CONDON — Potential buyers have come forward showing interest in buying Holland Lake Lodge in Condon which is currently owned by Christian Wohlfeil.
The lodge was initially listed for sale in October 2023. A Utah-based ski corporation, POWDR, applied to purchase the lodge but pulled their application in February this year, putting it back on the market.
A party interested in purchasing the lodge held a meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024, to speak with the community about the possible future of Holland Lake.
Over 90 people gathered at the community center in Condon to hear from the new potential buyers. After the community had a bad experience with the previous potential buyers, they are skeptical of what is to come.
"Those of us who love the area are very adamant to maintaining those standards of no expansion, keeping it local. Allowing it to be a place where for generations to come so we can enjoy this public land, and it won't just be something for rich tourists," said Hands off Holland member Jacole Johnson.
The new potential buyers are Eric Jacobsen and Thomas Knowles. Jacobsen grew up in Great Falls and has a house in Whitefish while Knowles frequently visits Montana with his family — but both currently reside in Park City, Utah.
"So I stepped into it, and I decided that the first thing I needed to understand was, for lack of a better term, the community. And what is the anger or frustration or hopes and dreams or desires of the community?" said Jacobsen.
Jacobsen and Knowles have a letter of intent signed by both the buyer and the seller of the lodge to purchase 100% of the property. Currently, 20% is owned by POWDR Corp and 80% by Holland Lake Lodge, Inc.
They came to this initial meeting with no plan on how they will change the lodge but wanted to hear the communities concerns.
"I don't know. We're not to that phase yet. I believe that in order for the lodge to survive and perpetuate, it has to have a viable business model. It has to cover its costs, and it has to be able to not just cover its operating costs, but costs of investing in and improving what's there," Jacobsen said. "And the current model, in my opinion, doesn't do that. So my opinion, there has to be some level of expansion. And that level of expansion, I think, can take a number of pieces."
Members of Stewards of the Swan Valley — a nonprofit aimed at protecting the natural and cultural resources of the Swan — expressed at the meeting they have been working with the current owner of Holland Lake Lodge to try and purchase the lodge.
"Stewarts of the Swan Valley is working really hard — along with Christian Wohlfeil, the owner of Holland Lake Lodge — to try to help him move on and to help the community acquire the lodge and run it historically as we know it. Not have it blown up into something we don't know and frankly, I don't think is wanted," said Stewards of the Swan Valley president Grace Siloti.
Currently, neither party that is interested in buying the lodge has any official agreement to purchase the buildings. But both are in the early stages of acquiring the lodge and are working with the community to find a solution to keep the lodge open.
"So really, just being able to come out here and get it out of the mouths of the potential owners, it was good to hear their side of things and their thoughts, but it doesn't feel as genuine as I was hoping it does," said Johnson.
We will continue to follow this story as the purchase of Holland Lake Lodge develops.
