Monte Vista Hotel to expand under new ownership, keep sense of Black Mountain community

The Monte Vista Hotel has new owners as of September.

According to Register of Deeds records, Ridgeline Investment Partners purchased the property for $4,099,000 from previous owners Southern Hospitality.

Ridgeline Investment Partners is an Atlanta-based company that owns several properties in North Carolina and Georgia.

Tyler Caswell, one of the partners of the company, told Black Mountain News the partners came together to form Ridgeline Investment Partners after working on the Bridge Creek Inn in Clayton, Georgia. Each partner has different experiences, but they are mostly hotel and hospitality focused.

Caswell said the company focuses on properties in small towns.

“They’re all in small towns, growing towns,” Caswell said. “They’re all walkable to downtown, they’re all next to beautiful state parks and natural resources. They’re all relatively affordable and approachable and easy to get to.”

Though the Monte Vista was not on the open market by Southern Hospitality, Ridgeline Investment Partners found the property and started talking with previous owners about purchasing it in December 2022.

“When we came across the Monte Vista, it checked all those boxes,” Caswell said. “It’s awesome. It’s exactly what we like. We like the fact that it needed a little bit of love and some renovations, and that’s what made if attractive to us.”

Caswell said that while he is not able to offer specific plans Ridgeline Investment Partners have for the Monte Vista, they are working with an architect and interior designer on a master plan for the property.

He said the group plans for renovations to be done during the slower winter seasons and getting plans together for 2024 was not possible in such a short amount of time.

“But the rooms are going to get an overhaul,” Caswell said. “The interior of the rooms are going to get an overhaul, and the restaurant is going to continue to be tweaked and improved in various ways.”

Part of this overhaul includes adding 10 rooms, including suites, to the farmhouse that sits adjacent to the main Monte Vista building. The farmhouse was previously home to the Swannanoa Valley Art League and Red House Gallery before the Monte Vista sale. The league and gallery are moving to Cherry Street and are planning for a grand opening date in March.

Caswell said it was “not an easy decision” to dissolve the agreement between the previous owners and the gallery, but the new owners would like to expand the hotel and needed the space. He said those in charge of the gallery “couldn’t have been nicer” in the transition.

With the addition of the 10 rooms in the farmhouse, the total number of rooms in the Monte Vista will be 55.

Caswell said he and the other partners value the history of the hotel.

“We really value its history,” Caswell said. “We value its charm. We’re not going to do anything dramatic to change it appearance. The only things we’re going to do is simply upgrade the facility and the landscaping and the property. We just believe immensely in the town of Black Mountain.”

He said he visited Black Mountain as a child and, since purchasing the property, has visited several times with his family and said he loves the town.

Caswell said Ridgeline Investment Partners want to make the Monte Vista a “pillar of the community” and want to see it continued to be used as a community space, including with the annual Deck the Trees fundraiser.

“We really want to engage the community so that they see the Monte Vista, especially the neighborhood behind us, as theirs and it’s their first choice for all events and holiday parties,” Caswell said. “We’re going to work very hard to make the town real happy when it comes to what we’re going to do with the property.”