More than 40 people gathered Thursday night inside the historic dining room at The Historic Crags Lodge to hear its new owners outline an ambitious redevelopment plan that includes a luxury spa, expanded outdoor deck, event space, treehouse accommodations, and additional parking.
But much of the discussion focused on what could be lost in the process.
Neighbors and longtime residents repeatedly urged owners Josh and Melanie McCallen to preserve the lodge’s historic character, particularly the wall of multi-pane windows that has framed mountain views from the dining room for more than a century.
“This is the Crags. You gotta have these windows,” one attendee said, urging the owners to restore rather than remove them. “This building is important.”
The lodge, built by Joe and Ethel Mills in 1913 and opened to guests on July 4, 1914, has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1998.
Melanie McCallen said the single-pane dining room windows are among her favorite features, but deterioration and sagging make keeping them in place difficult.
Conceptual renderings presented Thursday show the historic windows replaced with floor-to-ceiling plate glass as part of a dining room redesign that also includes a large deck and pergola. The deck would replace the small balconies now accessible through French doors from the dining room.
McCallen suggested the old windows could be salvaged and reused elsewhere on the property as architectural or decorative elements honoring the lodge’s history.
Zeke Freeman, an architect, contractor, and LEED-accredited professional with Root Architecture and Development LLC of Evergreen, said the development team will work with a historic preservation consultant and explore replacing historic elements in kind when necessary.
Josh McCallen said the goal is to preserve the lodge for another century, but doing so will require extensive investment in its windows, roof, siding, structural components and other aging systems.
“Our dream here is to fully fix the envelope,” he said, explaining that the owners want the building to last another 100 years.
He also acknowledged the tension between preservation and operating a viable business. The property has relatively few guest rooms, while historic restoration is expensive.
The McCallens envision developing the Crags into a destination resort and wedding venue, a business model they use at several of their other historic properties.
“There will be weddings here,” Josh McCallen told the audience, saying events could generate revenue to support a chef, staff and restoration work.
Renovations and expansions
The owners also plan to remove the annex southeast of the main lodge. Built around 1920, the annex contains guest rooms, but structural engineers have determined the building is beyond repair.
The pool area, which dates to the 1940s, would be renovated with an indoor-outdoor bar and event space for weddings and other gatherings.
Freeman said the Estes Valley Fire Protection District has reviewed preliminary plans and identified access for fire apparatus as a concern. Plans call for improving access so fire trucks can turn around and adding another fire hydrant.
Additionally, trees close to the lodge will have to be removed or thinned for wildfire mitigation, but Freeman said a forester will evaluate the property and the team will try to preserve older trees where possible.
A lodge changed over more than a century
Although preservation dominated Thursday’s discussion, the Historic Crags Lodge standing today is itself the product of more than a century of additions and alterations.
The original rustic-style lodge was built into the steep, rocky shoulder of Prospect Mountain. The irregularly massed, wood-frame building incorporates elements of bungalow, Craftsman and chalet architecture.
Joe and Ethel Mills opened the lodge in 1914. A major expansion followed during the 1920s, including the addition of a third story to accommodate 40 more rooms. Historic photographs show the expansion also changed the roofline, adding a central gable and two larger clipped-gable roofs.
Around 1924, the dining room was extended about 20 feet and floor-to-ceiling windows were installed along approximately 90 feet of the room. Those windows became one of the lodge’s most recognizable features — and the focus of Thursday’s preservation discussion.
The roof was later reconfigured again with intersecting gables that allowed for four attic guest rooms.
Mills retained ownership until his death following a car accident in 1935.
The lodge’s main entrance was redesigned in the early 1950s, when an interior staircase connecting the lobby with the lower floors was added. Before then, the lower levels were used primarily for employee lodging and guest services.
Another major remodeling occurred between 1987 and 1994. Twenty-seven guest suites on the lower, second and third floors were renovated with new finishes and fixtures. Second- and third-floor windows were replaced with single-light thermal glass, and 19 bay, or oriel, windows were added.
The main-floor common areas and upper-floor hallways largely remained intact, although ceilings were lowered by about 9 inches to accommodate a sprinkler system.
Despite those changes, much of the lodge’s historic character remains concentrated in the dining room and lobby.
Tongue-and-groove pine floors, wood-paneled beams and columns, historic furniture and two stone fireplaces contribute to the Arts and Crafts character of the interior.
An original double-sided fireplace constructed of uncut stone divides the dining room from the lobby. A flagstone-faced fireplace with a raised hearth and stone-slab mantel anchors the lobby’s west wall.
Original 1920s ceiling fixtures remain in the dining room, along with much of the historic Stick-style furniture. Hickory dining chairs used during Thursday’s meeting were brought from Indiana during the 1920s.
The lodge complex also includes the Zane Grey Theater, named for the Western author who spent time at the Crags Lodge. The swimming pool dates to the 1940s.
Neighbors raise noise, lighting and traffic concerns
Residents also raised concerns about construction traffic on the steep, narrow roads surrounding the property and the potential effects of weddings and other events on traffic, parking, noise, and nighttime lighting.
One attendee asked the developers to provide more information in future presentations about environmental and neighborhood impacts, including how far development would extend down the hillside and how event noise would affect nearby homes.
“It’d be great to get a community impact of venue noise or venue traffic or whatever you can provide in future presentations and information,” the resident said.
Another attendee suggested the Crags could set a higher standard for managing wedding venue noise and become an example for other Estes Park event properties.
Freeman said lighting will be subject to town requirements. Plans will have to balance minimum lighting needed for safety with limits intended to prevent excessive light from spilling onto neighboring properties.
Hard to hear the speakers
The acoustics inside the dining room became an issue during Thursday’s meeting as well.
Several people said they could not hear Freeman as he described the plans. At one point, a woman wearing hearing aids said the difficulty hearing the presentation made her feel as though the development team had “something to hide.”
Josh McCallen rejected that suggestion but apologized for the poor acoustics and lack of amplification.
“We’ve shown you everything, told you everything,” he said, adding that he understood why someone unable to hear the presentation might be frustrated. He promised to speak louder and answer questions.
Historic properties are part of owners’ business model
The McCallens purchased The Historic Crags Lodge after Hilton Grand Vacations exited the property in 2025.
The lodge was marketed for auction by the Avison Young Hotel Group in October 2025 with a starting bid of $1.3 million. The auction did not produce a sale, but the property was subsequently sold to the McCallens.
Their company, VIVÂMEE Hospitality, focuses on acquiring and redeveloping historic and distinctive properties as destination resorts. Its portfolio includes resorts, wineries, golf properties, and event venues in New Jersey and Maryland.
Melanie McCallen said the company emphasizes hospitality and telling the history of the properties it acquires.
VIVÂMEE means “to revive the soul,” she said. “Our name is our mission.”
Josh McCallen said the Crags fits that model, but preserving it will require balancing its history with the need to generate enough revenue to pay for extensive rehabilitation.
At least two years of planning and construction
Thursday’s neighborhood meeting was an early step in the town’s development review process.
Freeman said the development team expects the site approval process could take about a year before it pursues individual building permits. Construction would then proceed in phases.
Josh McCallen said the overall redevelopment is likely to take at least two years, even if approvals and construction proceed smoothly.
In the meantime, the lodge has reopened while the owners pursue approvals and make smaller improvements.
Thursday’s discussion ultimately centered on how much the property can change while remaining recognizable as the place generations of Estes Park residents and visitors remember. For many in the room, the dining room windows became the symbol of that question.
Local shop owner Carey Stevanus, who works with historic preservation contractors, pleaded with the McCallens to find a way to repair the windows rather than replace them.
“Please don’t remove these windows and move them somewhere else,” Stevanus said. “It’s important to this town.”
Melanie McCallen told Stevanus she wanted to continue the conversation.
“This building is important,” Stevanus replied.
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