This Historic Lodge is Full of Spirit

LANNA AND JOE DUNCAN HAVE BEEN BUSY. The owners of Cloudcroft’s historic Lodge Resort & Spa used a pandemic closure for an extensive renovation that uncovered many of the structure’s Arts and Crafts architectural features (obscured in previous redos), restored rooms to gleaming glory, painted the exterior, and added more outdoor relaxation spaces.

“There was so much to be done, but it is going to be nice,” Lanna says of gutting two wings of the 59-room hotel, which reopened on July 1. The construction spared the Lodge’s resident ghost, Rebecca, a fun-loving young chambermaid who lends her name and portrait to the restaurant. Staffers swear she moves objects, opens and closes doors, and flickers lights. 

Originally built in 1899 to serve the long-defunct Alamogordo and Sacramento Mountain Railway as a destination for vacationers seeking the natural air-conditioning of Cloudcroft’s 9,000-foot setting, the Lodge welcomes visitors to explore charming local shops and play the hotel’s high-altitude golf course. 

The Duncans already owned two small historic hotels in West Texas when they purchased the Lodge in 2015. What Lanna didn’t expect was to reconnect with her family’s past. Turns out her great-grandfather, Edgar Beecher Bronson, was one of the railroad’s initial investors. “We knew there was something special about Cloudcroft and the Lodge,” she says.