By Mike Armstrong
Writer, Carbon County Comet
Duke Altschuler is a self-made man who has spent some serious time and money to turn several properties in Encampment into showplaces for those who come to visit this gateway town on the
Continental Divide Trail.
“This is one of the most beautiful towns I have ever seen,” Altschuler said. “There is really staggering beauty all around.”
This is saying something for a man who owns property on the North Shore of Oahu in Hawaii. He has a home in Colorado and also a home in Key West, Florida. His purchase of a ranch outside of Encampment is how he became acquainted with the Divide and the Pine Lodge Motel, two of the several properties Altschuler purchased in town. He also owns the E and H Building, which he is renovating to possibly be a boutique hotel. Currently, the building is home to White Dog Liquors, which has a very good selection of wine and spirits. Fans of Buffalo Trace will encounter almost all of this brand’s products. Many whiskey lovers enjoy Buffalo Trace, but in Wyoming, this brand tends to sell out quickly and takes time to get back in stock. All the Buffalo Trace brands available show Altschuler means business when he finds something he likes.
To say Altschuler likes Encampment is an understatement. He readily admits to loving the town and wants to preserve its history while making it a destination for visitors. Altschuler admits to spending over a million dollars on renovating the Divide Restaurant/Bar and the Pine Lodge Motel.
“The Pine Lodge when I first got had so many problems, I actually had guests sleep in their car because the electric kept shorting out,” Altschuler said. “The wiring needed serious work.”
The 11 rooms are now not only up to code but rustically beautiful. It is apparent when walking into one of the rooms serious money has been spent to give a quality feel.
“If I am going to get involved in a project, I am going to do it as well as I can,” Altschuler said. “I have been like this all my life.” His life goes back to the East Coast to Pennsylvania, where he grew up. He admits that because he is a self-made man and has made some good decisions. He is at a point in his life to tackle the projects he has taken on Encampment.
The Divide Restaurant and Bar was renovated some time back, but Altschuler is still making improvements. He is taking a deck off by the restaurant and enclosing it. Altschuler freely says when he bought the place in 2021, he had little idea how much work and money it was going to take to make his vision of the place come true. The deck is one of those costs, but he knows by putting the funds into doing it right, it will pay for the Divide.
“By enclosing it,” Altschuler said. “We are going to be able to do that much more with it during the seasons. I am pretty excited by it.”
Another aspect of the Divide that Altschuler is excited about is the food coming out of his kitchen. His
Executive Chef Paul Chandler is putting out excellent food. People are noticing. His breakfast has four types of eggs benedict and they range from a regular with Canadian bacon to one made with a crab cake. The steaks being served are quality cuts. Altschuler is making sure Chandler has a modern kitchen that puts out food quickly, with consistency that a patron savors with every bite. This might sound like hyperbole, but Altschuler was determined he was going to have great food come out of his kitchen.
Another thing Altschuler did was start working with Hispanic Restaurant Association (HRA). With this association, he has been able to bring in other chefs from this organization to help Chandler and impart their knowledge of technology and technique.
Chandler has 36 years of restaurant experience behind him and he looks at what is being brought in by the chefs of HRA as a compliment to what he knows. The formula of what is happening in the kitchen in the Divide is working.
The beautiful bar on the other side of the dining room is worth going into, even if one does not imbibe. It compliments the quality of food coming out of the kitchen.
Altschuler has not only been putting money into what can be seen at the Divide but also what cannot.
When you go down under the building to the cellar, there are cement walls that have recently been poured.
“There was a tree growing in,” Altschuler said. “The side of this place was going to sink in, so we had to put in a concrete wall. We are looking at different options for it. I like the idea of a really good wine cellar.”
Altschuler said the building was on stilts.
“The fire marshall said this has to go,” Altschuler said. “So we poured a lot of concrete. I mean, a lot of concrete and it was expensive.”
Heidi Sifford, the operations manager for the Divide and Pine Lodge, said It is interesting to note the cellar had once housed a mortuary, and this building has been a lumber store for other restaurants, bars and everything in between.
Another problem Altshuler found at the Divide before taking care of it was a previous owner had poured cement over a tiled floor and tiled over that.
“It would have been a disaster if we had not caught it,” Altschuler said. “It would have been a matter of time before it collapsed. We averted a real calamity.”
It was not just the Divide that Altschuler pumped money into.
The Pine Lodge, which he bought at the same time, has also been a source of gobbling up money. There were serious electrical problems. In the first year he owned the place, Altschuler said it was embarrassing to learn guests were sleeping in their cars to keep warm because the heat would go out.
“I am going to tell you how bad this hotel was,” Altschuler said. “If you plugged in two items, the breaker went out. There were 12 rooms, but we could never get water into six of them if they used the water at the same time.”
Altschuler said another big problem was using outside contractors. A lot of money was wasted, he said.
However, Altschuler found a local contractor and his vision of what he wanted started to take form.
Those bad days are over.
The Pine Lodge is well-appointed with its modern furniture and amenities. It is cowboy upscale with its look. Altschuler again said he is putting the money into the Divide and Pine Lodge, plus his other properties because he sees Encampment being a destination for travelers in the near future.
What is lucky for Carbon County residents is that they also get to enjoy the fruits of Altschuler’s vision.
