condition, and in some places still retained its original bark from the trees it was cut from in 1905. The floor plans of the building were redesigned, and only the building’s footprint/skeleton as well as each of the interior staircases remained original, but completely refurbished. The Luxury Inn equipped itself with brand-new plumbing; complete fire suppression and alarm; natural gas piping to include 6 vented gas fireplaces; HVAC individual temp control system; Andersen doors & windows; fire rock walls and ceilings; soundproofing materials in all walls and ceilings; crown moldings and wainscoting throughout; exterior siding and decorative moldings; American cherry hardwood interior flooring; Honduran mahogany covered porch verandah; and a 1,600-square-foot Philippine Mahogany rooftop deck with ocean views. Some 700 4x8 sheets of 5/8” sheetrock were used to rebuild the interior. All these materials were brought in to give the “Grand Old Lady” a complete transformation from the inside out in order to create upscale luxury accommodations. The Inn was exclusively designed in a sophisticated European chic style, and its furnishings and décor were themed after elegant French, Italian, and Spanish destinations.