Sunriver Resort

Sunriver
Resort
Location in the United States

Sunriver Resort is a luxury resort and residential community in central Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The resort is located at the edge of the high desert, just east of the Cascade Range, in Sunriver, 15 miles (24 km) south of Bend and 180 miles (290 km) south-southeast of Portland. The Sunriver Resort Hotel is managed by Destination Hotels & Resorts. The common areas throughout the Sunriver resort community are managed by the Sunriver Owners Association. The elevation of the resort is 4,190 feet (1,280 m) above sea level.

History

Former officers' mess at Camp Abbot, built 1943-1944 and today's "Great Hall"

Sunriver's land used to be a lake bed, which dried out and became a meadow. It was a meeting place for Native Americans living in the area and was later adopted by settlers, trappers, and explorers, including Peter Skene Ogden, Kit Carson, and John Fremont, who led expeditions along the Deschutes River in the early-to-mid-19th century.[1] In 1943, the meadow was claimed as a training ground for combat construction battalions of the U.S. Army and was established as Camp Abbot. Construction was started on the camp in November 1942 and it officially opened when Colonel Frank S. Benson assumed command on May 12, 1943.[2][3][4][5] It closed soon after D-Day in July 1944 and most of the buildings were razed.[2][6] The officer's club, constructed from native logs and stones,[3] was left standing and is now the "Great Hall," used for meetings and weddings.[6][7] Following the war, the land returned to use as a cattle ranch until the mid-1960s.[8]

In 1965, Donald V. McCallum (1918–1987), a Portland attorney, and John D. Gray (1919–2012), founder of Omark Industries,[9][10][11][12] bought the land and planned to build a luxury resort on it. Their idea was to create a resort and residential community with a focus on maintaining the integrity of the environment, including creating a finite number of home sites.[1][13] The first home site at Sunriver was sold in 1968 on June 28,[14] and ground was broken on the resort's lodge in mid-August,[15] which opened in September 1969.[16] The resort that McCallum and Gray established was bought in 1993 by Sunriver Resort Limited Partnership,[17][18] who began an extensive capital improvement program.

The Resort

The Sunriver Lodge
The Sunriver Homeowners' Aquatic and Recreation Center

Sunriver Resort offers a variety of accommodations, including luxury guest rooms and suites, as well as 400 vacation rental properties. It has five dining areas, three tennis facilities, family recreation, and is home to the Sage Springs Club and Spa. The resort has over 44,600 square feet (4,140 m2) of meeting and banquet space.

The resort is home to three famous golf courses: Meadows, Woodlands, and Crosswater. Crosswater, named one of "America's 100 Greatest Courses" by Golf Digest, and was the home of the JELD-WEN Tradition, a major championship on the Champions Tour from 2007 to 2010. The Meadows golf course was designed by acclaimed architect John Fought and the Woodlands golf course was designed by the renowned architect Robert Trent Jones, Jr.

The region's primary winter attraction, Mount Bachelor ski area, is about twenty minutes away by vehicle.

References

  1. 1 2 "Resort History". Sunriver Resort. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
  2. 1 2 "Camp Abbot-Sunriver's Proud Roots" (PDF). Retrieved October 14, 2015.
  3. 1 2 Hopper, Ila (May 30, 1977). "New buildings, old memories mark reunion". The Bulletin (Bend, Oregon). p. 3.
  4. ↑ Rede, George (March 22, 1978). "Camp Abbot had brief life". The Bulletin (Bend, Oregon). p. 82.
  5. ↑ Nielson, Jeff (May 10, 1993). "In 1943, Camp Abbot was no resort". The Bulletin (Bend, Oregon). p. B1.
  6. 1 2 "Memories are made of this: Camp Abbot reunion scheduled". The Bulletin (Bend, Oregon). April 19, 1977. p. 4.
  7. ↑ "Camp Abbot's 50th to be feted". The Bulletin (Bend, Oregon). April 22, 1993. p. B2.
  8. ↑ Kortge, Carolyn (July 7, 1985). "Sunriver". Eugene Register-Guard. p. 1E.
  9. ↑ "Great possibilities seen for river area". The Bulletin (Bend, Oregon). March 16, 1966. p. 5, sec. 3.
  10. ↑ "Suit asks breakup, sale of Sunriver properties". The Bulletin (Bend, Oregon). May 19, 1972. p. 1.
  11. ↑ "Sunriver stock dispute decision favors Gray". The Bulletin (Bend, Oregon). Associated Press. September 28, 1975. p. 1.
  12. ↑ Freeman, Mike (September 29, 1992). "Sunriver resort sale eyed". The Bulletin (Bend, Oregon). p. A-1.
  13. ↑ "1969 to be big year at Sunriver". The Bulletin (Bend, Oregon). March 12, 1969. p. 9.
  14. ↑ "Sunriver sales tops $2 million". The Bulletin (Bend, Oregon). August 2, 1968. p. a.
  15. ↑ Yates, Bill (August 15, 1968). "Sunriver Lodge under construction". The Bulletin (Bend, Oregon). p. 1.
  16. ↑ Morgan, Peter (September 22, 1969). "Visitors tour new Sunriver Lodge". The Bulletin (Bend, Oregon). p. 2.
  17. ↑ Freeman, Mike (June 3, 1993). "L.A. firm completes Sunriver purchased". The Bulletin (Bend, Oregon). p. b-1.
  18. ↑ Pinkerton, Dave (August 29, 1993). "Sunriver not a mystery". The Bulletin (Bend, Oregon). p. E-1.

External links

Coordinates: 43°52′N 121°27′W / 43.87°N 121.45°W / 43.87; -121.45

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