History of the Lodge and Property from 1967-Present
In 1967 the Osgood family built the lodge and named it New Horizons at Palmer Lodge. The hand hewn beams were imported from the Minneapolis-St. Paul area of Minnesota, Mr. Osgood’s daughter who visited in the summer of 2022. We do not know where the stone for the floor was sourced. When it opened, the lodge featured eleven rooms and restaurant. One local resident remembers this being a french fine dining establishment. She says it was the “talk of the town.”
Around 1969-70, Dennis and Dave Shofar purchased it. They moved from Illinois after selling the family farm. They changed the name to Christ Haven Lodge. An interesting story is that they would let guests choose the rate they paid. Unfortunately, the government didn’t like that method and made them stop.
The Harper family purchased it in 1983. Scott and his wife Cindy and Larry and his wife Koni ran it the first few years. Then Tony and Coy Pagnotta leased it until 1992 when Cavin and Diane Harper took over. The name was changed to Pinecrest Lodge. They did many upgrades; including new carpet, new furniture, new plumbing, new septic, erosion control, and many other items. Cavin is a gifted Christian author and leads a Grandparenting ministry to be a guide in “courageous grandparenting” to lead future generations to walk boldly with Christ. Learn more by visiting the website: https://elderquestmin.com.
Randy and Kesti Suggs purchased it in 2006 as Christian retreat center. As part of that mission, special needs retreats were held four times per year at no cost to the families. This provided them with a restful time that even included a modified zip line experience for those that were able. The ministry continues today in Colorado Springs as Reigning Hope Ministries: https://www.reigninghope.net/. Also during this time CHL Pizza was operational for a couple of years. CHL is the abbreviation for Christ Haven Lodge:).
Dawn of Hope currently leases the property with an option to purchase. We renamed the property to Dawn of Hope Ranch when we arrived in 2017. The property is used many ways to fulfill the vision we feel God gave us for the property. Those include, but are not limited to, regular church services, hosting group retreats, catering, and a cafe/pizza outreach to serve the community.
If you know more or have a story to add, please let us know at info@dofhranch.com!
