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Logo for Tall Pines Inn featuring stylized green trees and elegant text.
Black and white photo of log cabins nestled among trees.
Two photos showing people posing together outside a cabin and on a stone walkway in a natural setting.

Hosts & History

Tall Pines Inn, Providing Eureka Springs Lodging Since 1947

Your hosts, Keith & Michelle Frey.

Keith and Michelle, natives of North Dakota, moved from Minnesota in 2018 to buy Tall Pines Inn. They chose Eureka Springs because of its natural beauty, an abundance of outdoor activities, and excellent dining options, especially for such a small town.

Keith is a Mechanical Engineer, with a Masters in Software Engineering. Michelle has BS and Doctorate degrees in Pharmacy. They have lived in Seattle, WA, Fargo, ND and Roseville, MN. They are proud parents of three grown children.

Their hobbies have made Tall Pines Inn a perfect fit.

Passions include:Construction, barbecuing, gardening, DIY projects, choir, music, decorating, and cooking.

History of Tall Pines Inn

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Tall Pines Inn has been in continuous operation as Tall Pines since 1947. World War II saw travelers looking for the simple lifestyle of small towns. Better transportation and improvement of the roads made it easier for travelers to visit these small towns. Travelers interested in American nostalgia left the cities and traveled to interesting countryside communities. Eureka Springs, Arkansas was one of the communities that benefited from curious travelers looking for and enjoying the nostalgia of rural towns. Eureka Springs continues to attract travelers seeking the charm and simplicity of small town life.

Philip and Alice Nordquist, Edna Deiley (daughter), and Donna Ann (granddaughter) moved from Chicago, Illinois, to Eureka Springs to build Tall Pines in 1947. At the time the home was constructed, Philip Nordquist was seventy years old, Alice was fifty-eight, and Edna was thirty-nine. The main log home, built as the central home, had six rental cabins in a quarter-circle facing the owners’ residence. The cabins and home were constructed of round pine logs with saddle-notched corners, chinked with concrete and built on concrete foundations. Outside lights of glass behind metal cut-out evergreens were hung on each building and are still in use today.

The owner’s residence was a traditional house type found in the Ozarks: a dogtrot house, also known as a hallway or double house, consisting of two separate cabins that are joined by a gable roof stretched over an open, central, floored hall between them; the separate rooms are entered from a central hallway that was used as a breezeway functioning as an important source of airflow in the days before air conditioning. In the main lodge, Alice and Philip lived on one side, and Edna and Donna Ann lived on the opposite side, with the breezeway between the two sides.

The breezeway was closed off from the other two units in the mid-1950s, and the lodge structure operates as three separate rental units. Later, porches were built onto the log homes, and additional rental units were added to match the property’s original log cabin style. Tall Pines Inn has grown to a total of fourteen cabins that house a total of twenty-one units available for rent.

January 1999, the first seven log structures that were initially constructed for the property, were inducted into the “National Register of Historic Places.”

Keith and Michelle Frey became the inn’s tenth owners in 2018. They strive to preserve Tall Pines’ historic nature while providing all the modern comfort and convenience expected by today’s travelers.

A vintage truck parked outside a rustic log cabin surrounded by trees.
A dog is lounging on a wooden bench with yellow pillows in a cozy room.
Two people stand beside a large, flat-topped rock formation in a wooded area.
Plaque indicating a property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Rustic log cabin interior featuring two beds, a table, and large windows with floral curtains.
Silhouette of a pine tree inside a lantern.
A vintage truck parked outside a rustic log cabin surrounded by trees.
Rustic log cabin interior featuring two beds, a table, and large windows with floral curtains.
Plaque indicating a property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Silhouette of a pine tree inside a lantern.
A dog is lounging on a wooden bench with yellow pillows in a cozy room.
Two people stand beside a large, flat-topped rock formation in a wooded area.
A vintage truck parked outside a rustic log cabin surrounded by trees.
Two people stand beside a large, flat-topped rock formation in a wooded area.
Plaque indicating a property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
A dog is lounging on a wooden bench with yellow pillows in a cozy room.
Silhouette of a pine tree inside a lantern.
Rustic log cabin interior featuring two beds, a table, and large windows with floral curtains.