{"id":33324,"date":"2020-06-19T11:37:35","date_gmt":"2020-06-19T15:37:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/?p=33324"},"modified":"2020-06-19T14:11:04","modified_gmt":"2020-06-19T18:11:04","slug":"garnet-hill-lodge-in-north-river-purchased","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2020\/06\/garnet-hill-lodge-in-north-river-purchased\/","title":{"rendered":"Garnet Hill Lodge In North River Purchased; New Owner Does Structural Upgrades"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Garnet Hill Lodge has redecorated guest rooms and renovated bathrooms.
Courtesy Garnet Hill Lodge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Susan E. Campbell
\nApril and May are the quiet months when resorts normally prepare for the summer season and the influx of visitors who contribute to a $1.3 billion tourism industry in Warren County. But Adirondack restaurants, hotels and resort areas have been slowed by the coronavirus pandemic.
\nJim Rucker, who owns and operates Garnet Hill Lodge in North River with his wife, Frances, sees cause for optimism, however.
\nThe owners recently acquired an additional 110 acres in Warren County, securing control of much of the resort\u2019s 30-plus miles of skiing, snowshoeing and hiking trails.
\nTheir original purchase of Garnet Hill Lodge in 2016 came with less than 300 acres of land. This April, the Ruckers purchased another 110 acres. The resort is now able to provide many more miles of trails for hiking and mountain biking during the summer and fall.
\nThey purchased 159 Rogers Road in Johnsburg for $520,000 on April 3, according to a deed filed in Warren County. The seller was Mary Donnellan, a former owner of the cross country ski resort.
\nRucker has spent four years renovating cabins, bathrooms, the lodge and restaurant since acquiring Garnet Hill for $1.58 million in 2016. They redecorated guest rooms, renovated private bathrooms and put new furniture in the lounge.
\nThere are three people on the maintenance staff that do the less labor intensive renovation work. But as Garnet Hill is an important part of the local community, contracts for construction and purchases were awarded to local businesses, Rucker said.
\n\u201cBuying and running Garnet Hill Lodge is a labor of love,\u201d he said. \u201cWe deliberately kept the look and feel of a true Adirondack lodge but have made structural upgrades, many of which are not visible, to keep it going another 100 years.\u201d
\n\u201cI am an optimist who foresees a positive impact on the region long term,\u201d Rucker said. \u201cAre people going to be keen to fly when the pandemic is over? Maybe not for many years.\u201d
\nGarnet Hill Lodge\u2019s main building, the Log House, overlooks scenic mountains and Thirteenth Lake. The year-round resort is within a day\u2019s drive from several metropolitan areas, Rucker said.
\n\u201cIt is a place that draws you in and invites you to step back into more tranquil times,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople are going to want to do activities outdoors rather than flying somewhere and visiting tourist attractions.\u201d
\nRucker said the events that were scheduled for this summer have in large part been postponed. \u201cMost wanted to rearrange their weddings for late fall or next season,\u201d he said. \u201cThose who would like to try for this summer will have a smaller affair, but most are postponing.\u201d
\nRuckers had a vacation home in the community for 23 years when the resort came onto the market.
\n\u201cI had been retired for a year when I found out the place was for sale,\u201d said Rucker, a former banking and finance executive. \u201cMy wife and I were not looking, but one thing led to another.\u201d
\nGarnet Hill\u2019s trails were rated number 1 in the northeast and number 3 in North America by USA Today two years ago, he said.
\n\u201cIn the winter, visitors can snowshoe and cross country ski on 30 miles of trails and come upon remote ponds and beautiful views,\u201d said Rucker. \u201cI think we have one of the best cross country areas anywhere.\u201d
\nThere are also waterfront rights so guests can swim, canoe, kayak and enjoying the beach. No motorboats are allowed on the two-mile Thirteenth Lake.
\nThe Ruckers started to see the rewards of their refurbishing efforts this year.
\n\u201cOccupancy rates up until mid-March were the highest they had ever been,\u201d he said. \u201cWe attribute that to the time and care we put into making rooms more comfortable in the Log House and our two other lodging buildings.\u201d
\nThen the lodge and two restaurants were shuttered for two months due to the coronavirus situation. As of May 15, they made meals available curbside outside the facility\u2019s Bobcat Bar and Grill. The restaurant in the Log House had been open every evening of the year for guests and the public until the shutdown in March, Rucker said.
\nThe state has since laid out plans for reopening, including safe distancing rules and cleanliness goals.
\nThe Ruckers continue to rely on word of mouth, major travel sites and their online presence to market themselves, as well as the general promotion of tourism to the Adirondack area that benefits all.
\n\u201cThe Adirondacks are a great destination with a lot to do,\u201d he said. \u201cGuests come back year after year to enjoy the outdoors.\u201d
\nThey do not have to stay overnight to enjoy the activities there. Rucker said there is no charge to use the trails and both day-long and one-month passes are available.
\nRucker said its \u201crustic charm dating back to 1936\u201d makes Garnet Hill iconic. More information is available at www.garnet-hill.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Susan E. Campbell April and May are the quiet months when resorts normally prepare for the summer season and the influx of visitors who contribute to a $1.3 billion tourism industry in Warren County. But Adirondack restaurants, hotels and resort areas have been slowed by the coronavirus pandemic. Jim Rucker, who owns and operates […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":196,"featured_media":33325,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nGarnet Hill Lodge In North River Purchased; New Owner Does Structural Upgrades - Glens Falls Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2020\/06\/garnet-hill-lodge-in-north-river-purchased\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Garnet Hill Lodge In North River Purchased; New Owner Does Structural Upgrades - Glens Falls Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Susan E. Campbell April and May are the quiet months when resorts normally prepare for the summer season and the influx of visitors who contribute to a $1.3 billion tourism industry in Warren County. But Adirondack restaurants, hotels and resort areas have been slowed by the coronavirus pandemic. Jim Rucker, who owns and operates […]\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2020\/06\/garnet-hill-lodge-in-north-river-purchased\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Glens Falls Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-06-19T15:37:35+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-06-19T18:11:04+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/109\/2020\/06\/garnet-hill-lodge-hc.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"888\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"jessewinters\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"jessewinters\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2020\/06\/garnet-hill-lodge-in-north-river-purchased\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2020\/06\/garnet-hill-lodge-in-north-river-purchased\/\",\"name\":\"Garnet Hill Lodge In North River Purchased; New Owner Does Structural Upgrades - Glens Falls Business Journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-06-19T15:37:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-06-19T18:11:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/b937a48daf87d7a8bd713a73b5d6a1ae\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2020\/06\/garnet-hill-lodge-in-north-river-purchased\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2020\/06\/garnet-hill-lodge-in-north-river-purchased\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2020\/06\/garnet-hill-lodge-in-north-river-purchased\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Garnet Hill Lodge In North River Purchased; New Owner Does Structural Upgrades\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/\",\"name\":\"Glens Falls Business Journal\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/b937a48daf87d7a8bd713a73b5d6a1ae\",\"name\":\"jessewinters\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b496e0843f9d888b12500994b6a8562b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b496e0843f9d888b12500994b6a8562b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"jessewinters\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/author\/jessewinters\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Garnet Hill Lodge In North River Purchased; New Owner Does Structural Upgrades - Glens Falls Business Journal","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2020\/06\/garnet-hill-lodge-in-north-river-purchased\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Garnet Hill Lodge In North River Purchased; New Owner Does Structural Upgrades - Glens Falls Business Journal","og_description":"By Susan E. Campbell April and May are the quiet months when resorts normally prepare for the summer season and the influx of visitors who contribute to a $1.3 billion tourism industry in Warren County. But Adirondack restaurants, hotels and resort areas have been slowed by the coronavirus pandemic. Jim Rucker, who owns and operates […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2020\/06\/garnet-hill-lodge-in-north-river-purchased\/","og_site_name":"Glens Falls Business Journal","article_published_time":"2020-06-19T15:37:35+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-06-19T18:11:04+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":888,"url":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/109\/2020\/06\/garnet-hill-lodge-hc.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"jessewinters","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"jessewinters","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2020\/06\/garnet-hill-lodge-in-north-river-purchased\/","url":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2020\/06\/garnet-hill-lodge-in-north-river-purchased\/","name":"Garnet Hill Lodge In North River Purchased; New Owner Does Structural Upgrades - Glens Falls Business Journal","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-06-19T15:37:35+00:00","dateModified":"2020-06-19T18:11:04+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/b937a48daf87d7a8bd713a73b5d6a1ae"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2020\/06\/garnet-hill-lodge-in-north-river-purchased\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2020\/06\/garnet-hill-lodge-in-north-river-purchased\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2020\/06\/garnet-hill-lodge-in-north-river-purchased\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Garnet Hill Lodge In North River Purchased; New Owner Does Structural Upgrades"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/","name":"Glens Falls Business Journal","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/b937a48daf87d7a8bd713a73b5d6a1ae","name":"jessewinters","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b496e0843f9d888b12500994b6a8562b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b496e0843f9d888b12500994b6a8562b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"jessewinters"},"url":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/author\/jessewinters\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33324"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/196"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33324"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33324\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33381,"href":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33324\/revisions\/33381"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}