The hotel has made good use of his skills as a carpenter: Mark designed all the rooms, bought the wood from local sawmills and did all the trim work, fabricating the pieces in his own woodworking shop.

Mark is also an avid bicyclist. He rides the Root River State Trail regularly and can direct you to scenic rides on the lightly traveled paved roads in Fillmore County.

Mark lives on-site, has lived in Lanesboro for nearly 20 years — after growing up in Austin, Minn. — and founded the first outfitter in Lanesboro, where he rented canoes, bikes and inner tubes and sold bait and tackle.