Jeffrey Epstein Scholarship Lodge: Interlochen’s Green Lake Lodge
Snapshot
| Field | Documented information |
|---|---|
| Historical property | Jeffrey E. Epstein Scholarship Lodge, later called Green Lake Lodge |
| Institution | Interlochen Center for the Arts, Michigan |
| Property type | Campus guest lodge designed to generate scholarship income, with complimentary donor use |
| Planning and construction | Planning correspondence in 1993; construction and use documented in 1994 |
| Contemporary description | Approximately 1,500 square feet, three bedrooms and cedar log construction, with accessibility features |
| Acknowledged project gift | $200,000 in February 1994 institutional letters |
| Funding records | $15,000 attributed to the J. Epstein Foundation in November 1993; a $185,000 Wexner Foundation lodge designation in the later donor database |
| Donor benefit | Up to two weeks of annual complimentary use, described in institutional correspondence |
| Maxwell connection | Furnishing consultation, lodge correspondence and records used to corroborate her 1994 presence |
| Naming change | Epstein recognition removed in 2009; the building became Green Lake Lodge |
| Later evidence | Federal investigative correspondence, June 2020 grand jury testimony and November 2021 institutional records production |
| Reported conduct at the lodge | An anonymous alumna’s account summarized by Interlochen in 2026; attributed allegation rather than a court finding |
| Demolition | Approved in 2026 and subsequently completed, according to Interlochen; authorities photographed and surveyed the lodge beforehand |
| Ownership distinction | Donor naming and reserved use do not establish that Epstein privately owned the campus property |
| Last checked | October 8, 2026 |
The Jeffrey E. Epstein Scholarship Lodge was conceived as an Interlochen campus facility whose rental income would support students. Historical correspondence also gave Epstein complimentary annual use, involved him in design decisions and consulted Ghislaine Maxwell about furnishings. The building therefore combined a charitable fundraising purpose with a concrete benefit and recurring campus access for its donor.
Interlochen later renamed the building Green Lake Lodge and confirmed its demolition in 2026. Its history now survives through institutional letters, donor records, federal evidence and accounts of encounters associated with the campus. The surviving documents establish a much more specific relationship than the shorthand description of an Epstein cabin, while stopping short of showing private legal ownership by Epstein.
The property is one part of the larger Interlochen investigation and institutional history. The lodge’s construction, funding, use, naming and removal have their own documentary chronology.
Important Points
- The lodge was a campus guest facility. Its name and Epstein’s reserved use should not be confused with a deed establishing personal ownership.
- Letters from 1993 and 1994 document an accessibility project, donor participation in planning and an intended scholarship income stream.
- The institution acknowledged a $200,000 project gift. Its records separately identify a $15,000 Epstein Foundation contribution and a $185,000 Wexner Foundation lodge designation, with dates that require care when reconstructing the funding sequence.
- The February 1994 agreement described two weeks of annual donor use and offered to facilitate meetings with scholarship recipients. These were concrete benefits documented in correspondence.
- Maxwell was included in furnishing discussions and received a December 1994 letter about an item found during lodge cleaning, further reservations and stored personal supplies.
- Federal investigators used Interlochen correspondence and August 1994 flight entries to corroborate Epstein’s and Maxwell’s presence. A flight record alone does not establish what happened inside a building.
- The institution’s 2009 and 2019 internal reviews concerned reports in its records. Later accounts from alumni added information that those reviews had not recorded.
- The 2026 public statement describes one alumna’s allegation of inappropriate contact at the lodge. The wider external investigation did not make individual credibility determinations.
- The demolition is documented as completed, rather than merely proposed. The institution says local authorities took photographs and surveyed for evidence before removal.
From Alumni Donor to a Named Campus Building
Interlochen’s public account identifies Epstein as a 1967 summer camper and a donor from 1990 through 2003. The lodge was one element of that relationship, alongside general contributions, scholarship support and alumni activity.
An August 26, 1993 planning memorandum, marked EFTA01265764 in the released production, describes a proposed scholarship lodge and the adaptation of plans for wheelchair accessibility. It says Town and Country Log Homes had been instructed to provide blueprints and that an architect was modifying the design. The memorandum supplied a preliminary cost range for part of the project, rather than a final construction invoice.
Epstein’s November 8, 1993 response, EFTA01265763, comments on the design and connects his willingness to fund the project to changes in the plans. The document demonstrates active donor involvement in a particular building. It does not document a purchase of campus land or a transfer of title to him.
Interlochen’s February 22, 1994 board acknowledgment, EFTA01265717, describes the planned lodge as an accessible facility designed to meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements. That is the institution’s contemporary description of the project’s purpose and intended standard, not a separate modern certification of compliance.
The distinction between campus building and private estate matters throughout this history. The documents describe Interlochen arranging construction, managing bookings, anticipating rental income and accommodating guests. Epstein’s influence arose through funding, recognition and donor privileges within that institutional arrangement.
The $200,000 Gift and the Funding Record
A November 12, 1993 acknowledgment, EFTA01265709, thanks the J. Epstein Foundation for $15,000 directed toward the accessible scholarship lodge. The corresponding institutional donor entry also designates $15,000 to the Epstein Lodge.
A later donor database page, EFTA01265693, lists the Wexner Foundation as donor of $185,000, designates the money to the Epstein Lodge and gives a July 25, 1994 close date. The record was printed from the institution’s system in February 2020. Its significance is the named donor and designated project; the print date is not the date of the gift.
The February 9, 1994 letter to Epstein, EFTA01265713 and EFTA01265714, already thanks him for a $200,000 lodge gift. The arithmetic of $15,000 plus $185,000 matches that acknowledged project amount, but the record dates should not be flattened into a seamless account of one wire.
Epstein’s December 27, 1993 memorandum, EFTA01265711, asks the institution to acknowledge $185,000 that he said had been wired into its general account the previous Friday. That is earlier than the July 1994 date on the Wexner Foundation donor entry. The available pages do not fully reconcile the wire statement, donor credit and later database dating.
The safest account is that Interlochen acknowledged a $200,000 lodge project while its records identify both Epstein Foundation and Wexner Foundation related funding. The documents do not justify calling all $200,000 a personally funded Epstein gift, treating every reference to $185,000 as a separate donation, or inferring wrongdoing by a foundation from a project contribution.
Federal investigators noticed this issue in March 2020. Their email points to the $185,000 Wexner Foundation designation and the $200,000 acknowledgment letter. It records investigative attention to the funding; it is not a finding that resolves every accounting date or the ultimate source of every dollar.
Construction, Accessibility and the Scholarship Model
The February 9, 1994 construction update says a contract had been executed, construction scheduled and a June completion target retained. It also records donor approval of drawings and says furnishing proposals would be sent to Maxwell for comment. The institution, donor and Maxwell were therefore communicating about more than a ceremonial naming decision.
A May 26, 1994 letter, EFTA01265769, accompanies photographs and a homemade video showing construction progress. It anticipates the institution’s use of the facility. A February 1995 letter, EFTA01265718, then describes the lodge as having been built the previous year and as a prominent guest accommodation.
The contemporary project description, EFTA01265774, calls the building an approximately 1,500 square foot, three bedroom cedar log cabin on Green Lake. It presents accessibility as a principal benefit and identifies parents, guests and visiting artists as intended users.
The same description forecasts approximately $15,000 in annual rental income to support partial scholarships at the Camp and Academy. That is a projection in a fundraising document. It is not evidence that the lodge actually earned that amount in every year or that a specific student’s tuition was paid from a particular booking.
The February 1994 letter provides a more detailed proposed allocation. It anticipates setting aside the first camp season’s net income for maintenance and replacement costs, then directing succeeding income to a named scholarship fund. These plans explain the scholarship lodge designation, but the reviewed correspondence is not a complete set of operating accounts or scholarship disbursements.
Reserved Donor Use and Student Introductions
The second page of the February 9, 1994 letter, EFTA01265714, tells Epstein he may use the lodge for two weeks each year and asks which weeks he would like reserved. It describes that benefit in connection with the institution’s understanding of charitable tax treatment. The letter is evidence of what was offered, not a legal opinion endorsing the arrangement’s tax treatment.
The same page says scholarship recipients would be asked to communicate with the donor and offers to help arrange meetings on campus. This is an important documented point of access: the institution’s proposed relationship joined funding, accommodation and introductions to students.
That correspondence does not establish that every recipient met Epstein, that every offered introduction occurred, or that employees knew of abuse. It does show how an approved donor relationship could place a benefactor in an educational setting with opportunities for personal contact. Questions about what happened in individual encounters require their own evidence.
The lodge’s project description repeats the optional fourteen days of complimentary use. The benefit was therefore part of the institution’s written description of the project, rather than a claim derived only from later reporting.
An August 23, 1994 internal memorandum, EFTA01265773, discusses a $900 charge associated with use of the lodge. Timothy Ambrose objected to charging the cost back to the advancement department and framed the use as a benefit connected to the successful fundraising. The memorandum documents an internal allocation dispute; it does not show a commercial rent payment by Epstein or establish that every later stay was free.
Maxwell’s Role in the Lodge Correspondence
The construction update says furnishing packages and quotations would be sent to Maxwell for suggestions. Her inclusion supports an administrative role in preparing the accommodation. It does not establish that she owned the building or held an institutional position at Interlochen.
Ambrose’s December 23, 1994 letter to Maxwell, EFTA01265715, is particularly significant. It returns an envelope found while the lodge was being cleaned, discusses a lodge reservation for Epstein and notes that he could reserve another week for himself or guests. It also refers to stored items belonging to him and asks Maxwell about the inventory.
The letter establishes an ongoing practical relationship with the building. It is stronger evidence of lodge use and administration than a generic donor list. At the same time, it does not identify the envelope’s contents or show that stored household supplies had any criminal purpose.
Because the letter is dated in December and refers to an August camp week, the reservation passage should not simply be treated as a contemporaneous confirmation of the preceding August stay. The separate 1994 flight and investigative records provide the evidence for the earlier visit.
The letter also anticipates temporary use by Interlochen’s incoming president while the president’s family awaited its furniture. That reference concerns institutional accommodation and underscores that the lodge served users other than Epstein and Maxwell. It is not a reference to a United States president.
The August 1994 Visit in Federal Evidence
The June 29, 2020 grand jury transcript, EFTA00008631, records an FBI agent describing interviews and documentary corroboration concerning a young person’s meeting with Epstein and Maxwell at Interlochen in 1994. The witness’s identifying details are redacted in the released transcript and are not reconstructed here.
On printed pages 15 through 17, marked EFTA00008645 through EFTA00008647, the agent discusses the lodge donation, an institutional letter inviting Epstein to visit, and flight records. The questioning identifies an August 18, 1994 flight into Traverse City and an August 20 departure whose listed passengers included the initials G.M., identified in the testimony as Maxwell.
The agent then describes the letter to Maxwell about an envelope found in the lodge where they had stayed. Taken together, the documents provided investigators with ways to test the reported presence of Epstein and Maxwell at the camp. They did not rely solely on a later recollection of an encounter.
The transcript also distinguishes the initial camp meeting from subsequent contact in Palm Beach. That separation is essential. Evidence that a relationship began at Interlochen does not mean every later alleged act occurred at the lodge, and proof of travel to the area does not establish the conduct of every passenger.
Grand jury testimony is a presentation of evidence in an investigative and charging process. The agent’s account was based partly on records and interviews with others. The transcript should not be described as a verdict resolving all conduct at Interlochen or as firsthand observation by the agent of the 1994 stay.
The Records Supplied to Investigators
The March 2020 email chain, EFTA00097133, shows prosecutors examining Interlochen’s production for scholarship and tuition records as well as lodge documents. One message asks whether the institution had supplied records of all tuition payments made by Epstein or his entities. The request indicates a question about completeness rather than a settled accounting of every student supported.
The same chain notes the February 1994 gift letter, the Wexner Foundation designation and the December letter to Maxwell. These references connect the institution’s archived documents to the federal investigation. They also show why tuition support and the lodge must be examined separately: the building’s projected income, direct tuition payments and other charitable contributions were not necessarily the same financial stream.
A November 18, 2021 email from Interlochen finance official Daniel Besselsen, EFTA00159745, transmits material associated with government exhibits 742 and 743 and a then current picture of the building. He explicitly identifies the former Epstein Scholarship Lodge as the renamed Green Lake Lodge.
That email provides a dated bridge between the historic name and the later one. The released packet contains extensive redactions in associated student material. Those redactions do not authorize identification of students or reconstruction of their applications. The property relevant evidence is the institution’s identification of the building and its continued provision of records to investigators.
Renaming and the Limits of the Earlier Internal Reviews
Interlochen Public Radio’s May 26, 2026 report dates the removal of Epstein’s recognition and the Green Lake Lodge name to 2009. The newsroom discloses its institutional affiliation and says its reporting operates independently of senior Interlochen officials.
Interlochen’s own statement says it reviewed its records in 2009 after learning of Epstein’s first conviction and again following his 2019 arrest. It says those reviews located no recorded reports of misconduct at Interlochen involving him.
That is a statement about what the reviews found in the institution’s records. It cannot establish that no misconduct occurred or that no one attempted to report a concern. Later accounts, discussed below, added information outside the earlier recorded material. The sequence should be preserved rather than citing an old absence of records as a final answer to later allegations.
The 2021 finance email independently establishes that the Green Lake Lodge name was already in use by that date. No inference about a continuing Epstein ownership interest follows from retention of the physical building after its donor recognition was removed.
The Alumna’s Account Concerning the Lodge
Interlochen’s 2026 summary describes an alumna who reported meeting Epstein and Maxwell on campus and being invited to the lodge. She said Epstein brushed against her body over her clothes there and touched her inappropriately during later New York visits. The institution says its records confirmed his funding of her tuition.
The lodging allegation and the subsequent New York account describe different locations. A second alumna’s account summarized by the institution concerns an introduction and later conduct in New York; it should not be relocated to Green Lake Lodge. Neither account is merged here with the redacted person discussed in the 2020 grand jury transcript.
The external investigation’s published methodology is also important. Interlochen says investigators gathered and chronicled experiences, accepted reports as true for that purpose, and did not make individual credibility determinations or investigate every account to determine whether events occurred as reported.
The resulting material warrants careful attention without being mislabeled as a criminal conviction, a civil judgment or an independently adjudicated finding about the lodge. The broader report concerns many people and periods unrelated to this building. Its wider institutional findings belong in the separate investigation article.
Demolition in 2026 and Documentation Before Removal
The May 26, 2026 Interlochen Public Radio report announced the board’s decision to remove Green Lake Lodge. At that stage, demolition was planned and a precise schedule had not been supplied. That report should not be used on its own to claim the building had already been razed.
The institution’s later public investigation information states that the demolition was completed. It says local authorities visited beforehand to photograph the structure and survey it for evidence. The stated institutional rationale was the building’s association with Epstein and the judgment that retaining it no longer reflected Interlochen’s values.
The statement documents a pre-demolition visit by authorities. It does not identify every object examined, disclose a forensic inventory or establish what evidence was recovered. Nor does it show that every potential evidentiary question was resolved before the building was removed.
The historical record therefore has two distinct endpoints: removal of the donor name in 2009 and removal of the physical structure in 2026. Photographs, construction correspondence, donor records and testimony remain relevant after the building’s demolition. Their preservation is especially important because later readers can no longer inspect the structure itself.
Chronology
| Date | Event or record | What the record supports |
|---|---|---|
| Summer 1967 | Epstein attends Interlochen Arts Camp, according to the institution | Earlier alumni connection |
| 1990 through 2003 | Institutional donor period | Broad context for lodge and scholarship support |
| August 26, 1993 | Planning memorandum | Proposed accessible scholarship lodge and preliminary design work |
| November 8, 1993 | Epstein comments on plans | Active donor participation in design |
| November 12, 1993 | $15,000 foundation acknowledgment | Early contribution designated for the lodge |
| December 27, 1993 | Epstein refers to a $185,000 wire | A funding statement requiring comparison with later donor records |
| February 9 and 22, 1994 | $200,000 acknowledgments and construction terms | Naming, construction, annual use and intended scholarship model |
| May 26, 1994 | Construction photographs and video sent | Work progressing toward use |
| July 25, 1994 | Date on $185,000 Wexner Foundation donor entry | Institutional designation to the lodge; date differs from the earlier wire memorandum |
| August 18 and 20, 1994 | Flight entries discussed in federal testimony | Corroboration of presence in the region |
| August 23, 1994 | Internal $900 billing memorandum | Institutional handling of donor accommodation cost |
| December 23, 1994 | Letter to Maxwell | Cleaning discovery, reservations and personal inventory correspondence |
| February 21, 1995 | Letter describes the lodge built the previous year | Confirmation of 1994 construction and guest use |
| March 7, 1996 | Proposed donor plaque wording | Continued formal recognition of Epstein’s gift |
| 2009 | Donor recognition removed and building renamed | Green Lake Lodge replaces the Epstein name |
| 2019 | Second internal record review | Institution reports no recorded Epstein misconduct complaints found in that review |
| March and June 2020 | Federal investigative emails and grand jury testimony | Lodge records incorporated into the criminal investigation |
| November 18, 2021 | Institutional email supplies exhibits and photograph | Original and renamed lodge identified as the same building |
| May 26, 2026 | Demolition plan reported | Board approval, before confirmed completion |
| July 2026 public investigation materials | Demolition confirmed and alumna account summarized | Latest institutional account of the building and reported conduct |
Evidence Appearances
| Record and locator | Date | Property relevance | Principal limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| EFTA01265764, PDF page 269 of EFTA01265496 | August 26, 1993 | Preliminary scholarship lodge planning | Cost estimate and proposal, not final construction accounting |
| EFTA01265763, PDF page 268 | November 8, 1993 | Epstein’s design comments | Donor influence does not establish land ownership |
| EFTA01265709, PDF page 214 | November 12, 1993 | $15,000 J. Epstein Foundation acknowledgment | One component of project funding |
| EFTA01265693, PDF page 198 | Entry dated July 25, 1994; printed February 2020 | $185,000 Wexner Foundation lodge designation | Database date is not a complete wire chronology |
| EFTA01265711, PDF page 216 | December 27, 1993 | Epstein’s statement concerning $185,000 wired | Earlier than the donor entry; no duplicate donation inferred |
| EFTA01265713 and EFTA01265714, PDF pages 218 and 219 | February 9, 1994 | $200,000 gift, building progress, Maxwell consultation, use and scholarship terms | Plans and institutional representations are not proof of every later result |
| EFTA01265715, PDF page 220 | December 23, 1994 | Maxwell correspondence and continued lodge administration | Envelope contents unspecified; future reservation not an earlier stay confirmation |
| EFTA01265773 and EFTA01265774, PDF pages 278 and 279 | 1994 memorandum and contemporary project description | Billing, building description and rental income model | $15,000 annual income is projected |
| EFTA00097133 and EFTA00097134 | March 2020 | Investigators review donor and lodge records | Questions and leads, not completed findings |
| EFTA00008645 through EFTA00008647, transcript pages 15 to 17 | June 29, 2020 | Lodge, flight and correspondence evidence | Agent testimony based partly on interviews and records |
| EFTA00159745 | November 18, 2021 | Interlochen identifies renamed lodge and supplies exhibit material | Redacted student material is not reconstructed |
| Interlochen statement and investigation information | 2026 | Alumna accounts, methodology and demolition | Institutional account and non-adjudicative investigation |
Related Articles
- Interlochen Investigation Documents Decades of Reported Abuse and New Jeffrey Epstein Accounts: Broader institutional reporting and investigation history.
- 9 East 71st Street: Jeffrey Epstein’s Manhattan Townhouse: Separate New York property relevant to later contacts and allegations.
- 358 El Brillo Way: Jeffrey Epstein’s Palm Beach Mansion: Separate Florida setting in the federal witness narrative.
- Ghislaine Maxwell Entities: Context for Maxwell’s documented administrative and financial relationships.
Sources
- EFTA01265496: Interlochen’s 293-page released production, including donor database entries, original letters, planning correspondence and project descriptions. Exact internal Bates references are supplied above.
- EFTA00097133: March 2020 federal correspondence concerning Interlochen’s production, lodge funding and tuition records.
- EFTA00008631: June 29, 2020 grand jury transcript, especially printed pages 13 through 17.
- EFTA00159745: November 18, 2021 Interlochen finance correspondence supplying exhibits and a photograph of the renamed lodge.
- Statement from Interlochen Center for the Arts: Alumni and donor history, internal reviews, lodge allegation and confirmation of demolition.
- Interlochen external investigation information: Published July 28, 2026, including methodology, reported accounts and institutional response.
- Interlochen Public Radio, May 26, 2026: Demolition announcement, renaming history and disclosed newsroom relationship to the institution.