Markham Hill is an enduring Fayetteville landmark. Almost adjacent to the University of Arkansas, the hilltop has housed many people and establishments over the years, from Indigenous peoples living in bluff shelters in pre-settlement times to Joy Pratt’s summer camp in the early 1900s, then her sister Evangeline’s cabin and now the Stonebreaker Hotel. The boutique hotel is far from the hill’s humble origins, but as Ozarks at Large’s Jack Travis discovered, the hotel staff and developers Specialized Real Estate want to pay tribute to the site’s past, particularly the Gathering Bell. Jack recently spent some time there to take in the sounds of the end of the workday and have a conversation with Specialized chief customer officer Nicholas Sammer.
Sammer: So that was our daily 5 o’clock celebration bell ringing where we ring in the end of the day and the conclusion of work. This property up here has tremendous amount of history from the past. It’s always been a place of abundance.
And one of the things that used to happen up here was Joy Pratt Markham. She ran a summer camp starting in 1921 called Hilltop Camps. And they would do horseback riding. They would do swimming, they’d do archery, they would do art. They would bring a telescope out at night and look at the stars. But her and her husband would cook for the campers. And every day at lunch, she would ring that bell to bring them in.
So this 5 o’clock celebration is just really a way for us to tie back to the history of the place, but also kind of sharing the abundance of Markham Hill that is still very much present in a part of this place and this story.
Travis: So do this every day and anyone is welcome.
Sammer: The more the merrier. Yep. We want guests to join us. We’d love the public to come up and join us and experience it and get to celebrate with us as well. So we just started doing it probably a couple weeks ago. And we’ll do it in August, we’ll do it in February. It’s just a way to mark the end of the day and really celebrate that abundance of place.
Travis: Tell me what that word means to you and The Stonebreaker, perhaps, abundance.
Sammer: It really comes back to the land. If you start to study the history of the place, this land is really unique. Even the geology of this land is really unique. I mean, there’s a number of championship trees that have grown on here. And a lot of that comes back to the geology. There are multiple springs that still run even in the heat of August.
And so there’s something about this place that has always produced. It was a place where someone was able to have a vineyard. That’s pretty challenging to do in northwest Arkansas. And I mean, abundance is just, it’s the goodness of the land and the goodness of the earth coming to fruition. And if we care for it, it just continues to give more and more and more.
Travis: And you’re also paying homage to the history of this place. Tell us just a little bit more about that and maybe what it means to you.
Sammer: So we spent a lot of time studying and researching the history of this place. And the Pratt family lived here for multiple generations. There’s really always this strong female presence in this place. The women that came out of here went on to do tremendous things.
So from Joy Pratt Markham, she had the Hilltop Camps, but she had tremendous impact on the university. There’s an example of abundance there. Even Evangeline, she was really instrumental in the committee that saved the Buffalo River. I mean, those letters that went out were written in this little house just right over here. And so it would be a mistake not to recognize those things and really celebrate those and bring those into the life of the property.
Travis: And how long have you all been open now?
Sammer: So the hotel has been open for going right on maybe a year and a half.
Travis: How’s it been going?
Sammer: Very good, very good. Wonderful reception. We’ve got operators on our team with Beechwood Hospitality. They’re based out of Arkansas. They understand Arkansas, they understand the importance of the university. They understand the importance of relationships. And it’s been a really, really good for the property.
Travis: What have you heard from people who come to stay from maybe not Fayetteville, and then the residents who enjoy this place for the trails and everything it offers?
Sammer: Yeah. So what people say is almost always the same. This is a hidden jewel. You are steps from the university, and yet while you’re up here on the hill, you feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere. It truly is this paradise, so to speak. And so it’s like you enter a different world when you come up here. It’s relaxing, it’s calm. And we’re very intentional about that and how we set that up and how we foster that.
Travis: Do you feel like people are able to get a sense of the history? Have people ever mentioned that or talk about, I mean, this place has been around for a long time and lots of people have a lot of different kinds of memories with it?
Sammer: Yes, absolutely. So I’ll tell you an example of what we’re trying to do to foster that history. We’re actually, for our staff, we’re doing basically history nights where we’ll have a family meal together and we’ll start to review and talk through the history of the place so that our staff can start to understand it. They can tell those stories as well.
As I mentioned to you earlier, there’s a few artifacts that we’ve uncovered from the past. The typewriters that those letters to save the Buffalo, we found those. We actually have Joy’s original bell that we’re going to start bringing those things out and displaying those things more and more so that people get more of a feeling of the history and we can continue to tell that story.
Travis: So there’s certainly something for neighbors down the hill to enjoy up here, not just hotel guests.
Sammer: Oh, 100%. I mean, the trails, the university uses the trails, running clubs use the trails. Bike trails are going to be such an important part of this place. And yes, the public is, we want the public up here.
Travis: And then tell us about the beverages and the snacks that we’re enjoying.
Sammer: Yep. So this is Stonebreaker Smash. So it is made with, there’s actually a little bit of sassafras in here. That’s a really unique flavor. And the team spent quite a bit of time figuring out how can we integrate sassafras into this drink. It’s bourbon-based.
And sassafras, this place used to be called Sassafras Hill. And the name Stonebreaker actually is reference to the sassafras tree root, so strong they can break stone. So even the name of the place harkens back to the history. And we’re looking for little ways that we can tie in the history and celebrate the history, whether it’s a cocktail or our 5 o’clock celebration.
Travis: All right. And it’s open to the public. Anyone can come.
Sammer: Would love to have the public up here. Yes.
Ozarks at Large’s Jack Travis speaking with Specialized Real Estate’s Nicholas Sammer at the Stonebreaker Hotel on Markham Hill in Fayetteville.
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