It all started with a little boy...
Don & Dorothy Jones
1958 - 1962
Dreams of a young boy come true!
Starting sometime in the 30's, Don Jones, a
very young boy, and his family would travel from Southern California to the Lake
Tahoe area every year. During the trip both up to and back from Lake Tahoe, the
Jones family would drive by a beautiful meadow with a magnificent rock walled
cliff behind the meadow. Don Jones was so fascinated with the meadow and cliff,
he would often say that "someday I'm going to own that place".
In 1958 after several events in Don's
life, he was able to purchase 75 acres which included the meadow and the cliff.
Thus the start of a dream beginning to come true.
Don was so fascinated with the property
(then known as the "Mile High Ranch"), that young Don wanted to share
it's beauty with others, thus the idea of a motel. Don did not just want a motel
like most others at the time. He wanted all of his guests to enjoy the beauty of
the meadow and cliffs. So after much pondering and through creativity, Don
finally had a master plan and thus the creation of
"Meadowcliff, The Complete Resort".
Construction began on the motel building in
early 1959 and after much work (his boy's call it "slave labor")
Meadowcliff open it's doors in November of 1959.
During the time of construction, Don became
enamored with a beautiful young woman named "Dorothy Lindsey". Even
after Don put Dorothy to work on the construction project (that's an entire
story in it's self), Dorothy knew there was some connection
between her and Don. After much work, Dorothy return to southern California.
Shortly after arriving home, Don called Dorothy and said that he missed her so much that he wanted to marry her.
Shortly after her return to Meadowcliff, Don
and Dorothy were married on November 27, 1959. (Incidently, this is the exact same day that Tim Fesko was born, only to buy the place 38 years later!)
During the early days, it was such a joy to
have rented any rooms. Don and Dorothy did what they could to promote the place.
But struggling, Don was forced to get a job back in southern California. Don
would commute back up to Meadowcliff on the weekends, while Dorothy moved into a
motel room during this time.
Finally, after seeing that there was no way
for them to continue with Meadowcliff, sadly, Don and Dorothy Jones finally gave
in and sold the place only after a short 4 years from the time Don originally
bought the property.
Don and Dorothy did return for a visit to the
"old place" in 1999, at which time they met the newest owners, Tim and
Mary Fesko. Don and Dorothy were quite surprised and pleased to see how
beautiful the place of their dreams had become.
In August of 2004, Don and Dorothy, along with
their children, their grand-children and even great-grand-children returned to
Meadowcliff to relive some of the joy that the "founders" of
Meadowcliff originally enjoyed. Everyone had a great time and it was great for
this author (Tim Fesko) and his wife, Mary, to sit around and hear all of the
great stories on how Meadowcliff came to be. It is with great pleasure, pride
and honor that we, the newest owner's were given this chance to get to know
these fine people.
We are so honored and grateful to Don and
Dorothy for having the spirit to create such a beautiful resort and for getting
to know them during their return visit.
Here are some photos of the early days... hope that you enjoy them!
     
      
       
   
Smiley
1962 - ??
Peggy's and Taft's
?? - ??
Madden ? - ?
?? - 1983
Jack & Darlene Zippwald
1983 - June 1997
Tim & Mary Fesko
June 25, 1997 - Present
In October 1995, Tim & Mary were visiting the area and after a mishap with their RV, they found themselves at Meadowcliff (having stayed here many times over that past 7 years). It was during this stay that talk of buying Meadowcliff started. After many visits over the next few months, Tim & Mary found themselves under contract (1 1/2 year time frame).
They finally purchased the place on June 25th, 1997 and moved into the place on June 27th. This was one day before the highway reopened after a devastating flood in January of 1997.
Right from the start, the team of two knew they wanted to take the place to new heights. On the day after Labor day of 1997, they broke ground on a new 10 room addition to the existing 10 room motel. This new building opened in May of 1998.
In 2008, they broke ground on the newest addition, a 34 site full-hookup RV Resort.
  
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