After 33 years in the same family, Wapiti Lodge has been sold to a local investor. The 14-room motel at 21625 U.S. Highway 160 changed hands Friday.

Margaret Fretwell, who has owned the Wapiti since 1981, sold the motel to Garth Schultheis, a Durango real-estate agent, for $840,000.

After more than three decades running the motel, Fretwell said she was ready to retire.

“I’ve been trying to sell for years,” she said.

She and her former husband purchased the motel in 1981 from Bob Savidge, who built it beginning in 1966.

Over the years, Fretwell has earned a reputation for helping out those in need. Many guests and even passers-by have rented Wapiti rooms at discounted rates. She has pulled drunks off the street to sleep it off.

“I always say that God put me in a position to help people, and sometimes I did,” she said.

The motel typically employs four workers. Staff have “taken a lot of pride” in the motel, said Harriet Fretwell, a friend who served as manager until the sale.

“Everybody’s really loyal once they got to know (Margaret) because she’s so good,” she said.

Wapiti Lodge, with its famous “last motel for 150 feet” sign, has faced increased competition. The little motel has been hemmed in by a Marriott Residence Inn, a Best Western and a Holiday Inn – all within a few hundred feet.

The competition has hurt, Margaret Fretwell said. But business has improved along with the economy.

“Since the economy got better, business got better,” she said.

Durango’s hotels and motels are bringing in more revenue, according to city sales-tax data. Tax receipts jumped 14 percent during the first three months of the year.

Wapiti rooms rent for $59 to $99 – the price varies seasonally. The motel relies on repeat business, Fretwell said. Weekly and monthly rentals are available in the off-season but mostly nightly rentals during the summer tourist season.

Some visitors still want clean, economical motel rooms, she said.

Schultheis said he plans to continue to operate the Wapiti.

“Our plans are just to continue what Margaret has been doing,” he said. “Of course, we’re going to bring our own ideas to expand the business in the shoulder seasons.”

He said he planned to increase the Wapiti’s online marketing to draw visitors. Otherwise, the motel will continue to rely on its high-visibility location to bring in lodgers, he said.

In 2004, Fretwell gained City Council approval to build a seven-story, 40-condominium development on the Wapiti site. The project, known as the Spruce Tree Terraces, was to be modeled on ancient lodgings at Mesa Verde National Park. The project faded amid economic difficulties.

The Wapiti Lodge is one of only a few one-story midcentury highway motels remaining in Durango. Similar motels are more common in Cortez and Farmington, but Durango’s hotel market is dominated by large chain operations and smaller boutique hotels. Many Durango hotels charge well over $100 a night.

“There’s very few mom-and-pops left,” Fretwell said.

For her, handing over the Wapiti ends a long chapter in her life. She was a hands-on owner, often cleaning the rooms or staffing the front desk. Her daughter, Rhonda Baird, grew up cleaning and helping at the motel.

“It’s earned a really good living for me,” Fretwell said. “Sometimes I hated it, but I loved it.”

cslothower@durangoherald.com