Historic Crooked Tree Motel and RV Park up for sale

One of the oldest motels and RV parks in Hungry Horse has a spacious new lobby and home. It’s also for sale.

The Crooked Tree Motel and RV Park was first built about 1948, by Ralph and Inga DeSteunder, said current owner Henry Broers. At the time, construction of the Hungry Horse Dam was just starting.

The DeSteunders sold it to Alvin and Margaret Nash and Broers bought it from them in 1986.

The Nashes added a swimming pool in 1966, which was open to the public and is still open today.

Broers said the pool used to be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. for just $4 a day, but he’s since trimmed the hours from noon to 6 p.m.

“That was pretty cheap babysitting,” Broers quipped.

Broers said he also had to enclose the interior of the pool roof years back — the kids were getting up in the rafters and jumping down into it.

In February of 2017, the roof of the pool collapsed entirely, as did a couple of walls. Broers fixed the walls, but the building doesn’t have a roof — it’s now an open air pool.

Broers along with Pat and Phillip Dalimata built the new 2,380 square foot log lobby, with cathedral ceilings and meticulous woodworking throughout. It had its grand opening last month.

The lobby is also Broers’ home. His sister, Pat Miller, has been coming out since 2009 to help Broers run the place in the summer months.

The motel features 12 rooms, six with fully-equipped kitchens and the RV Park has 26 spaces on three acres. He’s had the place listed for sale for a few years now, with an asking price of $1.25 million.

Broers is originally from Conrad. He was attracted to Hungry Horse because the hunting and fishing were good over here.

He said he’s met a lot of interesting people over the years.

“I know people from all over the world,” he said. “But I don’t know my neighbors.”

He said one of the big changes is the size of the RVs. Nowadays, they’re 40 feet or longer, often towing a car behind them.