Greater Minnesota - Stillwater
*This archived article was originally published in Summer 2007.
The Outing Lodge at Pine Point
If your group longs for a retreat, this property provides the perfect oasis
for deliberation and contemplation.
BY AMANDA FRETHEIM
Nestled in the woods on a massive plot of land in Stillwater, a grand brick estate sits quietly, unassuming, waiting. The resident dog roams along the tree-lined driveway, an old Mercedes-Benz rests on the front lawn. As a bed and breakfast, meeting destination or hideaway, The Outing Lodge at Pine Point, and its owners, welcome you home.
Visitors come from as far as Florida or as near as the local community to stay within its walls, and even though it’s located just 40 minutes outside of Minneapolis-St. Paul, the Outing Lodge feels cut off from the rest of the world. It’s the perfect venue for a meeting of the minds, as can be attested by the 20 or more scholars and Nobel Prize winners who gather annually at the lodge for the Seven Pines Symposium, studying and discussing the conundrums of physics.
Founded in 1858, Pine Point was originally Minnesota’s second “poor farm,” a place where widows with children or those just down on their luck could live and work. Over the next 100 years, the dairy farm helped thousands of people earn a living and get back on their feet. The estate then became a nursing home, a place for the poor farm’s elderly to live out their lives. The nursing home ended its run in 1977 and remained closed until Lee Gohlike, a local developer, bought the property in the early ’80s and slowly began to restore it, combining the many tiny, institutional-style rooms and bathrooms into several master suites.
In the mid-’90s, Gohlike met Carlota Estevez, a widow from Argentina with three young children. Carlota came to Minnesota through the Fullbright Foreign Student Program, which offers fellowships to foreign students for study, research and teaching assistantships in the United States. While she says she never would’ve picked Minnesota on her own, at the time the University of Minnesota was famous for its philosophy of science program, a degree she wished to pursue. Though after meeting Gohlike, Carlota soon put her studies aside to become the lady of the lodge, heightening guest experiences with her Argentinean cooking, themed guest rooms and overall sunny disposition.
Set on the 300 acres of Pine Point Park, the Outing remains invisible from the street. The long, windy driveway rests under a canopy of evergreens, and the mansion looms up ahead. Across the drive from the lodge sits the Gohlike’s home and down the hill a newly constructed meeting and party space, lined with antique windows. While it’s not functioning yet, the space will be ready for groups in the next year or two.
Currently, the lodge can accommodate up to 100 people, with sleeping quarters for 20. The floor planks creak as you walk into the front door, with the wood-burning fireplace, paneled walls, and rustic tables and chairs reminiscent of an old-time general store or secluded hunting home. This laid-back feeling is only reinforced by the owners’ attitudes. “We want it to feel like an old English country home, a place for low-key relaxation where during the day people can get dirty outside, but can clean up and dress up for dinner,” says Carlota.
In Argentina, Carlota’s mother cooked organically, and Carlota strives for that at the lodge. Alongside the lodge’s personal chef, the Gohlikes keep their menus based on fresh ingredients. “Nothing frozen, no antibiotics,” Carlota says. “We cook for the day, not three days ahead of time.” For meals, groups sit at long, family style tables in the dining room. The downstairs bar and outdoor garden provide additional function space.
The library on the second floor can be rearranged to suit the needs of any size group. With a mammoth stone fireplace as the focal point, books from every genre line the walls and north- and south-facing windows look out over the grounds below. The enormous themed guestrooms recognize famous faces such as Amelia Erhardt and Bob Dylan. One room encompasses two bedrooms attached via a marble bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub, while an even larger room down the hall houses two sitting rooms, a bedroom, bathroom and a sunroom.
Groups have the run of the lodge. “We want it to feel like a home,” Carlota says. “If someone wants to leave their jacket slung over the back of a chair in the dining room or if they want to wander about at 3 a.m., that’s fine. I think that’s very unique.”
Because the lodge sits on hundreds of acres of parkland, myriad activities abound. Miles of walking trails await right outside the door, with tennis courts, a lake, the St. Croix River and Stillwater’s main street a short drive away. Canoeing, biking and horseback riding can be arranged in the warmer months, while hay and sleigh rides are available in the fall and winter.
