UWEC announces Rural Health Innovation Alliance
Gourmet, on-the-go food options along Sturgeon Bay’s waterfront
August 26, 2024
BAILEYS HARBOR – A pair of nearly 100-year-old historic properties in Door County have been under new ownership for the past 18 months.
Frank Kowalkowski said he purchased Maxwelton Braes Lodge in Baileys Harbor, with Green Bay Packers President/CEO Mark Murphy buying the adjoining golf course shortly after to preserve it as a public course.
The lodge
Kowalkowski said he purchased the lodge portion of the property – located at 7680 Bonnie Brae Drive – to prevent it from being converted into apartments or condos and to preserve a Door County historic property.”
“I saw (paperwork) from the seller of potentially converting it (to apartments), and there were other plans of building condos on the site,” he said. “Additionally, converting it would have closed it as a hotel lodge. I don’t know if the seller was (going to do that), but it was enough of an idea where he had an architect and surveyor draw up plans for both the building and other parts of the site.”
Kowalkowski said he had also heard rumblings about the lodge being torn down.
“Then it wouldn’t have been a 100-year-old historic lodge anymore,” he said.
Kowalkowski said his tie to Maxwelton Braes is personal – going back 30 years.
“At my first attorney job – we had a small firm and partners – we went (to Maxwelton Braes) for a three-day retreat,” he said. “The first time I was there, my wife and I thought it was the coolest old building ever.”
Fast forward three decades, and Kowalkowski said “everything has come full circle with the purchase of the lodge.”
“In addition to the golf course, the property includes two lighted tennis courts and four pickleball courts, indoor and outdoor event spaces and an on-site bar and grill, Gatsby’s Grille,” he said. “In our main lodge, we have 11 rooms – standard rooms, deluxe rooms and one- or two-bedroom suites.”
Located on the second floor of the property, Kowalkowski said, is a newly renovated private event venue.
“This space offers guests unique options for different-sized events with a personal bar, large and small dining areas, stage, dance floor, private restrooms and a great view of the golf course,” he said. “We have hosted many great events in this beautiful location.”
Kowalkowski said the property also has an expansive outdoor patio that can be tented.
Most of the remodeling, Kowalkowski said, was done upstairs.
“The upstairs event venue has its own separate second commercial kitchen,” he said. “We painted and put in new light fixtures, flooring and a granite bar. We had a designer involved in helping us. We just finished that about a month ago, and our first wedding was this month.”
The downstairs part of the lodge, Kowalkowski said, hasn’t seen as much structural remodeling – though that was part of the plan.
“We have the desire to keep this 1930s feel,” he said. “We added some decorations, furniture and wallpaper in the rooms. Our goal was to make it feel that no two rooms are the same furniture-wise or decoration-wise versus a traditional motel where you can walk into any one of the 100 rooms, and it could be yours. These are designed to have a different feel in each room.”
Though no major updates were done to the lodge rooms, Kowalkowski said the old wall-mounted beds have been replaced.
Kowalkowski said the plan is to eventually add a 1930s look to Gatsby’s Grille as well.
“When they re-did the bar in the ’80s or ’90s – it’s nice, but it’s more like a bar you’d see in a golf course,” he said.
Taking over the property in May 2023, Kowalkowski said he and his wife, Julie – along with Co-owners Barb and Nami Zarvan – took the first summer and fall to “take things in.”
“We were trying to figure out what we should or shouldn’t do,” he said. “And then over the winter (of 2023) is when we started redoing the upstairs and then the rooms after. This is our first summer with a fair amount of rework already done.”
So far, Kowalkowski said things have been going well.
“Our room stays are up from that first year – I’d estimate about 25%,” he said.
The golf course
In a separate deal, Murphy said he purchased the golf course for many of the same reasons as Kowalkowski regarding the lodge.
“I think the lodge and golf course are great Door County assets,” he said. “We heard the same rumors Frank heard about the property possibly being sold to developers, and it would have been sad to lose that. When you drive into Baileys Harbor, it’s one of the first things you see.”
Murphy will continue in the role of Packers president/CEO until July 13, 2025, stepping aside at the annual shareholder’s meeting – so for now, he said Jim Bresnahan is currently running the day-to-day operations of the golf course.
“I grew up playing on public courses like Maxwelton and want to make sure it continues to be an affordable course for locals and visitors,” Murphy said. “Jim has been doing a great job.”
Once he retires, Murphy said he and his wife, Laurie, plan to be “a little more involved at the golf course.”
“We both love Door County, so I’m sure we’ll be up there more often after I retire,” he said.
Though the lodge and golf course are technically two separate properties, Kowalkowski said he and Murphy “want to work together to create something special.”
“Mark and I are both on the same page of trying to get that connection back between the two because they complement each other,” he said. “What’s good for one is good for the other.”
Echoing Kowalkowski’s comments, Murphy said they have a great relationship “and want to work together.”
“We want to look at ways we can help each other,” he said.
A little history
Kowalkowski said Maxwelton Braes was originally built in the 1930s – situated in the middle of the 18-hole golf course.
“It was built by the president of Sunbeam in Chicago, (Baileys Harbor native) Michael McArdle,” he said. “Sunbeam, if you recall, dealt with kitchen appliances. From my understanding, he built the lodge as a corporate retreat for Sunbeam executives. He never had any children and (used) one of the hotel rooms as his private suite.”
Initially, Kowalkowski said the lodge wasn’t open to the general public.
“The golf course was more of an executive kind of thing,” he said. “The property had a separate building, which I think is still there – it might be the golf course storage – but that’s where the chauffeurs who brought all these people from Chicago to stay at the resort would stay.”
With “several owners over the years,” Kowalkowski said the lodge and golf course used to be a single property.
“When the property went into bankruptcy about a dozen years ago, at that time, the bank split it up to make it easier to sell,” he said. “Both the golf course and lodge were going a bit downhill.”
Kowalkowski said there are other interesting historical tidbits about the lodge as well.
“I don’t know if this is true or not, but there are rumors that during Prohibition, there used to be some kind of trench or tunnel for bootlegging purposes from Lake Michigan, which is about a mile away from the lodge,” he said. “You can’t see the water from the lodge because there’s woods.”
Though Wisconsin is very proudly Green Bay Packers territory, Kowalkowski said at least one other NFL team spent time at Maxwelton Braes.
“Apparently, in the ’40s, the Los Angeles Rams stayed here,” he said. “It was way more difficult to travel back then, so when the Rams came to the Midwest for games against Green Bay, Chicago, Detroit and Minnesota, rather than jump back and forth from Los Angeles all the time, they stayed at Maxwelton Braes because then the trip to those cities was shorter.”
What’s in a name
Kowalkowski said the Scottish song “Maxwelton Braes” was McArdle’s favorite song – hence the name.
“The song (was) somehow tied to (McArdle) going to Scotland,” he said. “It’s a love song about somebody or something. Both Mark and I are still using the Maxwelton Braes name – the address of the property is located on Bonnie Brae Drive.”
2025 NFL Draft
With the 2025 NFL Draft coming to Green Bay next April, both owners said there’s potential for visitors in the region for the event to stay at the lodge – and if the weather cooperates, to golf as well.
“When we first bought the lodge and Mark did the same with the golf course, he came in one day to look around,” Kowalkowski said. “Nami and I happened to be there, and the first thing out of Mark’s mouth was, ‘you’re going to be open for the draft, right?’”
Kowalkowski said Maxwelton Braes Lodge is located about an hour and 15 minutes from Lambeau Field.
“We’re trying to figure out how we can make things work,” he said.
Murphy said he’s also looking forward to the lodge and golf course being utilized for the draft.
“The entire state will be busy and active,” he said. “I’ve thought about golf at the end of April in Wisconsin – we should be open, so we’ll hope for good weather next year.”
