Salishan Resort, originally known as Salishan Lodge, is in Gleneden Beach, south of Lincoln City, on the central Oregon coast. (Courtesy of Salishan Resort)

Five decades ago, Lincoln City was hardly the place one thought of for luxurious lodging or fine dining. Rather, it was known for value inns, fried food and taffy.

But in 1965, John and Betty Gray opened the Salishan Lodge in Gleneden Beach, just south of Lincoln City, bringing to the central Oregon coast a destination resort that for years earned five-diamond ratings from AAA and received one of only two 5-star ratings given nationwide by Mobile Travel Guides for "motels," the designation assigned to lodges where guests drove to their rooms. The other was in Carmel, California.

John Gray was a World War II veteran, Harvard graduate, international businessman and native Oregonian with strong ties to the Oregon coast. Elizabeth "Betty" Neuner was the daughter of Oregon Attorney General George Neuner and an Oregon State and Columbia University graduate. The pair married in 1946, honeymooning on the Oregon coast and soon building a summer home there.

"They just loved the coast," said daughter Janet Webster. "Dad was always looking for things to do. He was an active businessperson, but also very intrigued with land development and how cities developed. All that came from his time in the war. He was in Europe. ... He was just interested in how you develop land and how you do it in a way that was not just slash-and-burn."

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An undated photo of Salishan Lodge's front entrance. (Courtesy of Salishan Resort)

Salishan was hailed for its distinct Pacific Northwest architecture, featuring an abundance of Douglas fir, hemlock and cedar thanks to architect John Storrs and landscape architect Barbara Fealy, whose portfolios included the World Forestry Center in Portland's Washington Park, Catlin Gabel School, Sokol Blosser Winery and the Eagle Crest Resort in Redmond. Art throughout was by acclaimed Oregon artists, including Mark Sponenburgh, Wally Schwab and Frank Boyden.

But in 1996, 31 years after opening Salishan, the Grays sold Salishan, and its fate has been questionable since, as it changed hands multiple times.

Now the resort is once again under new ownership. It was purchased in November 2017 at a foreclosure auction by a private equity investment company, Alpha Wave Investors of Southern California, and is now managed by Alpha Wave's hospitality company, Soul Community Planet. CEO Ken Cruse believes they can return what is arguably one of the state's most treasured lodges to its old glory.

He admits it won't be easy.

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Frank Buck, chef at Salishan Lodge, in 1980. (Art Blume Agency)

"When we bought the hotel in 2017, it was ranked by TripAdvisor as 119 out of 220 in guest satisfaction on the Oregon coast," Cruse said. "This is against every single hotel on the Oregon coast. Think of a resort as a supertanker. Once it goes in one direction, it has huge momentum pushing it in that direction. For years, Salishan was headed in the wrong direction. The resort has made great progress this year, but we're at the bottom rung of a very high ladder."

Webster recalled that while Salishan "did raise the bar," it never was a money maker.

"This is not a business you go into thinking you are going to make a lot of money," she said. "It was an expensive operation to run."

Take the dining room, noted for its tuxedo-clad waiters and Caesar salads prepared tableside.

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Leroy Setziol, a leading Oergon wood carver, created 13 teak panels for Salishan. (Courtesy of Salishan Resort)

"For a kid, it was where you learned how to eat in a fine dining establishment," recalled Webster. "My mother was always checking on how things looked. Were things in order? Both of my parents had kind of a critical eye. The staff was great. Everyone appreciated the hands-on attitude."

Webster also recalled her parents' efforts to build Salishan's collection of art.

"My parents knew some people and then started immersing themselves in who was out there," said Webster. "As a kid I'd go to people's studios. Dad would call them up and say, 'I want to see what you are doing.' Which was fun. It was a lot of work to get prints to go in all the rooms. It was a lot. And then major works to go in the public spaces, some exterior sculpture and things to go on the exterior walls."

Those major works included wood screens in the casual-dining Sun Room by Jacksonville artist Eugene Bennett and 13 teak panels by Leroy Setziol, considered the father of Oregon wood carving, in the dining room.

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An undated aerial view of Salishan. (Courtesy of Salishan Resort)

Then came the 1996 sale.

The new owners, ERE Yarmouth, based in Australia, turned the property over to Dolce International, a management group set on converting the resort into a corporate retreat.

"I think that was the first major turn," said Steve Wilson, owner of the nearby Bay House restaurant and a former Salishan employee who held positions including assistant general manager and director of food and beverage. Dolce's attitude, according to Wilson, was one of "we'll show you hicks how to run a hotel."

"I think that is the key to the trials and tribulations," he said. "The fact is, this is a very unique place. Corporate America has a formula that doesn't work here. This is seasonal occupancy and a long way from a moderate-sized metro area. It's difficult to find high-quality, world-class people to run the resort. They also came in with lots of money and made changes that didn't fit."

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Salishan is once again on the radar as a top destination. (Courtesy of Salishan Resort)

The most devastating of those changes was to the architecture and art.

"They trashed so much Northwest art," Wilson said. "Employees were pulling art by some of the state's most famous artists out of the Dumpster. The chandelier in the lounge made of glass Japanese fishing floats ended up in the Dumpster. They put up a chandelier made of antlers. It was a huge travesty."

About 2003, the resort sold again, this time to a consortium of families from Eugene. By then, the once-grand resort had become "the poster child for deferred maintenance," said Wilson, who signed on as a consultant in 2005. Despite millions of dollars in renovations and repair, the resort still floundered.

But it seems the long decline may have reached an end. In October, Conde Nast named what's now the Salishan Resort one of the top five resorts in the Pacific Northwest. Renovations are underway throughout the 205-room resort. The Shops at Salishan retail plaza across U.S. 101 from the lodge, largely vacant for years, has new tenants. A locals' recognition program, the 65 Club -- named for the year the lodge opened -- offers special deals to local members.

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Salishan has long been known for its golf course. (Courtesy of Salishan Resort)

"Salishan began as the benchmark of Northwest hospitality," Cruse said. "So many people have fond memories of the Salishan; they remember it for what it has the potential to be. We want to embrace that history, but in a modern way. We want to take people back to the memories. We want them to say, 'Geez, the last time we went to Salishan it was wonderful.' "

It's been a learning experience for the new management, especially when Cruse proposed minimizing the golf attraction and instead adding zip lines and mountain bike trails. Locals weren't happy. Cruse compromised. The golf course stays, with plans for improvements, but Salishan also now has an outdoor challenge course with suspension bridges and tightropes.

Efforts are also underway to once again make Salishan a showcase for Oregon art, with a new show about to open in the gallery, which doubles as a meeting room. The Gallery at Salishan in the Shops at Salishan on U.S. 101 also has reopened.

"Art is one of the pillars," said Salishan general manager Ryan McCarthy. "We commissioned a piece of art recently by Monica Setziol. It's two different panels, a similar style to her father, Leroy Setziol. We're linking the past to the future.

"I've never been involved with a resort that has so much history. People come back again and again for the history whether or not the resort deserved for them to come back or not. There's just something about this place."

Salishan Resort

Address: 7760 N. U.S. 101, Gleneden Beach

Information: salishan.com or 541-764-3600

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An undated photo of a Salishan bedroom with a view of the ocean. (Courtesy of Salishan Resort)

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Kevin Dobson, who played Mac McKenzie in the CBS series "Knots Landing," awaits his cue during filming at Salishan Lodge in 1984. (Brent Wojahn)

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An outdoor fireplace warms guests at The Shops at Salishan in 2004. (John M. Vincent)

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Salishan Spa, with a view of Siletz Bay, from the ladies whirlpool area, in 2005. (Naomi Kaufman Price)