Kasey and Adam VanTassell are the new owners of Clearwater Lodge. The couple took over the business on April 25 and have been busy as beavers ever since, updating and sprucing up the historic lodge. They have ready and eager helpers in Adyson, age 4, and Brock, 15 months. Residents on the lake have warmly received the family, and they have enjoyed getting to know people up and down the Gunflint Trail.
On April 25 Adam and Kasey VanTassell purchased historic Clearwater Lodge, and two days later they moved with their two small children, Adyson, age 4, and Brock, 15 months, from northern Utah to northern Minnesota. And if the move was hectic, the couple concedes that owning and operating a lodge is even more hectic.
“We work from 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. most every day,” said Adam.
Clearwater Lodge, located 31 miles up the Gunflint Trail, was built by Charlie Boostrom and opened in 1926. It is the oldest original whole log structure in northeastern Minnesota, and it is on the National Register of Historic Places. A beautiful stone fireplace and some of the neatest diamond willow furniture ever designed greet guests as they enter the lodge. The furniture, like most everything else, was the creation of Boostrom. Out front, an expansive verandah porch offers views of the stunning palisades on Clearwater Lake.
The business features seven waterfront cabins that accommodate four to 10 people; above the lodge there are five rooms for guests, two of them suites. There are also half a dozen bunkhouses that offer overnight stays for hikers and canoers.
Nora Richards (left) is staying in good shape biking around town helping others refuel with goodies from Lola’s Sweet Life Bakery of Grand Marais. She is the friendliest (well, maybe the only, but even if she weren’t the only she would still be the friendliest) biking peddler in town, selling things like scones and cookies and empanadas. Nora’s friend and customer Stefanie Mitchell, manager of Threads, is enjoying one of the delectable delicacies.
All in all, the location and the beauty of the 12 acres the lodge sits on and surrounding forest is stunning. It is open to the public from mid-May to the first of October.
“In 1909 Charlie had his pick of any place on the Gunflint Trail and he picked Clearwater Lake to build his business. We think Charlie picked the right spot,” said Adam.
“Owning a lodge is a dream come true,” Adam said. “Something that I had been dreaming about since I was 18 and first worked at Crane Lake for an outfitter right after I graduated from high school.”
Adam also worked at a lodge in Ely for three years and met his wife while working as a backpacking instructor in Utah. After they were married they moved to Key West, Florida and ran the only tourist submarine business in the continental United States. The sub held 45 people and had large viewing windows. Kasey did the books and Adam was the business manager.
And how did the VanTassells discover Clearwater Lodge while living in Utah?
“I didn’t,” said Adam. “I discovered Clearwater Lodge while going to school for traveling, hospitality management and entrepreneurship (or hotel management) in Oahu, Hawaii.”
“There was a contest to see who could write up the best plan to save a business. I discovered Clearwater Lodge and wrote up a business plan for it. I won first-runner up and received a grant and flew up here to look at it. I did a lot of research for this project. But before we decided to make an offer, my wife and I looked at 75 portfolios of commercial real estate, 35 of them in Minnesota with a focus on the Arrowhead Region. We visited 20 businesses before coming back and making an offer on Clearwater Lodge,” Said Adam.
The couple has hit the ground running. “So far we have extended the store, remodeled two cabins, putting in new kitchens and showers, and are updating the bunkhouses by adding new showers and installing modern toilets,” said Adam.
“We are also building new docks and getting in new motors. We have also added two new stand-up paddleboards and continue to work on the other buildings. During the shoulder season we will try to build up the canoe outfitting business again. We believe we have the best location, best history, and want to restore this business to the days when Charlie Boostrom built it and to its heyday when Jocko Nelson owned and operated it,” said Adam.
“Adam always says that good is not good enough, you need to be great,” said Kasey.
An accountant by trade, Kasey said, “My main contribution to the business will be to keep the books. But my first job is to be a mom.”
At 15 months, Brock is their miracle baby. He has survived two heart surgeries and looks to be the picture of health today. Adyson is a bundle of energy and likes to swim and is learning to logroll from eighttime world champion (and neighbor) Jenny Atkinson.
Both Kasey, who was state champion in the discus throw in high school, and Adam, a former high school wrestler who still is a volunteer wrestling coach in the winter back in Utah, have come from rigorous working backgrounds.
“We aren’t afraid of work. Kasey grew up on a dairy farm and I grew up on a horse ranch. One thing we knew for sure, both Kasey and I hate cows,” said Adam, ending thoughts of them owning their own dairy farm.
So far both Adam and Kasey have been impressed by how friendly the local cabin owners have been. They sell ice cream, which has been a big hit, and pies are baked on Thursdays and sold for $3 a slice. The pies are baked in a 1945 oven. On Tuesday nights Harriet (Boostrom) Taus comes at 7 p.m. and tells stories to guests and interested parties about her father and family and the golden years of Clearwater Lodge.
“She’s a neat lady and we appreciate her and everyone else who have come by to offer suggestions or to help us. We hope, if we work hard enough and market this business well enough, we can bring back those golden years,” said Adam.
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