The village, which then had a population in the hundreds, is located on a harbor of Lake Sunapee, a large lake in the western part of the state. It is said he was diagnosed with tuberculosis while acting in Boston, and a fellow actor extolled Lake Sunapee. He describes himself in his quasi-autobiography, cited below, as poor and living in a barn for months to recuperate. After returning to the stage, however, he accumulated enough money to begin to buy property in Georges Mills. This consisted first of considerable area on Prospect Hill, today 360 Prospect Hill, where he had Frank Holmes, a local contractor, build a large stone house and barns with a silo. Here Van had a large herd of registered Guernsey cows. Van was wearing his Van de Grift agricultural hat here, as explained below. The barns have seen later use as a summer stock theatre, stable and for many years an antique furniture barn. He also established his presence on a large lot right on the harbor, constructing a casino and a playhouse. He had both an indoor and outdoor studio, dressing rooms and accommodations for 75 people. He named the place Van Casino and took to calling Georges Mills "Van Harbor". In the summers, probably at a time when the New York stage was less active, he staged plays there. It is said that he brought up from New York such well-known stars as Ethel Barrymore, Jeanne Eagels, Marie Dressler and Fatty Hires, many of whom he acted with in the winter. A photo taken in Casino shows a lot of well-known stars. In 1915 he essayed the filming of several silent movies. This he did as part of a New York company, Equity Motion Pictures. Two of these were "Zooloo Nightmare" and "The Lucky Hoodoo". Concerted effort in recent years has turned up some his films and the work to find the rest continues. John Tariot, a historian and restored of silent films, had set up a website devoted to Van's movie career. He has found "Lucky Hoodoo", and another film Van made, "Where are the Husbands?" as well as others. In filming these movies, Van used the local folks as bit actors, making some of them go in blackface. One of the actors was a local, Lee Collins, who later had a career as a choreographer on Broadway. One article said, with some exaggeration, that Van owned all of Georges Mills except the jail.