Casa Susanna Catskills Estate Was a Safe Escape for Queer and Trans People In the 1950s

July 14, 2023
TOMMY

Before there was Stonewall, before the Mattachine Society, and before the Annual Reminders, Queer people decidedly lived in the shadows. By and large, we had to keep our existences quiet for fear of being fired or even worse fear for our physical safety. But for as long as we've been ostracized we've had a support group of chosen family that have kept us together, and have kept us alive; such is the case with Casa Susanna.

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The property was first purchased by Susanna Valenti (for whom the getaway was known) and her wife Maria in the 1950s. A sprawling 150-acre estate, the two initially titled their retreat Chevalier d'Eon Resort, named after Chevaliere d'Eon. D'Eon was a French diplomat and spy who lived two lives: one as a man, and one as a woman in the 1700s. Well, at Chevalier d'Eon Resort trans-women and cis-men who wanted to cross-dress could sneak off upstate for a taste of what Charles d'Eon did so well. For $25/weekend, Susanna and Maria would give lessons in makeup and wigs (room and board included), without fear of judgment or threat to their safety.

To get the word out, they initially billed Casa Susanna as "the most gossiped-about show in the Catskills" and would host dinners and drag performances, then more commonly known as female impersonators. This allowed the retreat to gain mainstream acceptance. By having local families come to see the show, to say nothing of the Chief of Police and the Mayor of the town as patrons, it just becomes a bit of theatre that is fun for the whole family. And in gaining that acceptance, Susanna and Maria gained the ability to evolve Chevalier d'Eon Resort into Casa Susanna.

Still thinking about the Casa Susanna pictures at @BarbicanCentre's Another Kind of Life. A joyful photographic record of a community, and one (presumably) made on that community's own terms. pic.twitter.com/KUvsVp4736
— Iris Veysey (@IrisVeysey) June 6, 2018

A seemingly banal aspect of life actually proved to be one of the retreat's most special offerings: photography. Casa Susanna appointed frequent guest Andrea Susan to be the estate's official photographer. This meant that the people who stayed there could have lifetime keepsakes of them looking the way they know they're supposed to look, without fear of the photo negatives being used by a professional developer with bad intentions.

Casa Susanna is now the subject of an acclaimed documentary from the famous London Film Festival. From director Sébastien Lifshitz, Casa Susana is being featured as a part of PBS' American Experience collection. The documentary features archival footage and photographs, as well as interviews with people who once stayed there. They interview people like Diana who moved to New York City for the availability of gender-affirming care. It was here that she met Dr. Harry Benjamin, the German-American endocrinologist and sexologist who pioneered transgender medicine and research, but it was her trips to the Catskills haven that would first truly change her life. You can watch the entire hour-and-a-half documentary on PBS here, and you can see the trailer below! It's an incredible piece of Queer history that we should always remember!