"The Durgin family, owners of a New Hampshire country house near a mountain whose peak resembles the head of a lion, plan to move to California because of a bad crop season and Mr. Durgin's ill health. As the family is packing, Mr. Westover, an artist, arrives. He pays the Durgins to stay in their home while he paints an image of the mountain. Jeff Durgin, the youngest son of the family, caters to Mr. Westover, who scolds him for scaring the nearby Whitwell children, Cynthia and Frank, with his dog. Instead of moving, Mrs. Durgin decides to change their home into a hotel; Mr. Durgin passes away in the winter before the hotel is opened. Five years later, Mr. Westover pays another visit and is welcomed as a friend. The small country house has been renovated and expanded, and the Inn at Lion's Head is a huge success. The Whitwell family now helps run the inn. Mr. Westover catches a glimpse of Cynthia Whitwell and notices how beautiful she has become. When Jeff brings out a picnic lunch to the boarders of the hotel, Mrs. Marven, an upper class lady, does not allow him to eat with them; when Mrs. Durgin hears of this she kicks Mrs. Marven and her daughter out of the hotel. Jeff studies law at Harvard, but he is shunned by the wealthier upper-class students. He is suspended from school when he is caught with a friend who breaks a streetlight. Instead of going back to Lion's Head, he goes to Europe for the summer, and learns all about the hotels there. Once more, Mr. Westover spends the summer at Lion's head; Jeff arrives back from Europe on the same ship as wealthy Mrs. Vostrand and her daughter Genivieve. Jeff is attracted to Genivieve, but Mrs. Durgin does not allow him to associate with the upper-class boarders and sends Jeff back to Boston.The Vostrands settle in Boston, spending more and more time with Jeff Durgin. Jeff proposes marriage to Genivieve, but she tells him that she is in love with an Italian. The Vostrands depart for Italy, leaving Jeff heartbroken. He returns to Lion's Head and is soon engaged to Cynthia, who Westover believes is far too fine for a blackguard like Jeff. Jeff tells his mother that he is content with being the Landlord at Lion's Head; she disapproves of both his low ambitions and his engagement to Cynthia. Jackson, Jeff's eldest brother, falls ill and is sent to Egypt for the winter to try to regain his health. Although Jeff no longer has plans to become a lawyer, Cynthia and Mrs. Durgin insist that he return to Harvard for his final year."--Goodreads

The Landlord At Lion's Head--Complete By William Dean Howells

If you looked at the mountain from the west, the line of the summit was wandering and uncertain, like that of most mountain-tops; but, seen from the east, the mass of granite showing above the dense forests of the lower slopes had the form of a sleeping lion. The flanks and haunches were vaguely distinguished from the mass; but the mighty head, resting with its tossed mane upon the vast paws stretched before it, was boldly sculptured against the sky. The likeness could not have been more perfect, when you had it in profile, if it had been a definite intention of art; and you could travel far north and far south before the illusion vanished. In winter the head was blotted by the snows; and sometimes the vagrant clouds caught upon it and deformed it, or hid it, at other seasons; but commonly, after the last snow went in the spring until the first snow came in the fall, the Lion's Head was a part of the landscape, as imperative and importunate as the Great Stone Face itself.

Reproduction of the original.

The Landlord at Lion's Head is a novel by American writer William Dean Howells. The book was first published in 1897 by Harper & Brothers.