ALONG BIRCH LAKE – At a time when many small resorts are being sold for the value of their waterfront properties and converted into condos or lake houses – there are less than half as many small family resorts in Minnesota as there were 50 years ago – Sean and Jill Leary are bucking the trend.

The Learys are building North of North from the ground up, a three-cabin resort on 11 acres of undeveloped land at 12265 State Highway 1, 10 miles east of Ely.

The first cabin was ready for guests last week, the other two were almost finished, and their website went live this week to accept reservations.

“It’s taken a little longer than expected, but we’re almost there,” said Jill Leary as she unpacked steak knives from a box for one of the cabin’s kitchens. “There used to be nothing here. No driveway. … When we first came to the property, we had to come by boat.”

It was hard work and a lot of driving back and forth from their home in Minneapolis. They made their way from Highway 1 to the property and slowly considered how the cabins would fit into the landscape.

North of North is a completely new destination for lovers of the Ely Experience, Superior National Forest and Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness – just a stone’s throw up the Kawishiwi River. But it is also perhaps unique in the Northland forests in that it was built from the ground up to be fully accessible to many people with disabilities.

Sean and Jill Leary were not the only ones involved in this project. It was a family affair, with daughters Annika (10) and Britta (7) also helping out and looking after the family’s sled dog, Freya.

The idea germinates

The Learys were on their first post-pandemic family vacation in the Yellowstone National Park area a few years ago when they decided they wanted their own destination in the north woods of their home state. In addition, they wanted a place where people with disabilities — Jeff has been in a wheelchair for 23 years — could enjoy Minnesota’s “far north” like everyone else.

They came up with the idea of ​​building a small resort using accessible design principles to allow people at every stage of life, from the elderly to families with toddlers and strollers, to get around. Even the waterfront lot they chose was chosen for its relatively flat topography and easy access to the lake.

From the gentle slopes between the driveway to the cabins and the paths to the lakes, to the height of the counters and tables in the cabins, to the wheelchair-accessible showers, the 400-foot wooden boardwalk, and the floating dock on the lake, everything at North of North is designed to be accessible according to Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines.

Little things like lowered light switches and shower controls and an opening under the sink so that a wheelchair user can wash the dishes are the icing on the cake.

Even the doors of the barrel saunas were widened to make room for wheelchairs.