When Sherman and Mae Kavanaugh purchased a small Minnesota family resort in 1969, their goal was to provide a high-quality, special place to get away. They ended up creating a family tradition of excellence that shows in everything they do – immaculate vacation lodging, world-class recreation, excellent service, and warm inviting hospitality.
Located on beautiful Sylvan Lake in Brainerd’s renowned Pine Beach Area, Kavanaugh’s Resort occupies a particularly beautiful northern Minnesota setting. It’s a quiet, pristine lake in the North Woods, far from life's bustle, with four distinct seasons, and an abundance of fish and wildlife. The original resort included nine cabins and a residence. Mae & ‘Sherm’ remodeled the lower level of the residence to become Kavanaugh's restaurant. Mae, along with her son, Dave, ran the food operation and did most of the cooking until the mid-eighties, when the youngest son, Tom, took over as head chef. After thirty-seven years, the seasonal restaurant gave way to vacation home development, but Tom still loves to cook. He teaches cooking classes in town at a chef’s cooking store, and he is working on a couple of cookbooks. “It’s my hobby now, not my job!” he says quite happily.
In 1994, Sherm sold the property to his sons. “We live here,” Tom says. “The owners of the units are our friends and neighbors. You’re dealing with family, and that makes us unique!” John is the general manager and his wife, Vicki, manages the office and reservations. Tom and Mark handle the real estate. Dave is resort operations manager in charge of all construction, remodeling, and maintenance. His wife, Brenda, works in the office and at the front desk.
Family Pride
The Kavanaughs really do go out of their way to offer the finest accommodations and warmest hospitality to their guests. In doing so, they’ve created something truly special and unique. They have created a place to call your own, something to pass on to the children, and their children after them.
The resort has changed dramatically over the years. After turning the main residence into a restaurant, the family turned their attention to upgrading the other buildings. Today, there are town homes and cottages where the nine original cabins once stood.
Kavanaugh’s has become a world-class vacation destination that now includes luxury housing, an indoor pool complex, and many more modern amenities. Now you can bask in the warming glow of a cozy fireplace, or toast the sunset on a private lakeside deck while enjoying the beautiful overlooks of Sylvan Lake and its rolling, wooded shore. In every way the Kavanaugh family prides itself on their attention to detail, cleanliness, and personal service. This assures you of the finest and most comfortable lodgings, in any season. That's their promise of old-fashioned hospitality.
Family Fun
The family started experimenting with vacation home ownership in the eighties, but most of their attention went into upgrading the resort. They wanted to create something special, the ideal place to have a family vacation, winter celebration, or romantic getaway. They succeeded beyond their wildest expectations!
Over the years, they’ve built all kinds of fabulous amenities. They’re especially proud of their pool and recreation complex. The facility includes an indoor pool and spa, an outdoor pool and patio, a fitness room, game room and a laundromat. They also built a full-size basketball court where family groups can play a fast-paced full court game and the tennis courts among the pines are gorgeous. Plus, there’s a campfire area, children’s playgrounds, and volley ball court.
Kavanaugh's is also ideally located in the Brainerd Lakes Area. You have the benefit of a beautiful lake setting, with easy access to nearby recreation, including access to over four hundred and sixty lakes, and unmatched shopping in more than six resort community towns. Golfers love this place! More than half of the three-hundred-and-six holes on the famous Brainerd Lakes Golf Trail area are within a mile-and-half of the resort.
Walkers, bikers, nature lovers and photographers have easy access to over four thousand feet of trails within the resort, as well as the five miles of paved trails immediately adjacent. There are the miles of hiking opportunities in the Pillsbury State Forest and the surrounding area, and it’s only eight miles to trailhead of the legendary Paul Bunyan Trail. During summer, there’s boating, paddle boating, kayaking, canoeing, deluxe pontoon boats, or sailing on the lake. The water and beaches are among the cleanest and safest in the state.
Kavanaugh's is also the perfect winter escape. You can access hundreds of miles of snowmobile trails from Kavanaugh's, including the Gull Lake Lighted Trail. There’s downhill skiing in town at Ski-Gull, or if you prefer cross-country there’s over forty kilometers of groomed and tracked trails, right out your doorstep. At Kavanaugh’s, there’s literally recreational fun for all ages, all year ‘round!
Family Legacy
In 2005, the Kavanaugh’s shut down the restaurant. “I still love to cook,” Tom insists, “but the restaurant didn’t fit the new direction we were taking to turn this into a vacation ownership community.” So, they closed the restaurant, and Tom and his brothers began cooking up vacation home plans instead.
Kavanaugh’s Sylvan Lake Resort now offers full ownership in your choice of sixty-five premier vacation homes, from one bedroom suites to three-bedroom cottages and townhomes, in a twenty-three acre resort community. Owners get to enjoy all the resort's amenities including both indoor and outdoor pools, two beaches, boat rentals and 4,400 feet of paved trails. The carefully-landscaped grounds feature a meandering stream, waterfalls and nearly a mile of paved biking and hiking trails. Kavanaugh’s vacation homes are the ideal solution for the hard-working families that don’t want to be tied to a cabin. They’re perfect if you’re a family that can only take a few weeks from work a couple of times a year, and you want your own private escape.
Ownership in Kavanaugh’s resort community also provides an affordable way to own lakeshore real estate, by allowing the owners to recover some of the expenses involved. Not only do you gain the appreciation on the property, but you can also earn rental income by participating in the shared rental program. “On average,” says Tom, “the units will pay for all of there expenses, plus a portion of the interest -- which makes it a lot easier to own in the long-run!”
Best of all, professional, on-site management makes owning your resort home worry-free. The Kavanaugh family handles all the rental management, housekeeping services, check-in services, resort maintenance, landscaping, snow removal and refurbishing for you. When you leave, all you have to do is shut the door behind you. They do the rest!
Sherman Kavanaugh passed away in 2001. His wife Mae, the inspiration behind Kavanaugh's Restaurant, followed him eighteen months later. Thanks to their sons, their dream has not only survived over the past thirty-nine years, but has thrived to become one of the premiere vacation destinations in the state of Minnesota. They left a legacy that will continue through many future generations. So, come and visit Kavanaugh’s, a true Minnesota resort.
Kavanaugh Resort Properties
1685 Kavanaugh Drive
East Gull Lake, MN 56401
Phone: 218-829-5226
800-562-7061
