Friends of Josephine, LLC · Jim Thorpe, Carbon County, Pennsylvania Reservations · 973‑223‑9762
Friends of Josephine Five houses
The Central Railroad of New Jersey station in Jim Thorpe — a red brick Victorian depot with a slate turret, the wooded ridge rising behind it.

The station at Jim Thorpe

Five houses, half a block from the train.

Josephine loved this town — the trails above it, the river below it, the whistle coming up the gorge. Our family keeps five houses here and rents them out so other families can have the same week she had. Every one takes children. Every one takes dogs.

See the five houses Call 973-223-9762
  • Sleeps 6 to 16+
  • Dogs welcome
  • Self check‑in
  • Walk to Broadway
01 Josephine’s Place in the Mountains 3 bedrooms · 2 baths · sleeps 8 Go → 02 Josephine’s Apartment at Packer Hill Avenue 2 bedrooms · 2 baths · sleeps 6 Go → 03 Josephine’s Place in Town 6 bedrooms · 2½ baths · sleeps 14 Go → 04 Josephine’s Mansion at the Switchback Trail 6 bedrooms · 10 beds · 16+ guests Go → 05 Josephine’s Home at the Switchback Trail 4 bedrooms · sleeps 12 Go →

The houses

One family looks after all five.

Each one books through its own Airbnb listing, where the dates and prices are always live. If you are not sure which one fits your group, call and we will work it out with you.

No. 01

Josephine’s Place in the Mountains

  • 3 bedrooms
  • 2 baths
  • Sleeps 8
  • Wood fire
  • Dogs welcome

A cozy house with a lovely wood burning fireplace in the living room and an amazing view of the mountains. At the heart of the historical town of Jim Thorpe with its train station, which offers a scenic train loop ride in between the mountains. A short distance to amazing hiking and biking trails at Lehigh Gorge State Park.

Jim Thorpe is also close to Mauch Chunk Lake State Park, which offers boating and fishing. Whitewater rafting on the Lehigh River is another option.

The space

A very warm place close to nature and a historic town with many antique stores, museums and beautiful churches.

Guest access
  • Self check-in code
  • Access to the fenced yard
  • Front porch with lounge chairs
Worth knowing
  • The backyard is enclosed by a fence, which is ideal for kids and pets.
  • Cable TV is not offered. Smart TV with Wi-Fi only — guests sign into their own accounts.
Click HERE to book

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No. 02

Josephine’s Apartment at Packer Hill Avenue

  • Packer Hill Avenue
  • ½ block from the station
  • 2 bedrooms
  • Sleeps 6
  • Dogs welcome

This deluxe, brand new apartment is at the heart of Jim Thorpe, neighboring the Asa Packer Mansion and the Harry Packer Mansion — only half a block from the town train station, which offers scenic rides in between the mountains.

The apartment has a direct view of the surrounding mountains and the Lehigh River, and sits at the entrance of the Switchback Trail. There is plenty of parking, and direct access to that beautiful trail leading to Mauch Chunk Lake Park.

The space

The entire two-bedroom apartment is yours.

Worth knowing
  • This is a basement apartment above street level, with an independent entrance and an amazing view.
  • There is a full house on top of this apartment that is also available — see No. 05.
Click HERE to book

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No. 03

Josephine’s Place in Town

  • Downtown
  • ½ block from the station
  • 6 bedrooms
  • Sleeps 14
  • Dogs welcome

This Victorian style home is located at the heart of Jim Thorpe, neighboring the Asa Packer Mansion and the Harry Packer Mansion. Only half a block from the town train station, which offers scenic rides in between the mountains.

The home has a direct view of the surrounding mountains and the Lehigh River and is located across from the entrance of the Switchback Trail. It has plenty of parking space and direct access to this beautiful trail leading to Mauch Chunk Lake Park.

Room for a crowd

Six bedrooms across a full Victorian house — the roomiest of the five for two or three families travelling together, with everyone still two minutes from Broadway.

Click HERE to book

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No. 04

Josephine’s Mansion at the Switchback Trail

  • Switchback Trail
  • 6 bedrooms
  • 10 beds
  • 4½ baths
  • 16+ guests

The largest of the five — six bedrooms, ten beds and four and a half baths, with room for sixteen guests and more. If you are bringing a reunion, a wedding party or three families at once, this is the one that holds everybody under a single roof.

It stands on the Switchback Trail with the mountains straight ahead and the town a short walk downhill.

Somewhere to work

A common area with Wi-Fi that’s well suited for working.

Letting yourself in

Check yourself in with the keypad.

Click HERE to book

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No. 05

Josephine’s Home at the Switchback Trail

  • Switchback Trail
  • ½ block from the station
  • 4 bedrooms
  • Sleeps 12
  • Dogs welcome

This deluxe enchanted home is located at the heart of Jim Thorpe, neighboring the Asa Packer Mansion and the Harry Packer Mansion. Only half a block from the town train station, which offers scenic rides in between the mountains.

The home has a direct view of the surrounding mountains and the Lehigh River. It sits at the entrance of the Switchback Trail with plenty of parking space and direct access to this beautiful trail leading to Mauch Chunk Lake Park.

The space

The front entrance leads to the staircase and the second floor with four bedrooms. One of them is a suite — very spacious, with a hot tub and a private bathroom with an amazing view. The other three bedrooms share one and a half bathrooms.

The home has maple flooring in the living room extending into the custom kitchen, which features solid maple cabinets, granite and onyx counter-tops and stainless steel appliances. Beautiful hand-cut Terraza stone with a ceramic arch surrounds a gas fireplace, there are custom cultured granite vanities in each bathroom, and tall arched windows let in tons of natural light.

Guest access

Guests have access to all bedrooms, the kitchen, and the front and back porches. The spacious driveway can accommodate six cars.

Worth knowing
  • We are neighbored by the Asa Packer Mansion, only half a block from the train station and the town shopping areas and restaurants.
  • This home is a split level. There is a basement apartment also available.
  • The hot tub mentioned under amenities is a jetted jacuzzi for two in the master bedroom — not an outdoor hot tub.
Click HERE to book

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The Lehigh River running through the gorge between hillsides turning gold and rust in autumn.
The Lehigh, below the townLehigh Gorge State Park
Onoko Falls in Glen Onoko, photographed about 1895 — a tall waterfall dropping through a wooded ravine.
Onoko Falls, Glen Onoko · photographed by William H. Rau, about 1895

About us

Who Josephine was

Our Josephine was 12 years old when she was diagnosed with brain cancer — a specific form called Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, or DIPG. Children today have the same survival rate as children diagnosed with DIPG forty years ago. Josephine passed away at age 13 after a courageous fight. We dedicate our farm, Dogos, and these properties to her memory.

Josephine loved nature, and especially loved Jim Thorpe. Before moving to the area in 2018, our family spent a lot of time hiking, camping, rafting, biking and enjoying the outdoors here.

Our Josephine’s spirit is everywhere we look — in the parks, rivers, bike trails and the gentle breeze.

We honor her love of Jim Thorpe through your visits to our homes, because we know she wants to share the beauty of what is offered in this beautiful area with you.

What DIPG is

  • A tumour that grows in the pons, part of the brainstem. It is found most often in children between about five and ten years old.
  • Because of where it grows, it cannot be removed by surgery.
  • Radiation eases symptoms and buys time. There is still no cure.
  • Survival has barely moved in forty years — which is why families like ours keep saying its name out loud.

Before it was Jim Thorpe

This was Mauch Chunk.

A coal town wedged into the gorge, and for a while one of the most visited places in America. The Switchback Gravity Railroad of 1827 hauled anthracite down from Summit Hill by gravity and mules; when the coal moved elsewhere the town sold rides on it instead, and it became the ancestor of every roller coaster since. The trail that begins outside three of our houses is its old roadbed.

Men standing beside the track of the Switchback Gravity Railroad on a steep wooded incline, in a 19th-century stereograph.
The SwitchbackThe incline out of Mauch Chunk
Nineteenth-century view of Mauch Chunk: a church spire, tight rows of houses and railway track running along the valley floor.
The valleyTrack along the town, from the hill
Nineteenth-century view of a stream falling through boulders and thick woodland at Glen Onoko.
Glen OnokoThe falls, then as now
The Switchback Railroad's Mauch Chunk station, a long timber shed with passengers waiting outside.
The depotWhere the ride began
A steam locomotive under full steam on the line beside the river at Jim Thorpe, wooded ridges behind.
Steam on the gorge lineDeparts from the town station

Around here

Most of it is a walk away.

Jim Thorpe holds a European village and a mountain sports town in the same few steep blocks. Almost everything below is within walking distance of the houses.

Maroon passenger coaches of the Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway waiting beside the timber ticket office at Jim Thorpe station.

Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway

½ block

A sixteen-mile round trip up the gorge in restored 1917-era coaches, with open-air cars in season. It leaves from the station at the bottom of the hill.

The Asa Packer Mansion, an ornate Italianate house with a deep wrap-around porch, seen across its lawn.

Asa Packer Mansion

Next door

An 1861 hilltop house kept much as its owner left it, immediately beside our Packer Hill properties.

The Harry Packer Mansion, a red-brick Italianate villa with a green-shaded porch and turret, on a wooded slope.

Harry Packer Mansion

A few steps on

Completed in 1874 as a wedding present from Asa Packer to his son. It is said to have inspired a well-known haunted house in Florida.

The brick facade and painted sign of the Mauch Chunk Opera House on a downtown corner.

Mauch Chunk Opera House

In town

Built in 1882 and one of the country’s first vaudeville houses — Sousa, Jolson and Mae West all played it. Still a working music venue.

Mauch Chunk Lake at dusk, forested ridges either side under a broken sky.

Mauch Chunk Lake Park

End of the trail

Swimming beach, boating and fishing. The Switchback Trail runs to it from the doorstep of three of the houses.

Broadway in Jim Thorpe on a wet day — painted storefronts and narrow Victorian buildings climbing the hill.

Broadway

Downhill

Antique stores, museums, restaurants and a great many beautiful churches, packed into a few steep blocks under the mountain.

The official Pocono Mountains guide keeps the full calendar of events, festivals and seasonal openings for Jim Thorpe.

poconomountains.com

Reservations

Ready when you are.

Each house books on its own Airbnb listing, where the calendar and the price are always current. If you would rather talk it through — which house, how many of you, whether the dog will be happy — call us.

973-223-9762

Friends of Josephine, LLC · Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania

The houses Call to reserve