Remembering John Filone, an extraordinary host

By Ginny Privitar
MILFORD — The Milford community is mourning the passing of John Filone, one of three brothers who purchased the Mount Haven Country Resort and turned it into a roaring success and a beloved local institution with help from their sister, Theresa.
John died on Friday, Aug. 24, at 75. He leaves behind his wife, Lorraine Filone; sons Jeffrey Filone and his wife, Ro, and Anthony Filone and his wife, Stacey; grandchildren Darcy, Anthony, and Tanner Filone; and brother Andrew Filone. His other brother, Anthony, and sister Theresa predeceased him.
John and Andrew Filone were twins. Now, Andy is the lone survivor among the siblings. (See John's full obituary: https://bit.ly/2Dg7VWT)
The three brothers, originally from Queens, owned restaurants in New Jersey that they eventually sold. The whole family then moved up to Pennsylvania. The brothers bought Mount Haven in 1966.
"We were looking for a summer getaway," Andy recalled.
Family friend George Tracy ran George Steinbrenner's Yankee Club at Yankee Stadium, retiring in 2010 after 24 years. He got to know the Filone family when they came into the club to eat. Tracy was a frequent Mount Haven visitor.
He recalled that when the brothers first bought the place, it was much smaller, and didn't even have a kitchen.
"They used to cook food in Queens and drive it out there every day," Tracy said. "Eventually the place got bigger and bigger."
In the beginning, the property had cottages, and the brothers added a motel in 1970. They kept building, adding a restaurant in 1972. Three more extensions were built onto the restaurant. They even established a private nightclub downstairs.
John was the chef, serving up Italian and American dishes.
Eventually Mount Haven had two pools; tennis, basketball and handball courts; an outdoors pavilion for weddings and parties; and fountains in the lake. There were fireplaces and Jacuzzis in every room.
Celebrities of screen and field"We had celebrities like Hal Linden, and Paul Sorvino visited — he found out we had good Italian food, so he came here a lot," said Andy. "Paul Newman. A lot of actors and actresses."
A number of Yankee ballplayers also visited, including Mickey Mantle, Billy Martin, Yogi Berra, Billy Sample, Rocky Colavito, Joe Pepitone, Roy White, and Phil Rizzuto and his wife, Cora.
"Phil was a character," said Andy. "He was very generous to customers. He gave free autographs, photos of himself you would pay 25 to 30 bucks for. He would drive up every other weekend and stay. We would go to his home and bring him food — he lived in Hillside, New Jersey. He was part of our family, not just because he was Italian, but because he was such a nice man. Most of these guys have passed. In the '70s and '80s we were extremely busy."
Andy said the Poconos were very popular then.
Tracy credits Jimmy Brozzetti, an obsessive Yankee fan from Dunmore, Pa., for bringing the Yankees to Mount Haven. He was a member of the Scranton/Wilkes Barre RailRiders, a professional minor league baseball team based in Moosic, Pa., and a Triple-A affiliate of the Yankees. Tracy said he attended 970 Yankee games in a row.
"Mount Haven was a unique and fun place," Brozzetti said. "I will always have fond memories of some of the wonderful dinners to Filone family provided for me, and all of my wonderful baseball players. Tony, Andy, and John were gentlemen — always felt like you’re at home when you were there. Great dinners, great laughs, and now great memories. So happy that I was part of it."
End of an eraA couple of years ago, John was getting sick, and they had lost Anthony and Theresa. A glorious era was coming to an end. They finally decided to sell.
Realtor Davis Chant knew the family for 50 years and was a frequent Mount Haven customer. He said the Filones had a great following from the metropolitan New York area. They offered great food, good service, reasonable prices, and established a good relationship with customers, he recalled.
He remembers Mount Haven as a very friendly place that hosted many celebrations and business and non-profit meetings.
"The Filones were a great family that took good care of people and focused on service," Chant said.
Mount Haven Resort was sold for $1.5 million in 2016 to Har Haven, an LLC headed by top administrators of Lakewood's School for Children with Hidden Intelligence (SCHI), a private school for Orthodox Jewish and other children and adults with special needs. The property, now known as Har Haven Resort, has been used as a summer camp facility for SCHI's students.
Har Haven officials have said they planned to renovate and reopen the resort as a conference and special event facility.