Olympus Lodge in Wright hands

New lodge owners pledge changes at Estes property

ESTES PARK — Upon entering the Estes Valley on U.S. Highway 34, it’s tough to miss the Olympus Lodge.

The stately plantation-style lodge, once pitched to President Eisenhower as a possible Western White House, is the first major commercial building at the east entrance to the valley.

Todd Wright figures it’s a can’t miss investment.

Wright, former manager of the Rams Horn Village Resort in Estes Park, and his wife, Becky, have acquired the Olympus from long-time owners Dave and Kathy Mizer.

The sale, which closed Feb. 28, could lead to a series of alterations at the 88-year-old Olympus.

Wright wants to institute a restaurant in the main building to serve lunch. He also plans to provide a continental breakfast to lodge guests.

“We hope to get it open by Easter (April 20),” he said.

The new owners also intend to market the property more heavily.

“Dave and Kathy always had slow advance bookings — they used minimal advertising,” Wright said. “We plan on heightening the public’s awareness and remind people we are here.”

Wright wants to increase business for wedding receptions and meetings.

“We’ll also offer both internal and external catering,” he said.

The main Olympus Lodge building, an 8,000-square-foot manor house, was built in 1915. Owners constructed a cluster of small cabins next to the main house in 1952. Those cabins are now used as guest rooms.

One of the early uses for the lodge was as a summer training school for teachers who came to the mountains to study natural history. In 1936, the University of Nebraska offered a six-credit-hour botany course through the school called Mountain Summer School.

Cottages sprung up on the grounds, which once covered 35 acres. Nebraska Gov. Robert Crosby came to own a summerhouse on the property.

Crosby’s presence prompted Colorado Gov. Daniel Thornton to draft a letter in 1954 to persuade Eisenhower to make a summer home at the Olympus. Thornton reasoned that Colorado was near the center of the country and it would be convenient for all the nation’s governors to meet with the president during their own vacations.

Since the 1950s, the Olympus grounds have been whittled down to 2.5 acres.

The Mizers purchased the lodge in 1983 for $450,000, according to Larimer County property records. The sale price has not been disclosed, but Wright acknowledged the land was appraised “right at a million.”

Wright hopes to touch up the site with “warm spots.”

“We want to put in picnic tables, possibly a gazebo and a grilling area — some family fun centers around the property.”

Richard and Sharolyn Langridge, Becky Wright’s parents, will live on site to help manage the property. The Mizers have also agreed to help with the changeover.

The Olympus transaction is one of up to six lodging property sales that typically occur in the resort-laden Estes Valley in a given year.

“There are about 100 lodging properties in town,´ said Eric Blackhurst, a broker for Prospect Realty in Estes Park. “At any one time a half-dozen of those are on the market.”

Many of the sales often go to couples who enter the lodging business as a transition to retirement.

“Most of the people I work with are from out of state and they are buying a lifestyle,´ said Debi Coleman, a broker with First Colorado Realty in Estes Park who listed the Olympus.

“You have a business that will pay for an on-site living quarters, then you have the other tax advantages along with the opportunity to generate some dollars,” Blackhurst said.

Although lodging occupancies slipped last year in Estes Park, investor demand appears to be normal, Blackhurst said.

Estes Park’s lodging business was hurt last year by negative publicity stemming from mountain wildfires in the spring and summer. The news helped drive occupancies down to 44.5 percent from 47.1 the previous year, according to the Rocky Mountain Lodging Report.

Early indications show a better year is in store.

Business in February and early March for Estes Park has been stronger than at the same time in 2002, said Harry Graham, a partner in Landmark Hospitality, an industry consultant based in Estes Park.

Advanced bookings are slow, possibly due to fears of a possible war in the Middle East, he said.

“But first of all, people do not book as far in advance as they used to,” Graham said. “We’ve seen more and more of that in the last three or four years.”

If United States troops go to war and the conflict ends quickly, “I would expect you’re going to see the phones really start ringing,” Graham said.

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