New owners ‘pretty excited’ about purchase of iconic Old Orchard Inn in Annapolis Valley

The Previous Orchard Inn celebrated its fiftieth anniversary this 12 months, however its second half-century is beginning beneath new possession.

The Wallace household has owned and run the lodge and conference centre exterior Wolfville since 1972, including a spa a number of years in the past. 

Final week, the household finalized a cope with an organization shaped by Pat Lipton, Matt Stokes and Alex Rice. Lipton is founding father of Endurance Equities and Stokes is that firm’s president and CEO, whereas Rice is president of the Nova Scotia Spirit Firm

Lipton mentioned Wednesday that the brand new firm is spending $13 million on the acquisition and preliminary upgrades to the 110-room, three-storey lodge, which additionally has 30 seasonal cabins.

“It’s an exquisite outdated lodge, everybody is aware of it,” Lipton mentioned. 

However enhancements will probably be made, and there are plans to rebrand it as a meals and beverage vacation spot.

“Now we have plenty of plans to do issues,” Lipton mentioned. 

That features redoing the inside. Two flooring will probably be renovated, one by one this low season, and the third subsequent 12 months. The eating and banquet areas may even have work carried out.

“All the things is in our imaginative and prescient to enhance, and we have now the blessings of the Wallaces,” Lipton mentioned. 

“They fairly like what we’re doing and what the plans are.”

The lodge and cabins sit on a big property with extra potential.

“Now we have a number of ideas on what to do with the steadiness of the property,” Lipton mentioned. 

“Now we have 25 acres in the midst of wine nation. It’s superb to have a resort like this in the midst of wine nation.”

He mentioned the brand new group is “fairly enthusiastic about” the acquisition.

“We’d been speaking for a while about desirous to get into the lodge enterprise, and we didn’t wish to begin with a small one,” Lipton mentioned. 

“We wished to begin with one thing already there and substantial.”

He mentioned the Previous O, as it’s generally referred to, is without doubt one of the “huge 4 iconic motels” in Nova Scotia.

“We wish to transfer it up in folks’s thought course of so that they wish to come right here first.”

Former co-owner and president Invoice Wallace couldn’t be reached Wednesday.