by James Hickman
Schiff Sovereign
Russian-born Lydia Lopokova was not happy with her accommodations at the posh Mount Washington Hotel.
The world-famous former ballerina complained that, in room 219, “the taps run all day, the windows do not close or open, the pipes mend and unmend.” Not to mention the hotel pool was absolutely frigid, even for someone who had grown up in frosty Saint Petersburg.
Lopokova coped by practicing her ballet moves late in the evening– the only time when the crisp New Hampshire mountain air made it tolerable enough to exercise.
But perhaps she was just being petty; US Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau was staying right below her in room 119… and Lopokova’s constant grande jetes and pirouettes reportedly kept him awake all night.