Apropos of the report that the Brevoort house was to be closed up there is a story that Lady Dunraven has been known to tell about the famous old inn. The countess is described by those who know her as a woman much more inclined to common sense than to ghost-haunted cock lanes, even with Dr. Johnson’s authority. She used to tell the facts in the tale simply for what they were worth. It was more than one decade ago, years before the Valkyrie was thought of, when Lord Dunraven was first interested in the mining regions of northern Michigan. He and Lady Dunraven were staying in New York for a few days before starting west and had taken rooms at the Brevoort–pleasant rooms–with a view of the avenue and a nice glimpse of Washington square. The first night, being tired with their voyage, they went early to bed, as it happened, not so early to sleep. Both the earl and countess were blessed with hearty English constitutions. They were not at all accustomed to lying awake till the small hours. They wondered what they could have done, what they could have eaten or drank to afflict them with such gratuitous vigilance. Just at a venture, finally, they bundled themselves out into an adjoining parlor, made themselves extempore couches there, and slept soundly till morning. Next night and the night after there was the same wakefulness and in the end the same migration to the adjoining room for relief. They began to think they should have to leave town earlier than they had planned, for they would not for the world have made any pretext to shift chambers. The explanation of the mystery, if it was an explanation, came out by chance. They had a call before long from and old-time New Yorker whom they met in England, and authority on all matters pertaining to the town’s history. “I wonder,” he remarked casually, “that they should have given you these rooms. You know it was in that room that a Mr. X. hanged himself.” It was in that room that Lord and Lady Dunraven had tried in vain to sleep, and they exchanged significant glances. Of course it was only a coincidence, they said, but the next day they took their departure for the west.–New York Tribune.
I can’t find any particular mention of a suicide at the Brevoort house, though it was a well-known place in New York on 5th Avenue. In some parts of the Web, it’s famous for being next door to Mark Twain’s house. It, along with the Twain house, was demolished in the 1950s to make room for an apartment building.
The Valkyrie was a yacht which won this beautiful cup in 1891. Later editons (Valkyrie II and III) competed in the America’s Cup but lost.
Lord Dunraven was more likely to have been going to Colorado for the mining. While it is true there are mines in northern Michigan, all references on the Web to Dunraven and mining are based further West. After all, there’s a Mount Dunraven in Estes Park, and Dunraven Pass in Yellowstone.