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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.
The art of building without borrowing.
In 2017, a mysterious fire
lookout appeared on Airbnb in
the mountains of North Idaho,
just an hour from where I lived.
It booked almost solid for over a year.
Almost instantly.
I had no idea then that this creative
restoration would inspire my own journey
into experiential hospitality and the
world of unique stays, or that I'd
eventually call its creator Christy Wolf,
a good friend, but her story begins far
from mountain peaks and viral Airbnbs.
Christie had grown up in southern
Idaho, dropped out of high school, and
spent a decade working in factories.
At age 30, she was making $12 and 50 cents
an hour in a potato processing plant.
When a friend sent her an unusual
job listing, the Idaho Potato
Commission needed a spokeswoman
for their iconic six done potato.
A mobile marketing marvel funded by
the 2 cents collected on every pound
of potatoes sold from the state.
Against the odds.
Kristi got the gig for over a year.
She toured county fairs nationwide,
living frugally, and saving every
penny of her $60 per day per diem.
But she had a dream in 2012 while
scrolling Craigslist during her
potato tour, she spotted a Craigslist
ad that would change her life.
Half an acre in Hawaii for $8,000.
Seller financed at $200 per month.
She bought it sight unseen.
She sketched designs on napkins, bought
an airplane ticket and hacked through
the Hawaiian jungle with a chainsaw.
She built a tree house 16 feet up
in the rainforest all by herself.
In just four months, her mom flew
in to help out with the final
couple weeks of construction.
The total cost $11,000.
She listed it on this new site
called Airbnb, and within two
months it was fully booked.
A YouTuber's viral video brought
Honeymooners and droves a hundred
days after listing the property,
had generated enough revenue
to cover her entire investment.
A year later, emboldened by her
Hawaiian success, Christie found
a bear lot in rural Washington.
No road access, no utilities,
and a building department, so
overwhelmed by a bad wildfire year.
They essentially said, you
can build whatever you want.
She excavated into a hillside
and carried every piece of
lumber up the trail by hand.
Three months and $50,000 later,
she had created a hobbit house.
She listed it at $400 a night and
it booked solid 18 months out.
Again, completely paid for
itself in a hundred days.
Christie told me it was at this
moment that she had her epiphany.
People wanted one of a kind experiences
and would travel anywhere for them.
About a year after that while scrolling
a random online forum, she found a
2-year-old post about an abandoned
1959 fire lookout tower in Idaho.
The realtor had forgotten to relist
it after it had failed to sell.
She called immediately for $67,000.
I can seller financed.
She bought the tower along with
13 acres of huckleberry's and
huge trees on top of a mountain.
The property, which caused me to
discover Christie eight years ago.
The renovation took four
months of solo work.
She sent a mailer to the nearest
town miles away with a population
of 300, and found the perfect couple
to caretake to solve winter access.
She bought a 1964 snowcat on
Facebook marketplace and converted
it into a cocoa bar on treads
so guests could stay year round.
Five years after her potato
tour, the mega hit arrived.
The Idaho Potato Commission was
retiring their famous six ton potato
for a newer, more road worthy one.
Christy knew all the folks on the
committee from her days, crisscrossing
the country and made a bold pitch.
Let me turn it into an Airbnb.
The old school marketing Kais
rolled their eyes, but agreed
gifting her both the potato.
Which had cost roughly $750,000
to build based on my findings
and estimates and the trademark.
She hauled it to a five acre lot
She had bought near Boise, worked
her magic inside and added a grain
silo for the bathroom next door.
When she listed it, the internet exploded.
True Barry Moore, the Today Show,
corporate commercials, even a
World Cup ad and a 22 million view
YouTube video all featured it.
Even Brian Chesky, the Airbnb
CEO and founder called her up
their good friends to this day.
In the first week alone, the potato
Commission, which has sophisticated
ad spend tracking methods estimated $2
million of free press was generated.
Success didn't slow Christy down.
She bought and fully restored a
shipwreck house on a mountain lake.
Built a cocoon on the Oregon coast and now
is building her most ambitious project.
55 acres in Idaho, featuring a
fire lookout museum and a series
of 30 foot star gazing towers.
She crowdfunded $450,000 on
Indiegogo without giving up any
equity by pre-selling a thousand
nights to eager future guests.
12 years after starting with a few
thousand dollars and a jungle lot,
she has 10 unique properties across
multiple states, millions in real
estate equity, and approximately
$500,000 in annual revenue.
Expected to double with the
opening of the current project.
The craziest fact of this whole story,
Christie has never taken a bank loan.
Every bill was funded by previous
successes and done with her own
hands, occasionally helped by her
brother, Sam, from $12 and 50 cents
an hour in a potato factory to one
of Airbnb's most iconic portfolios,
and she's just getting started.
Now if this story doesn't inspire you to
go do something, I don't know what will.
You can find her full collection of
properties at the link in the newsletter.
Hope you have a great week, and
I'll catch you next Tuesday.