About Us
Welcome to the Lutsen Lodging Company. Our company owns and manages numerous vacation properties throughout Cook County along the North Shore of Lake Superior. We offer properties in Lutsen, Tofte, Grand Marais, the Gunflint Trail and more. Our selection of properties will certainly meet your lodging requirements – whether you are looking to be in the woods, on Lake Superior, inland lakes, Superior National Golf Course or at the Mountain. We encourage you to look at all of our properties on our website. We look forward to meeting you if you are a new guest or first timer to the area and look forward to getting caught-up with our returning guests.
Mike Larson
General Manager
Mike serves as General Manager for the Lutsen Lodging Company. For over two decades, Mike has played a critical role in the development of the tourism, lodging and the real estate industry in the Lutsen and overall Cook County areas. Mike moved to the area in 1988 after serving Cook County in several consultant roles from his Duluth office. In 1992, Mike built the Mountain Inn at Lutsen – a contemporary 30 Room Inn located at Lutsen Mountains and thereafter started the Lutsen Lodging Company…a full service property and rental management company…and the Lutsen Real Estate Group… a full service Real Estate Agency. Mike and his wife of 22 years and three children live in Lutsen (one off to college). Mike enjoys biking – was a former trail runner (ouch – bad knees) and for the past 10 years has served as Assistant coach for the High School Alpine Race team.
Lavona Czaplicki
Accounting Manager & Operations Manager
Lavona serves as the Accounting Manager for the Lutsen Lodging Company and Operations Manager for the Lutsen Real Estate Group. In addition Lavona manages several private Homeowner Associations accounts under the client base of the Lutsen Lodging Company. Described another way, if there is any question regarding accounting, budgets, year-end statements, owner statements or generally any function as it relates to finances, Lavona will take of you.
“True locals” are becoming rare in the melting pot of Cook County. However, Lavona fits that description. Born and raised in Cook County and a graduate of Cook County High School, Lavona started doing bookwork for her father’s electric company as a teenager. Thereafter she worked for two different local manufacturing companies before taking the reigns over for the Real Estate Group and Lodging Company in 2006.
Lavona lives with her Husband in Schroeder in a home overlooking the beautiful Cross River. When she is not balancing accounts, Lavona enjoys teaching piano, playing piano, active in music at Zoar Church in Tofte, photography, quilting and more. Combined with her job, seven grandchildren and one great grandson including all her personal interest – you won’t find any grass growing under Lavona’s feet.
Katterine Payer
Operations Manager
Katterine serves as the Operations Manager at the Lutsen Lodging Company. Katterine first came to the North Shore in December 2007 from Lima, Peru as a student. She was studying Hotel Management in Peru and moving to the North Shore to work a resort was a perfect hands-on learning experience. She returned to Peru to graduated college in 2008 but her time on the North Shore was not over. After two winters here Katterine adapted to the climate and fell in love with the area. Katterine enjoys the peace and quiet and feels like life on the North Shore is “Like being on vacation everyday! Katterine loves kids. In Peru, she worked for her sister’s company organizing events and providing entertainment for kids. One of her dreams is to start a non-profit organization to help kids in Peru. Katterine loves the outdoors. The snow, Lake Superior and fishing with her husband (an avid fisherman) are some of the things that keep her smiling. To Katterine, “Everyday is Perfect on the North Shore! ”
Rory Thompson
Maintenance Supervisor
Rory brings a wide range of mechanical/technical and general skills to the clients we serve at the Lutsen Lodging Company. Like Lavona, our Accounting and Operations Manager, Rory is born and raised native of Cook County. As a result, he knows the “ins and outs” of the county to the extent if there is a problem he cannot solve; he has the right connections to get a project fixed in a timely manner. And that is something any other person cannot buy. It’s the connections and networks along with his skills that Rory brings to this company.