Historic Lodge at Cloudcroft Acquired by Texas Hotel Owners

The 115-year-old historic Lodge at Cloudcroft resort has been under the ownership of the privately held corporation Great Inns of the Rockies since 1986. On March 11 it was sold to Texas couple Lanna and Joe Duncan, history aficionados and historic preservation enthusiasts, owners of historic Hotel Paisano in Marfa and the Hotel El Capitan in Van Horn. Details about the transaction were not disclosed.

“I love the stories the properties tell and what they mean to the communities and their history,” said Lanna. “We needed another notable historic project,” added Joe. The pair has restored four historic hotels and numerous historic homes in the past 25 years. The homes are used as nightly rentals with their hotels.

The Lodge was built by the Alamogordo and Sacramento Mountain Railway in 1899 at 9,000-feet elevation, surrounded by the Lincoln National Forest in the Sacramento Mountains. The original structure burned completely in 1909. Two years later, it was rebuilt as a larger 41,000-square-foot wood structure. Since then it has been renovated multiple times, keeping almost unchanged the initial appearance.

The property has 59 rooms, a renowned restaurant, a nine-hole golf course–one of the oldest courses in the US and the seventh highest golf course in the world–retail & golf shops, a day spa, pool and many forested trails. The Lodge will keep many employees from the current staff and will remain under the care of General Manager Lisa Thomassie, who has been on the property for 28 years. Upgrades are planned for the property, but “at this time we want to focus on a smooth transition of ownership. The Lodge has a great future ahead,” said Joe Duncan.