'70s Lodge takes guests back in time

Sep. 4—TRAVERSE CITY — A time portal sends Austin Powers back to 1969 in the first two movies and 1975 in the third.

A trip to the Seventies doesn't require a movie character nor a fictional device.

An online booking and dwindling availability is all it takes to transport one back five decades. That and one eight-bedroom, four-bathroom house on a hill just east of Chum's Corner.

Groovy, baby.

What started out as a practical solution to a redecorating problem has turned into the 70's Lodge, a property from Adventure North Vacation Rentals that puts the rad in radical.

Upstairs there are bedrooms dedicated to television shows like "The Brady Brunch," "The Partridge Family," "Charlie's Angels" and "Rowan & Martin's Laugh In." Downstairs there are sleeping themes with James Bond, "I Dream of Jeanie," "Mission Impossible" and "Star Trek." The basement also includes a Scooby Doo area with a twin bed.

Even the color of the kitchen, when asked what shade of orange dominated it, was described by property manager and owner Dan Brady as "1970s." There's even a framed photograph of Ann B. Davis, who famously played Alice, the housekeeper on "The Brady Bunch."

Brady, who also owns Dan Brady Painting & Wood Restoration, credited designers Denine Dingeman and Colleen Fowler with developing the theme, saying the duo put in a lot of work adding all the various nods to the decade.

"The house was built in the '60s and thrived in the '70s," Brady said of the simple solution. "To remodel a place that big with new fixtures and cabinets ... I was looking for a way to make it cool on a budget."

And cool it is.

John Ockert, co-owner of Oaky's Tavern in Interlochen, used 70's Lodge for an employee get-together and appreciation party on Aug. 22.

"It's like a museum," Ockert said. "It's great; it's fun. It was the perfect place for us to let our hair down and enjoy it.

"It's well (decorated). You could spend a lot of time just walking up and down the hallways looking at the artifacts of our lives."

Julie Whalen of Allendale said her out-of-town guests enjoyed going through the house before making decisions when the 70's Lodge hosted a surprise 50th birthday party for her husband, Matt, a Traverse City St. Francis graduate.

"All of our friends were so excited about picking out their rooms," said Julie Whalen, who stayed in the tiny ranch house Aug. 20.

Plenty of room

Another reason Oaky's Tavern and Julie Whalen used the 70's Lodge is there is enough room for all six Partridge family members, Reuben Kincaid, all eight members of The Brady Bunch plus Alice and Sam the Butcher, all six of the different angels employed by Charlie, Charlie himself and associate John Bosley in the main house.

That doesn't include the tiny ranch house that sleeps four on site, giving 70's Lodge the capacity to put up 29 people for the night.

Ockert said there were about 50 people attending the Oaky's Tavern party counting all the employees, their guests, himself and wife, Melissa.

"It accommodated everyone and we had people age 14 to 65," said Ockert, who said about 10 people ended up staying the night after a long day that included a spirited game of kickball. "It accommodated every age you could think of."

Julie Whalen said the 70's Lodge was a perfect spot to surprise husband Matt for his 50th.

Especially since it was a month before he actually hits the milestone on Sept. 20.

Julie Whalen said there were about 70 people at the party and nearly half of those stayed the night. Whalen said the property — which added a pool house last summer — provided a lot of options throughout the day.

"We could do all this and everyone had a place to stay," Julie Whalen said. "You could head off to sleep when you wanted to or you could stay up as much as you wanted to. And no one had to drive.

"I had a lot of people say it was the best party ever. People just loved it. It was a hit."

In addition to Oaky's, Dan Brady said several other companies have hosted employee parties.

"We have a lot of people do work gatherings," said Dan Brady, who said rent covers the entire facility. "Owners of companies gather with their employees for team building or just hanging out."

It's also a popular spot for family get-togethers.

"You can definitely stay here and not go anywhere," added Dan's wife, Lisa Brady, who's full-time job is as development director for Great Lakes Children's Museum.

Dan Brady said he knew the concept of offering a place for people to gather on the 10-acre property would sell. He just wasn't sure how well it would go over.

"Having a place that could host that many people, I knew that would work," he said. "I didn't think it would be as popular as it was."

The popularity of 70's Lodge expanded when the Bradys opened a massive pool house on June 18, 2021. The pool and recreation house opened a day before a wedding — that of the Bradys. The date is painted on a cornhole set indoors.

The new addition features an 18-by-40 foot outdoor pool, a bar, outdoor televisions and a six-person hot tub.

"It's a fun place," Lisa Brady said. "We love the families that come here. We have a lot of family reunions. They all like being able to stay together and with the pool, the kids don't want to leave."

"A lot of people tell us, 'we came with a lot of plans, but we canceled them all to stay here,'" Dan Brady added.

Plan ahead

Dan Brady said 70's Lodge rents differently at different times. July and August are mostly weekly rentals while the spring and fall are mostly weekends.

Rates also vary by the season. Nightly rentals are between $800 and $2,300 a night while weekly rates vary between $12,000 to $17,000.

"It sounds like a lot, but if you have eight couples and kids ..." Lisa Brady started saying.

"When you divide it by 20 or 29, it's really not that much if for two people in a hotel room you're spending more than you are here," Dan Brady added.

Julie Whalen said she was happy she only had to worry about providing food, some decorations, alcohol and dessert for her party. Whalen said she previously surprised her husband for his 30th and 40th with a Detroit Tigers game, which can also get costly with transportation and tickets.

Plus she said the 70's Lodge was probably more well received.

"There was something for everyone," she said. "Everyone had their happy place whether it was playing pool, going swimming, going in the hot tub."

The Bradys said recent bookings have filled up much of the calendar for June and there's a few for September 2023. The rest of 2022 is filling up as well.

"The rest of the year I don't think we have any weekends left," Dan Brady said.

"If they want to get in any Christmas party requests, they should do it ASAP," Lisa Brady interjected.

Family ties

The 70's Lodge is just one of properties under the Adventure North Vacation Rentals umbrella. That also includes Let's Travel rentals.

Dan Brady's sister, Shawne Cole, serves as guest services manager. Lisa Brady's father, Larry Pointe, and brother, Andy Pointe, head up maintenance. "We share the title," Andy Pointe joked.

"It's a total family thing," Lisa Brady said.

The family connection to the 70's Lodge is also strong.

Brent and Norma Walton built the house in the mid-1960s and sold it to the Ludka family in the mid-1990s. The Bradys are the third family to own the property.

The Walton family returned to their former home nearly three years ago around Thanksgiving to surprise Norma on her birthday.

"An awful lot of the stuff was still the same like the (kitchen) cabinets and some of the flooring," Brent Walton recalled of his visit. "Of course he covered up the (indoor) pool with a big family room.

"It was real exciting. There were a lot of memories. We had a lot of good times there."

A Walton family portrait hangs in the 70's Lodge and the family took another during the revisit, with the addition of some of the couple's 16 grandkids and eight great grandkids.

"We lined up the same way as the original picture," Brent Walton said.

As far as transporting his former home into an homage to the 1970s, Brent Walton doesn't mind.

"He had a great idea and it's working out well," Walton said of Brady. "I'm happy for him."