In the late 1800’s a homestead was established on one of the first Winter Park Hotels – Beaver’s Village Lodge, and one of the original buildings is still standing alongside the Fraser River. In the 1920’s some beaver ponds at the upper end of the ranch and the stream that feeds them were converted into several more ponds to make a trout hatchery. Out of these ponds came the three present lakes that are now stocked with trout each spring. Earliest of the valley resorts was Sportsland Valley, now Beaver Village, begun Winter Park Reservations in 1940 by Henry C. Cook. Henry C. Cook’s family and that of his wife lived on sugar beet farms near Longmont. He and his brother Carl had gone into the gasoline and oil business, but in May 1938, they spent some time in Grand County looking for a small cattle ranch to diversify their interests from the petroleum business. According to Mr. Cook, “We were unsuccessful in our effort to find a ranch for sale that was suitable, so we headed for home. On our way, just beyond hideaway park (now called Winter Park), I saw a sign that read ‘300-acre trout ranch for sale’. I said to my brother Carl, let us stop and investigate. Carl’s reply was, ‘What the H! Would we do with a trout ranch?” We did stop and meet Pastor Frank Garret, a retired church missionary to China. This property had been owned by his brother who had passed away, and Pastor Garrett was looking after the trout ranch for the heirs of his brother until the ranch could be sold. “I obtained this information while Carl remained in the car because he had no interest in a trout ranch. On our way home, while Carl was driving the car for lack of anything better to do, I romanced as to what could be done with this tract of land, just to see if I could change Carl’s mind as to the possibilities. In doing so, I not only sold Carl on the idea but I also sold myself. The following morning we returned to negotiate with the Pastor, subsequently purchasing the 300-acre trout ranch which, ultimately, became Winter Park Lodging. “The design of the Chalet was done for us by Edwin Frances, an architect who had done most of the work in Bear Creek Valley west of Evergreen, Colorado, and also the Harbor Hotel in Steamboat Springs. Our desire was that the building be unusual and outstanding in appearance. The Chalet design resulted from ideas I had collected on some trips to various mountain areas. When I conveyed them to the architect, his reply was, ‘We had just had a meeting of the minds’ – and the chalet design became a reality. Mr. Frances drew up a set of complete plans which we eventually purchased from him, excluding any supervision on his part during construction, for $300.00.
