Mountaintop Resort Ain?t Blowin? Smoke

Seven hundred feet above Beaver Lake, the smoke has cleared.

Inspectors at The Lodge on Whitney Mountain discovered faulty furnace ducts in 2000 that puffed smoke and clouded the Garfield getaway’s future. Years of disrepair finally caught up with the 25-acre resort off Arkansas Highway 127, and the once favorite haunt of Sam Walton was shut down for two years.

Then in 2002, Rogers real estate investment visionary Luther Black, through one of his family’s companies, bought the property for $465,000 and began restoring the local landmark.

Now the facility, with its 100-seat restaurant, 100-seat banquet room and 50-seat Quiet Night Bar, is averaging 50 to 60 weddings and 30 corporate retreats per year.

Adam Black, a son of the family patriarch and co-owner on the project, said the 22,000-SF resort’s rebirth is a matter of preserving the right view. Although fire marshals said The Lodge was “in significant need of long and aggressive repairs,” the family sees the investment as a learning opportunity.

“We consider ourselves to have the best lake view from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada, and in between the Rocky and Appalachian mountains,” Adam Black said. “We fell in love with the property and bought it for all the wrong reasons. It was emotional, and because it’s just a beautiful and historic spot.

“But when you combine that with city utilities, excellent amenities and access to the highest point in Benton County, it’s truly a great location with a lot of potential for growth.”

According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 449 miles of zigzagging Beaver Lake shoreline are visible from The Lodge’s double-deck observation balcony. To the south, a Crayola burst of canvases bob around Sailboat Cove. On a clear day, visitors can see all 35 miles east to the Christ of the Ozarks statue in Eureka Springs.

Additions

Adam Black declined to disclose The Lodge’s revenue or how much the family invested to restore and expand it.

The property was acquired, according to warranty deeds, through the Blacks’ Time Square L.P. from the Jicarilla Apache Nation Real Estate Trust in New Mexico in June of 2002. The Wells Fargo Bank of New Mexico N.A. was the trustee for the tribe, which had operated the resort since the mid-1980s.

Eventually, the property deteriorated, and the bank put it up for sale. Black said a lot of local craftsmen helped speed renovations by working it in alongside other projects.

State lodging taxes paid for the latest fiscal year (July 2004 through June 2005) in ZIP Code 72732 reflect taxable sales of $447,014. That includes food and retail sales by all lodging businesses, which in Garfield’s ZIP code amounts to The Lodge and two other smaller motels.

The Lodge has landed executive retreats for Beckaert Corp., Glad Manufacturing Co. and the Northwest Arkansas Community College plus shindigs such as the Wal-Mart Stores Inc. retail analysts’ dinner — an annual staple of shareholders’ week.

Linda Maihofer, The Lodge’s events coordinator, said the blend of rustic respite and full-service amenities keep firms coming back.

Attractions

The Lodge has 14 rooms that accommodate 28 guests comfortably, said Pattie Bruner, its general manager. She said Sunday brunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. out on the balcony is the most unique dining experience in Northwest Arkansas.

Other amenities at The Lodge include a swimming pool for guests and rooms outfitted with mini-fridges, microwaves and coffee makers. Room renovations are ongoing, and rates range from $60 per night to a $140 suite with its own balcony and fireplace.

High season begins March 1 and ends around Labor Day, although Bruner said the view is most beautiful in October. Whitney Mountain Chapel, Lost Bridge Marina and several swimming beaches are within minutes down the road.

The 3,300-foot airstrip at Lost Bridge Village is also handy, a perk apparently not lost on Wal-Mart’s late founder.

“Sam Walton flew planes into the airstrip out here fairly often, and locals to the area tell funny stories about that,” Adam Black said. “There’s one about him staying too late for his plane to get out, and the locals put their car headlights along the runway so that he could take off.”

Dick Trammel, an executive vice president of community relations at Arvest Bank-Rogers, attended a company retreat at The Lodge in July. He remembered similar outings back in the 1970s after Walton bought The First National Bank of Rogers in 1975. Walton’s son, Jim Walton, is now chairman of the string of institutions that became Arvest Bank Group Inc.

“Sam was chairman, and Mr. Carl Baggett was president of the bank,” Trammel said. “They always liked to come up here. It’s a special place. Luther and Joy Black have been customers of the bank for 25 years, too, and we always try to patronize our customers. They have excellent meeting rooms, comfortable guest rooms, great food and we liked their pricing.

“You’re only 30 minutes from Rogers, but you feel like you’re really out in the world somewhere. There’s something about the birds and the air and the view that just clears your mind.”

Lodge Gets New Chef

When David Bradford left Bentonville’s River Grille Steakhouse in June to take over The Lodge on Whitney Mountain’s kitchen, he scrapped the menu.

“It was time to get back to the basics,” Bradford said. “I had worked here 12 years ago when Larry Wickersham was a certified master chef at The Lodge, and I tried to bring back some of the things that he did that people loved so much.”

Bradford described the cuisine as a return to “more classical, more casual elegance.” He said The Lodge prides itself on a classy, yet non-stuffy, atmosphere.

The house specialty is the steak Diane, pan-seared filet medallions sautéed with mushroom shallots and garlic. They’re finished with bordelaise sauce, a combination that Bradford said “covers all the bases.”

There’s also a popular Salmon Oscar, pan-seared Atlantic salmon that’s finished in the oven with béarnaise sauce, lumped blue crab meat and asparagus.

“We’re not trying to do a bunch of outrageous things like all of the bistros,” Bradford said. “I feel like it’s getting overdone around here, and chefs are going too far and wanting to try to make it like we’re in New York or Los Angeles. Well, we’re not. I’ve just tried to get back to the basics of cooking good food.”

The restaurant offers more than 20 wine selections. Bradford said it averages 125 to 150 patrons on weekend nights. The main dining room seats about 50, but the entire premises — including a 75-seat balcony experience — can handle 325.

Reservations are recommended but not required.

Lunch prices range from $6 to $12 and dinner goes for $12 to $27.

The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner, Tuesdays through Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. On weekends, it’s open until 9:30 p.m. and it’s closed all day Monday.