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This is the audio version of my weekly newsletter, Experiential Hospitality, where I share stories and insights to help you craft unforgettable spaces and experiences through design & hospitality.
A few winters ago, my dad got a
call from an elderly farmer down
the road from our home in Idaho.
His barn was about to collapse, and he
needed help shoveling snow off the roof.
After the job was done, my
dad peeked inside and froze.
Hiding in the shadows was an ancient,
almost unrecognizable rail car.
The stench immediately assaulted him.
20 feral cats had turned it
into their little kingdom.
Now, my dad has always loved
history and trains, and his eyes
lit up when he saw this, but how
had it wound up here of all places?
After some digging, we found a
photograph of this very car, brand
new, leaving the manufacturer in St.
Charles, Missouri in 1906.
This was Washington, Idaho,
and Montana Car 3 0 6.
A combination car.
Part cargo.
Part male, part passenger.
In the 1950s when the local tracks were
pulled up, the railroad decommissioned it.
A farmer bought it for scrap, dragged
it 10 miles to his land and used it to
store grain and feed hay to his cows.
Everybody else just assumed
it had been destroyed.
My dad offered to take it
off his hands for $3,000.
The farmer was delighted.
So he wrote him a check on the spot, but
then came the tricky part, moving it.
Picture this, a 61 foot, 40,000
pound relic parly held together,
crawling down icy backcountry roads.
If something went wrong,
the dream was over.
It took two years to find a
mover with the guts to try.
But one winter day, a truck finally
hooked up to the car with a bulldozer
pushing from behind for the final stretch,
dragging it safely to the hilltop where it
would sit, and then the real work began.
Before restoring the car
itself, we set the stage.
My brother John built a timber frame
platform and roof around the car with
architectural hints of a train depot,
so guests would feel transported
to 1906 the moment they arrived.
It also protected the delicate
car for decades to come.
It was early 2020 while
the world locked down.
We locked in.
Each of us took on different
parts of the work, meticulously
reimagining and restoring the space.
The male compartment became a bedroom,
the cargo area, a bathroom, and the
passenger section, a kitchenette
and lounge, my favorite part, five
months, $147,000, all in every detail.
Finished.
We listed it on Airbnb and
bookings began pouring in.
Then something unexpected
happened just a few miles away.
In Dere, a population of only 550
folks, the old train depot, yes, the
very one this car would've stopped
at countless times, came up for sale.
The timing seemed almost providential.
It was in serious disrepair, fairly
worthless to most, and so we pounced.
We restored it too, turning it
into a two unit stay with a train,
lounge, and library available for
all guests, including car 3 0 6, but
it gets even better while driving.
One day that spring, my dad spotted an
old caboose on the side of the road.
He stopped to inquire and found out
it was being used as a dog kennel.
It was severely rotted, but
the chassis was still intact.
He bought it for $5,000.
We moved it three hours to dairy beside
the depot, and with $40,000 and an
extra few months of painstaking love
transformed it into another unforgettable
stay just like that, almost a century.
After it was scattered, the
family was made whole again.
The depot, car and caboose,
each one tells a unique chapter
in the Idaho Railroad history.
Car 3 0 6 has now been open
four years, hitting 90%
occupancy north of $350 a night.
Guests travel from across the
country and even a few from
other continents to stay here.
And what a story to share with our guests.
The place markets itself, because it's
not just a place, it's an experience.
This is the power of vision, belief,
and some good old fashioned loving
labor, saving a forgotten relic
and turning it into an iconic stay.
That has already paid for
itself several times over.
If you want to come experience any
of these, stays yourself and get a
hundred dollars off, you can book
here at the link in the newsletter.
I hope you have a wonderful week and are
inspired to go create more beauty even
in the forgotten and overlooked places.