LOCALadk Magazine

Fall 2016 LOCALadk Magazine 22 LOCALadk The pull north When Devlin Hennessy agreed with his girlfriend, Britta Green, to spend the summer of 2007 working in the Adirondacks so that they could spend more time together, he had no idea how trans- formative the summer would actually be. Britta, a fifth genera- tion Adirondacker, convinced Devlin to work with her at Raquette Lake Camps. She did not know that they would be split up – Brit- ta to the girl's side, Devlin to the boy's – and see each other only once a week. The result: a life-changing summer. Devlin, already in love with Britta, also fell in love with the Adirondacks and the idea of someday moving to the area. Britta's Adirondack roots run deep. Her ancestor, J.B. Todd, settled in the Adirondacks as head surveyor of the lumberjack camps at the turn of the twentieth century. Her family has re- turned to the Old Forge area ever since. "My happiest childhood memories took place here, and this area has been the greatest blessing in my life," Britta says. After their summer in the Adirondacks, Britta and Devlin re- turned to New York City. They married in 2013, and began to build their ca- reers. By 2014, Britta was working for PRADA's corporate merchandising of- fices on 51st and 11th in a converted piano factory: a minimalist office with concrete floors, exposed loft ceilings, and views of the Hudson River. Devlin worked in marketing for Estée Lauder on the fifth floor of a Brownstone in the heart of SoHo. They thought they were working in their dream jobs, but their home in Westfield, New Jersey, was 15 miles outside of the city and required an hour and a half commute both ways. "When we started adding up the hours we dedicated to our jobs, our commutes, and the hours working in between, we wondered if we should be doing something for ourselves," Britta said. "I found myself spending every lunch break in the camping and hik- ing sections of REI, dreaming about my next outdoor adventure," Devlin says. Finally, on a long, gray, bumper-to-bumper commute, they began to plan their escape. Finding home Britta and Devlin began to look for a viable business opportuni- ty outside of the city. They considered Saratoga Springs, where Britta grew up, and Lake Placid, which Devlin fell in love with af- ter his summer working in the Adirondacks. "We quickly realized that opening a business in either place would be highly compet- itive. The need for a project like the one we were considering existed in Old Forge," Devlin says. The decision to move from Manhattan to Old Forge, a town with a year-round population of less than one thousand, seemed daunting, but they were up for the challenge. "We were inspired by the community, and the drive that local business owners have for a better future for themselves and the Adirondack Park," Britta says. They soon met their future business partner, Keir Weimer, through mutual friends. Weimer, a real estate broker, was al- ready putting his entrepreneurial spirit to the test. Common love Keir Weimer and the Adirondacks go back - way back - to 1962, when his grandfather bought a summer camp on Fourth Lake in Old Forge for his family. Catching fireflies, watching shooting stars and fishing off the dock were all part of Keir's childhood. It is, he admits, a fairly idyllic way to grow up, but he never thought it would become part of his adult life. "I thought I would be building a career in corporate America, in New York City," Keir says. "I'm so glad I'm not." Keir heads up The Keir Weimer Team, a top-producing Select Sotheby's International Realty team specializing in luxury and unique real estate in the Adirondack Park and other upstate New York markets. When Keir met the Hennessys through a mutual friend in 2014, there was an instant connection. As they discussed their hopes for a life in the Adirondacks, Keir found himself wanting that life, as well. Through his real estate business, he found a historic resort on Fourth Lake called the North Woods Inn. It was in need of massive renovations, but it was love at first sight. The three formed a partnership, Fulton Chain Holdings, LLC, and raised the capital to buy the property and to start renovations. The day the ink dried on the purchase agreement, Devlin and Britta quit their jobs, sold most of their possessions, picked up a new Bernadoodle puppy and headed north to meet Keir. They began a six month renovation and redesign process that includ- ed rebranding the resort as Great Pines, a nod to the three tow- ering cathedral white pines that line the resort's lakeshore. Relocating and digging into a new business venture has been far from easy, but the trio's definition of success is as person- al as their love for the Adirondacks "Our success is no longer measured by the car we drive, or the house we live in, but by the amount of time we spend together," Britta says. "We only have one life, and we fully intend to spend as much time as we can making memories in this beautiful park." In June, the resort hosted a ribbon cutting, marking the first summer season of the Great Pines resort, and the culmination of a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. "We've been lucky that the Old Forge and Inlet business owners are a fantastic group of peo- ple with decades of experience supporting one another," Devlin says. "We owe so much of Great Pines' success to these people, and are so grateful to be a part of this community."

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