Holland Lake Lodge cancels expansion plans; for sale

The owner of the Holland Lake Lodge announced he will not continue a partnership with a Utah company to expand the resort and plans to sell the site.

Christian Wohlfeil told the Pathfinder on Oct. 14 he has revoked his request to the Forest Service to expand or transfer ownership to the Utah-based resort company POWDR. The lodge is now for sale, and Wohlfeil hopes to find a buyer before the next business season starts.

Wohlfeil said the decision came from two reasons: the inability to complete needed improvement projects on the lodge and hate mail and death threats that flowed in after the expansion was announced more than one year ago.

He said while the lodge sold out each night, and special events like weddings continued, people online attacked himself, staff and guests. Wohlfeil specifically mentioned a violent post about his mother.

"They took a photograph of my 74-year- old mother's car, which sat alone in our parking area while she cleaned the lodge's kitchen for the winter," Wohlfeil wrote in a press release. "They then posted it to social media, along with their new conspiracy theories. They've threatened to shoot her through our cabin window. It's enough already."

Wohlfeil said much of the misinformation and hostility came from the Save Holland Lake group, which strongly opposed the expansion proposal in 2022, and continued to challenge the Forest Service and POWDR on infrastructure needs the last several months.

Bill Lombardi, a spokesperson for the Save Holland Lake group, said the organization stands against any threats or acts of violence and did not post any threatening messages like Wohlfeil cited above.

"We do not condone any violence, period," Lombardi told the Pathfinder. "We told (Wohlfeil) that if there were any threats to call the proper authorities."

Lombardi said the goal of the Save Holland Lake project was to keep the Forest Service and other government organizations accountable to the public for projects that concern public lands, like the lodge, which operates under a special use permit.

"As the community of Condon said, as Montanans said, and the American public overwhelmingly said, Holland Lake is our public land and simply not the place for a giant destination resort," Lombardi said. "We hope the Forest Service learns and listens and doesn't commercialize our public lands."

Wohlfeil pushed back on this assertion, arguing that several members of the group own cabins around Holland Lake using the same special use permit process as the lodge. He also said the group, which operates under a non-profit sponsor, also made money off of merchandise sales.

"Their actual membership has not been disclosed, but founding members include individuals with their own US Forest Service permitted cabins, as well as other nearby owners of second and third homes in Seeley-Swan community," Wohlfeil's release said.

Lombardi said whether or not Save Holland Lake members have a special use permit for cabins on Holland Lake, they have a right to be heard by the Forest Service and the public. He also said the group are all volunteers and do not profit off of selling shirts or banners.

Wohlfeil told the Pathfinder that another major reason for putting the lodge on the market is the need for repairs and what he said is a viability issue with the business. The lodge has been in operation since 1926, and has used the same building since 1946.

Wohlfeil said he cannot make enough money at the lodge with its current capacity to hire a general manager or assistant manager. He added that he ends up doing much of the work himself.

Wohlfeil said he has been trying to sell the lodge since 2015. When POWDR approached to help fund the capital improvement project in 2020, he said the goal was to keep the lodge open for another 100 years, not to make a luxury resort in Condon.

Wohlfeil said the process has been unfair when many other local resorts, like Tamaracks Resort and the Lodges at Seeley, operate on the same type of special use permit and have less public availability than the Holland Lake Lodge.

He said in his 21 years of owning the lodge - by his estimate the longest anyone has ever owned the site - the lodge has needed an expansion to keep operating.

"The business currently turns away thousands of visitors every summer, and Holland Lake Lodge seeks investment and/or a new owner to continue its legacy and transition to the next chapter," Wohlfeil's press release said.

Wohlfeil said he will be accepting offers from potential buyers until the end of January. Those interested can email or call Wohlfeil directly. He added that the Save Holland Lake group is more than welcome to make an offer for the site.