About the Show:

"We are a Victorian house burdened by optimism."

– Cognac Franklin

What happens when historic charm collides with a new vision for community connection?

In this episode of I Am Northwest Arkansas®, host Randy Wilburn sits down with Cognac Franklin, Director of Operations at Stonebreaker—Fayetteville's stunning hotel, club, and gathering space perched atop Markham Hill.

Cognac takes us through the rich history of this unique property, from its origins as the Pratt family homestead and bed & breakfast to its recent transformation into a community-centered haven that honors the past while embracing the future.

You'll hear about Stonebreaker's distinctive approach to hospitality, membership, and intentional design—where every guest is treated like family, whether they're checking in for the night, enjoying club membership perks, or simply stopping by for a quiet cup of coffee.

Discover how Stonebreaker is creating a true "third space" for the community—a place for relaxing, collaborating, celebrating, or finding a moment of tranquility at one of Fayetteville's highest points.

Whether you're new to Northwest Arkansas or a lifelong local, this conversation illuminates how connecting to place and purpose brings people together in meaningful ways.

Key Takeaways:

1. Blending History and Modern Hospitality: Stonebreaker honors Markham Hill’s heritage, integrating touches from its farm, summer camp, and music festival past into a contemporary, welcoming environment.
2. Community, Not Exclusivity: Despite being a private club, Stonebreaker’s mission is rooted in inclusivity—emphasizing a social, open-door approach for locals and newcomers alike.
3. Building a Unique “Third Space”: Stonebreaker offers more than just a hotel or restaurant. It’s intentionally designed for collaboration, creativity, relaxation, and connection as Fayetteville grows and evolves.
4. Intentional Design & Thoughtful Experiences: Every element, from the hotel rooms to the club amenities and the grounds, is curated to spark conversation, learning, and belonging.
5. Membership with a Purpose: Club members play a direct role in shaping the community and experiences at Stonebreaker, ensuring it remains responsive and meaningful for Northwest Arkansas residents.

All this and more on this episode of the I Am Northwest Arkansas® podcast.

Important Links and Mentions on the Show*

1. Stonebreaker Hotel and Restaurant Fayetteville | stonebreakerhotel.com
2. Stonebreaker on LinkedIn
3. Stonebreaker on Facebook
4. Stonebreaker on Instagram
5. Cognac Franklin on LinkedIn
6. FindItNWA.com NWA’s Hyperlocal Business Directory

This episode is sponsored by*

Signature Bank of Arkansas "Community Banking at its Best!"

Try ONBoardNWA.com Today!

*Note: some of the resources mentioned may be affiliate links. This means we get paid a commission (at no extra cost to you) if you use that link to make a purchase.

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Mentioned in this episode:

ONBoardNWA.com

Looking for your next career move in Northwest Arkansas? Check out ONBoardNWA.com, the hyper-local job board designed to connect job seekers with leading employers in our community. From entry-level positions to executive roles, ONBoardNWA is your one-stop shop for job opportunities right here in NWA. Take the next step in your career and visit ONBoardNWA.com today.

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Looking to discover the best local businesses in Northwest Arkansas? 🌟 From cozy cafes to essential services, FindItNWA.com has got you covered. Connect with your local community with just one click and explore something great. Visit finditnwa.com today! #LocalBusiness #CommunitySupport"

FindItNWA.com

It's time for another episode of I Am Northwest

Arkansas, the podcast covering the intersection of

business, culture, entrepreneurship, and life in

general here in the Ozarks. Whether you are considering a

move to this area or trying to learn more about the place you call

home, or we've got something special for you. Here's

our host, Randy Wilber.

Today on I Am Northwest Arkansas, we're exploring what happens when

hospitality meets intention. I'm joined by

Cognac Franklin, director of operations at the

Stonebreaker in Fayetteville. Part boutique hotel, part

club, and part community gathering space, the

Stonebreaker is redefining what it means to serve others with care

and purpose. Whether you're a hotel guest, a club

member, or a neighbor stopping by for coffee, this

space is designed to welcome and inspire.

Cognac's leadership helps bring all of this together. And

so, without further ado, today I want to welcome Cognac Franklin to

the podcast. Cognac, how are you doing? I'm doing well. Thank you so much,

Randy, for having me on the podcast. And I'm

happy that I am getting to share what the Stone Breaker

means to us with Northwest Arkansas. That's awesome.

Well, I'm glad to hear that. And, you know, for the audience, I wanted to

just put it out there that I've connected with Cognac

for a while now, and I've been coming here to the

Stonebreaker to just work. It's a great club space

to work. The restaurant is fabulous here. We had a

previous episode where we talked about the Stonebreaker restaurant,

but today we're really kind of talking about the club and just about

the overall program that's here at the top of Markham Hill.

So it's right, I'd say a stone's throw from the University of

Arkansas campus. You can see the stadium from the top of the hill

where we're sitting here at the Stonebreaker. And so it's got a

great, great, great location. And so I'd love maybe

just kind of start off just talking a little bit about

what originally drew you to the Stonebreaker and its

mission. So, originally, when I first got here, I was

tasked with being the membership director, so helping to

create this space for members to feel welcome in,

whether it was going to be for socializing or to have

a work collaboration space that they could have an office

away from home or from their current corporate office.

And so, as a membership director, what drew me to the space

is that we were going to get to create something unique to Fayetteville.

So typically, in social clubs, they don't have a public

restaurant at the bottom of the private club.

So that alone was something unique that I was going to

be able to not only get to experience those who are looking for a private

membership club, but I was going to have that interaction with community

members as well. Yeah. You know, I'm curious to know.

This isn't obviously the first private membership club in Fayetteville,

but there are other clubs like this in northwest Arkansas.

And speaking of which, you're familiar with the club up in Bentonville, right?

Yes. So I was the community manager at Blake street for

two years, and there we were more wellness

focused. So our main tagline there was that we were going

to meet you where you were on your wellness journey. So whether

that was for stay at home moms who wanted a space where they

could come shower without having kids opening and closing

the doors, or they just needed a breath of

fresh air to be able to work out in our

facilities there, the spa there. So it was definitely a

unique space that was kind of a staple

in Bentonville for a long time. So it was great to be a

part of that experience as well. And although we

are a private club, just like Blake street, we do share some

similarities with community. And so just like Blake

street is a community space, the stone breaker is as well. Yeah. And

it. It really does feel like a community space. But, you know, one of the

things that I've noticed is that, you know, coming here, it's like the best kept

secret. Right. Like, and that's one of the reasons why we're doing this podcast, and

it's one of the reasons why we featured the restaurant as well, because we want

people to be aware of what's available for them right here in their own

backyard. I can literally get here. I live on the east side of

Fayetteville, and I can get over to here

by the university in about 10 or 12 minutes. And it's easy to get

to. People that come up here on Markham Hill will notice that there are

a lot of new homes being built. There's a huge development

that is around here. And so I'd love for you maybe just to kind of

talk about the bigger picture of why this area is

so, you know, it's growing the way that it is. And for those

that have been around for a while, this is where the Pratt

farm was, and there is a barn here. And

so they've had. The Roots Festival has been held up here

at the farm, and this space has been

reimagined with a hotel, with a

restaurant and A club, all in the past couple of years. So during the

pandemic, all of this new growth happened. But we're still on

Markham Hill, and it's. It's one of the highest hills here in

Fayetteville. So I'm so glad that you said reimagined, because

that's. That's the word that embodies

what we are doing here on Markham Hill, for sure. Whether it

be down at the foot of the hill with the new Markham Hill homes

going in, and then when you come up to the top and you

see what we call the clubhouse or the main house, then

you start to feel a sense of arrival. And that's what we want to do

here. And everything here that we do, whether it's the hotel,

the club, the restaurant, and just the grounds in general, we

want you to feel like you're experiencing something that's unique to the

hill. Yeah. So whether it's a peaceful stroll

that the neighbors get to have now that we have the grounds

open up, whether it's having coffee on the porch,

taking in the fire pits in the fall, like, we want you to experience

the space however you see fit. And that's where the third

space comes in. Because socially, we want you

to feel like you can come here with friends. We want you to feel like,

as a. Even if you're a small business owner, we want you to be able

to come here and entertain clients. We want a direct

path to the university for them to feel like they can come

and experience a restaurant for lunch, private

dinners, meetings, and all of that. So it's

very important that when we talk about Markham Hill, that we

don't necessarily forget what used to be here. Oh,

yeah. But we embrace it. And so this overall project for

the Stone Breaker is that we are a Victorian house burdened

by optimism. So love that. Burdened by

optimism, yes. So. And that optimism is that this space

is going to be different for everyone and it's going to be

unique and it's going to be kind of uncharted

territory, because we are trying to preserve the history

of what Markham Hill used to be, but we're also embracing

this new role that we have that we're curators

of Fayetteville, that we're not taking anything away

from the city of Fayetteville, but we're trying to chart our new path

in our new territory by providing a space for the community.

Well, and I think that's important. I mean, this area has grown. It's grown

in the 10 year, 11 years that I've Been here. I was just looking at

the population the other day because I have an exchange student living with me, and

he was asking me, how big is Fayetteville? And we're over 100,000

people now, and second largest city in the state. There is a lot. I

mean, obviously we have the state institution here, the

University of Arkansas, but, I mean, we. There's just so many

wonderful things that are happening here. And one of the things that really struck

me about you, Cognac, was that you really took

your time to learn the history of this area, because a lot of

times when people look at new developments, they, like, people say, oh, well,

so and so's coming in here and taking over our space, and they don't know

the history and all that. And I remember one of our first

conversations, and you were, you know, as a. And I'm a history major, and a

lot of my listeners know that, but you were taking me to school, just

educating me about this hill and why it's significant. The

farm that was here, the families that lived here. I mean, folks,

cognac knows it all when it comes to the history of this area.

And that speaks volumes, right? Not just to who you

are, but it speaks volumes to what the Stonebreaker is trying to do

here. That it's not trying to replace things, that it's really trying to

embrace and enhance what has been a really

amazing history up here on this hill, the stuff you shared with me,

which I don't know that we'll have time to really get into in this podcast

episode, but, you know, I know we've talked about doing some. Some

programmatic things here at the Stonebreaker, some storytelling,

to really kind of bridge the old with the new.

And that's really exciting. But I would love for you just to give us a

little taste of your historical knowledge of this hill and why

it is significant and why people should even care about that.

So a lot of the historians like to start

with the Pratt family, the original family

to the hill. You know, this was a.

One of Arkansas's first homestead families here in this

area. And in 1895, this was

uncharted territory for Arkansas that you had a

family that was coming here to not only put down

roots, but actually see what this hill and what this

bluff could actually do for them as a family, whether it was going to be

farming, whether it was going to be, you know, raising cattle, horses,

all the things. And they took their time. It took them 15

years to actually build their first house that was the anchor

or the Victorian house here. And that was

important to them because they wanted to be able to establish

themselves here in Arkansas after being a. Almost like

a railroad family. Yeah. And so when the designers

came in fota, they're the designers from

Austin who came up with the concept, the Stone Breaker.

They took homage to all of those things. So you

have a Colonial house that was turned back into a

Victorian house after being the Pratt Bed and Breakfast.

And they played paid tribute to all the nods

of what used to take place here. So if you go into our front

desk area, you'll see references to

the horse racing that they used to do up here. And

then if you see different nods here in the main

house, you'll see different things that pay

tribute to the summer camps that the hill

was most known for. Yeah, the Markham Hilltop Camps,

which the camp had many names over time, but that one

was the one that pretty much stuck throughout history when

people reference the summer camps. And so this is supposed to

be like a summer camp, but for grownups.

So it's supposed to be a place where you can not only come

to relax, but just like all summer camps. What do you glean

from it? Yeah. What do you learn from it? Yeah. And so there

should be some learning when you come up here to the main house

and the grounds to say, okay, whether it's a portrait,

whether it's a figurine that you see, whether it's the etchings

that we have in the restaurant that

attribute to a lot of the folk art that you see,

and a lot of our reference points of the front desk,

hotel and those places. So this

whole area, I think what we're trying to. Trying to create

is a new path to spark conversation.

Okay. You know, this development

has had many different faces. Whether it was the bed

and breakfast, it had history of being university

housing for a while. And then it

had also a nod to the music

festivals that took place up here. And so instead

of shying away from all of those different

avenues, we're trying to embrace it. Well, when I

think about the festival, and I remember coming up here

for the last time, the Roots Festival had a space up

here. They used the open area right next to the barn. The barn was

used kind of as a staging area. They had chefs and different

restaurants represented all around the barn. And then

they had the stage, and I mean, they had some amazing bands that came

up here and performed. And, I mean, it was just a magical

experience, you know? And I talked to people about it, and they were like, yeah,

we so miss that. And so how are you hoping to kind

of capture the essence that people experienced up here for

like, Roots and some other events and programs that have happened up here

with the Stonebreaker now. So we finally have

a grassed meadow in the

back that's right off of our barn that's been, you know,

that back area of the property with the Markham

Hill homes coming in and kind of the third development of

Markham Hill. So we finally have a grassed

meadow with a clear path from our courtyard. So we're

looking forward to hosting some music festivals next summer

back up here. It may not necessarily be as big of a

production as the Roots festival, so we want to start out small.

We've already had a concert series up here on the hill

with some local musicians, so we hope to extend that to the back

meadow. But then as far as events go,

Winetopia was a long had

nonprofit event that happened up here on Markham

Hill when it was the Pratt Barn. So we're excited that

Winetopia will be back here in the

barn this year. So we're looking forward to

welcoming back old friends. But then we're also excited

that we're charting new territories with new couples having their

weddings here. Rehearsal dinners, engagement parties, anniversary

parties. One of our members celebrated her dad's 80th

birthday party here in the barn last year. So

we're embracing all of those things. But we're also just

trying to be an anchor spot for people. Whether it's a 20 person

event or whether it's 300 people. We want to be

the location where people feel comfortable. Yeah, and

you certainly do that. I know the last time when we walked the grounds, there

was some people doing kind of like a site survey for a

wedding. And then they had the wedding right out here by the pool and

the courtyard. And then the cool thing is like, you know, you have this courtyard

that kind of separates the actual hotel from where

the club sits and the restaurant. So the club and the restaurant are on one

side. As you get to the top of Markham Hill, there's a parking lot,

there's handicapped parking, and then there is the club and

the restaurant. And then if you go around, there's also parking

on the backside where the hotel is. And so they technically

have two separate entrances, but it all feels like

one place. Right. You know, you don't. You're not separated. So,

like, somebody staying in the hotel feels like they're part of the club and

vice versa. Because like, I see every time I'm here working at the club,

I look at the hotel and I can See it and it's like it's right

next to you. So I guess that was intentional. Yes.

So our hotel is definitely unique,

that it's kind of situated almost like a getaway. Yeah. And

that's not really typical for a lot of

hotels. You're used to dealing with a lot of out of town

guests, but for our hotel we have a lot of

staycations. Yeah, I've actually had friends

post that. Oh, I'm staying at the Stone Breaker this weekend as a

in town getaway. So. Yeah, because that's what

these grounds kind of, they open up this space

where you know, you're in the middle of a city

that has a hundred thousand plus people in it. But when you come up here

to Markham Hill, it feels like you are away from the noise.

And that is very intentional. The hotel is very

minimalistic in its approach, but it is

loudly spoken in the hospitality. Yeah. And

so that is very intentional. We don't have

desk in our rooms, but that's because we want hotel

guests to come here to the main house or

work in the common areas. The courtyard, the

pergolas, terraces, screened in porch. Like we want people

to kind of get out of their rooms and experience the

grounds. So we have everything that you need

in the rooms. But we still invite you to kind of

come out into the open spaces and be a part of the nature and all

the harmony that it creates between the buildings as well.

And we'll put some pictures in the show notes for those that are interested in

checking out the rooms. I gotta tell you folks, I mean, you guys all know

me, you know, I like really good food, you know, I like great spaces.

The rooms are well appointed, they're minimalist as

cognac described, but they are well appointed.

Very, very nice rooms, very clean lines. I

mean, there was no wasted space, I think. And that's the best way to describe

it. And to me, I am coming here for a

staycation with my wife to get away from the kids and to just

experience a long weekend or something like that. But you know, I also

thought I saw this space up here as being a nice getaway

for someone that's in the creator mode. Right. Like I'm,

I'm in the. I keep saying that I'm working on a, on my book and

I am. And those that listen to me all the time, you guys can hold

me accountable. But this would be a great place to come and work on a

book, work on a manuscript or something along those lines where you can kind of

get away from it all but still be close to everything that's happening

around here. And, I mean, there's no

inch of this property that wasn't thoughtfully

designed. Yeah. And I think when you go into a lot of

commercial spaces or you go into a lot of

corporately ran hotels, everything feels like it's

a selling feature. Yeah. But here at the Stone Breaker,

we want our hospitality. It's very

customer forward, it's very guest forward, and we want that

to speak to you more so than having our

logo on every pin, every coaster,

TVs, walls, and all those things. We want you to be able

to experience this brand. So it's a brand that's not going to

necessarily visually be in your face, but it should

be something that you're experiencing and you're feeling no matter what building

you walk into. Yeah. And, you know, as I was thinking about

the lengths that you guys have gone to create that kind of special

place, I'd be curious to know what has the response been

from users of this space. Not just the club, but specifically

the hotel, too. People that come here that aren't familiar with this area

and just stumbled upon the Stonebreaker and decided to stay here. What.

What kind of comments are you hearing and feedback are you getting from people?

Beautiful, thoughtful decor is usually

the first thing that comes across. We get a lot

of guest feedback for our coffee program over at the hotel.

So as a tribute to the summer camps that

took place here, we don't have coffee makers in our rooms. Okay. So

we do a delivery coffee service. So

every guest, they get their morning coffee delivered in

a thermos and a Stanley tackle box that

has all of the accoutrements with it. But it

is a early morning coffee delivery. And so we always

get comments about, you know, everyone loving the

coffee delivery program because it is something unique and

something different that you may not get at other places.

And is that something that you can either opt in or opt out of? Yes.

Okay. Okay. I love that coffee program with the Stanley mugs,

so that's cool. And then another thing is just our grounds.

So we opened up our courtyard space this spring,

and guests are really enjoying being able to go have their morning

coffee out by the fire pit. They can see the. The deer

grazing in the meadow. They can see the birds. They can

be amongst the trees. And a lot of our guests who

come from larger cities, they enjoy being able to

have a peacefulness around them when they come up the hill. And

even those who have lived here in Fayetteville for

many years, when they come up here to Markham Hill. They always

feel like they've been transported to another place because it definitely

is something that's unique that you don't

see here in northwest Arkansas. And I would imagine, too,

with the proximity of the university, you guys are really getting

some experience hosting different folks

that are coming here. I mean, literally, you could stay here and then walk down

to the game. Yes. And I would imagine with some of the big games that

are coming up every season at the Razorback Stadium or at

even Bud Walton, that this is like a prime location for people to

come and just, you know, get ready before the game. Yes.

And it's a good spot if you don't like the games either

and you. Want to get away. So we're another getaway. It's kind of

twofold, especially on game days, because we do have

the Razorback fans who are getting ready to go down the hill to

watch the games, but then we also have some of our club members

who aren't going to the game, and they just want a quiet space to

relax and, you know, maybe watch it on tv. Tv. So

we're creating some dual spaces for people, for sure.

We did host a lot of families that were dropping

off our. Dropping off the incoming freshmen

this year. So we experienced a couple of weeks of that, and that was

definitely unique within itself because,

you know, not too often in hospitality or

from the outside looking in. Most people don't

realize that we get all of the experiences,

whether it's the engagement parties or the

engagements that we have take place up here on property

or the drop off to college where,

you know, your child is creating a new path or

charting a new path. And so what does that look like for parents? And as

part. Is part of a hospitality company, we get to

interact with all of that. Whether it's in the restaurant or the hotel

or through our club members, we're getting to see all those

experiences unfold. And we have to be kind of an

anchor point for the crying mom or dad.

Right. Because inevitably that happens. Right? Yeah.

So we just try to situate ourselves and be able to be

whatever we need for our guests at that point in time.

Yeah, I love that. I mean, and that to me is kind of like what

the. You guys are kind of like a Swiss army knife, if you

will, of locations. Because again, you have the

overnight options, you have the day options to come

in and tell us a little bit about the club itself and how

that works. And if somebody wanted to come up here and check out the club,

I've actually Cause I've became a member of the club and I'm just putting that

out there. I've actually shared a couple of guest passes with some

friends that have come up here and checked it out. My wife's company came up

here and had an event here and a meeting and a lunch and they really

enjoyed themselves, really had a fabulous time. So just kind of

walk us through all of the aspects that encompass the

club itself so that people understand what it's all about. Right.

So we opened up the club last year in August.

We accepted our first founding member and then we

opened up the main house in October to all

of our members. So the club at its

beginning was nomination based. So

we enrolled 50 founding members. And so

those founding members were going to basically help us shape what

this community was going to look like. We had people who worked

in local government, we had a lot of small business

owners, we had people in real estate, banking,

construction, health and wellness. I mean like our, our

founding membership class is, is very unique within itself.

And we did that intentionally one, because a lot of

times you want to be around your circle and we

wanted to make sure that we had a very diverse circle

or very diverse community that was going to be able

to utilize the space. And so

that's kind of how we started our membership population. And

we got nominations from our founding membership class.

And then in April of this year we start accepting

community applications. And when we say community

applications, that means it's very grassroots.

So we don't have a 12 page survey

that you have to fill out in order to become a

member. But the one question that we do

ask on our member surveys is do you

feel comfortable sharing something with the community? Right.

Would you be interested in member led events

and what is your space utilization? So we

want people in the space that's the number one driver

for this club. And we want you to

identify us as your third space.

So whether that's going to be working out here,

socializing here, dinners, events, special occasions, we

need you in this space because that's how this community grows.

And so we function a little bit uniquely

because we are driven by those intentions.

We're not driven by numbers and we're not driven

by wanting people to just say, hey, well I'm a member at the

Stonebreaker. We need for you to actually be in this space

because that's how we get our feedback. We always pose a lot of questions

to our members first, whether it's new drink menus, new

food menus. Our members are typically our guinea pigs.

So if you are coming up here as a community guest to

the restaurant or the hotel, thank the members for any changes,

because they typically experience them first. And we get

a lot of our feedback that influences the whole property from

our members. And so they are also stewards

or trailblazers to how we do things here at the

Stonebreaker. Yeah. I mean, and, you know, when you think of it, you guys are

going to great lengths to create an inclusive

and intentional space for such a diverse community as

Fayetteville and just northwest Arkansas. Right. I mean, in Blake Street, House

does the same thing. And so there is a lot of effort that goes

on behind the scenes. As Director of Operations, what has

been your biggest challenge, as well as what has been the

one thing that has really kind of helped you to grow in

your role here at the Stonebreaker? I think in operations,

it's almost like it's like a twofold thing,

because while, you know, my title is Director of

Operations, I feel like I'm more of a curator. Yeah.

And that curation starts one with

our team members and what kind of environment we're

cultivating for them here, and then the next

part of that is our guests. And so

the three things that kind of stay a

constant focus for me here in my

role is what is the experience? How do

we lean into the history but

embrace our future? And then

thirdly is listening. And

the listening part is the biggest or most

important thing. And all of that because we have

to listen to be good hospitality

providers. And so I find myself

seeking out club members for their feedback. I

find myself reaching out to restaurant guests

who celebrated a big moment or a big achievement here with

us. And I do the same with hotel guests,

because at the end of the day, I want to see

what's driven them up here. Yeah. Why did

you choose, you know, to give us a try? Because as

a new property, that's always the. We're always data

collecting. Yeah. How do we make the experience better? We

don't necessarily have to be your first option, but we want to be an option

for you. And so in operations, we're

constantly thinking about what is our overall experience and what

do we want to portray to the masses who come up here to the

Hill. Yeah. And I would imagine with the team that you have

here, one of the biggest big focuses as Director of Operations

is how you guys collaborate across different areas.

So collaborate from food with the restaurant to

hospitality with the club and the hotel, to events.

To events. Right. So it's kind of like those three. The trifecta of Things,

it's like, how do you make those all work together?

By keeping everything. Experience focused. Okay. And

I talk a lot about experiences with

the team only because experiences

sometimes feel almost like a luxury. Yeah. And

they can feel unobtainable to

some people. But here at the Stonebreaker,

everything that you do here should be an experience. Sure. So

when you walk in and the host greets you here at the main

house, when you come into the lobby at

the hotel, when you're here for a site visit or,

you know what could be a big day, like your wedding day, or

it could also be a celebration of life. Yeah. We

have to be intentional about what experience we're offering

to our guests. And that starts with us in

operations. We have to have a servant

leadership mindset that we are going to interact with

our guests with intention, but we're also going to interact with our team

members as they were guests as well. Yeah. So we're

going to give everyone what I like to say, top tier

experience, whether they're coming to grab a cup of coffee,

hotel guests, wedding guests. We have to make those

experiences intentional. And that's with a lot of

collaboration in what we do internally. And

just as a reference point, if a hotel guests, and it

starts with a lot of internal communication, but let's say a

hotel guest, their fan was going on

and off in their room the night before. We have

a log that we kind of take these notes that cheers out across

all the different departments so that the restaurant knows, hey,

the guests in 205 didn't sleep well that night.

Let's offer them a espresso shot. Or let's, you know,

let's take extra care when they come over to the

restaurant this morning for coffee. And so when

we do those things and we communicate not only about guest

experiences and how they've kind of utilized the property, then

we can be intentional with our interactions. There's no broad

brush to say, hey, we're going to treat this person this way. We

can uniquely tailor the experience to what that person

needs. Yeah. Well. And I think that's important and that speaks

volumes to the attention to detail that you

guys have brought to this experiment, if you will. Right. But it's

a grand experiment and it's one that you guys are doing well with. And

it's one of those things where you have to baby step it right every step

of the way. You've got to continue to grow. And I will say that

I have been really impressed with the staff,

very attentive as soon as they see you, they greet you, always

bringing water, the fresh pot of coffee, whatever you need,

they have. And the cool thing about it, like if folks are listening to this,

if you come to the club and check it out, you can just, I mean,

think of like if wework ever went on steroids and created

a really, not that wework isn't a positive work environment, but

created a really great environment where you can get some work done, where

you can have something to eat. If you needed to take a break

and step away from your work, you can go sit down and look at the

tv. There's a pool table, there's a little bit of everything. And

then if you want to, and I have yet to take advantage of this, but

to blow off some steam in the weight room, do a little working out,

they've got a pool right outside. It's kind of like a lap pool. I mean

there's, there's a lot of options for people here just to kind

of just reconnect with themselves. Because I always feel like I've

reconnected with myself when I come here. I usually retreat to the quiet

room and that's the room where I can't take any calls and, and

I, you know, I really can't talk. So it's just me and my thoughts

and whatever I'm working on. I can type away on my computer, but, or

write, but it's just kind of refreshing. And then the nice thing is that

you've got these wonderful views outside of the windows where you can see

everything, but you feel like you're in somebody's home. Yes. And

that is, I like, for members it's always, you

know, fun to see how members experience the space.

So like you said, some members like to go to the quiet room and

get some work done and then I'll see them at the pool table

midday. And so that's all always unique

to like see people experiencing the space how they

need to and becoming very comfortable

with taking a call out on the screened in porch,

seeing people make a lap around the perimeter of the property

on zoom calls and things like that. Or seeing people

in the quiet room reading a book or

taking that time for themselves or just coming in midday.

So we have a lot of members who pop in on their lunch break and

they may get a bite to eat or they may just sit

on the screen and porch and decompress. Yeah. Which is cool. Actually. I didn't

even think about that. That is a good idea. And you do, you are right.

I do notice people at certain times of the day, the cadence of people coming

and going and that there are some people that come here just for a hot

minute to get away. And then they had maybe had to head back to the

university or head back to downtown Fayetteville or someplace else around

this area. And so, you know, this is kind of like your home away from

home, where you can kind of come and decompress for a few minutes. And then.

Because we all need that. We all need to be able to. To switch on

and switch off. Yes. Or some members, they'll work for a while in the morning,

and then their afternoon break is reading a

book by the pool. Yeah, there you go. And so who am I to

judge? Yes. So you have all these

unique spaces that all kind of tie

together to make this one united front. Yeah.

Of whatever it is that you need to embrace.

We want to be that space for you. And it's, you know, it

can be as cozy as you want it, whether you're here in the

chess room for a private meeting or you're in the lounge

kind of taking a break. But we want members to. This should

be a extension of everything that you do.

Okay. I love that. Well, as we wind up here, I do want to ask

you one question before we close, but what's something people might

misunderstand about the Stonebreaker at first.

Glance, that we are a private space.

Okay. There you go. It's open to anybody. You come up here to

Markham Hill. You can park. Come on inside. You don't have to show a

key card or anything. So when we say

private club, we say social club, and we say all these big words.

We never say exclusive. Yeah. So we never

want this to feel like it's an exclusive space. It

is a community space that is open

to everyone. We do have, and we try not to even

use the term private club. We call it social club. This is a

social space. So I invite any and everyone

to come up here and take in the space,

sit by the fire pits, grab a cup of coffee, drink it

on the porch screen. Damn porch. Have lunch, have

dinner, come up here to the club space. There's not going to

be a guard that stops you asking

for identification to come up to the second

floor of the house. But this is. We want

to be a community anchor here in Fayetteville. And then

from there, we want to be a community anchor for all of northwest Arkansas.

I love. That's perfect. I mean, that's well said. And I think, you know, the

stonebreaker, to me, kind of compliments what Fayetteville is all

about, you know, you see the bumper stickers keep Fayetteville funky. The Stone

Breaker is kind of a funky, cool space right. Where it's

welcoming and it's not selective in the

sense that, you know, you can kind of come here and just hang out. And

so. And I'm going to. I plan to come and spend more time here

as my schedule allows. If somebody listening to this

episode wants to get involved here at the Stonebreaker

to visit or support your work, where should they start?

So, you can start at our

website@stonebreakerhotel.com or

you can give us a call. Our number is

479-350-1000. And

our team will get you charted in the right place.

So whether that's for more about our restaurant, you want

to come stay at the hotel, or you just want to ask us general

questions about our event spaces, both of those

things will get you headed in the right direction. And then if

you do come up and see the space, please stop in and ask

for me. I would love to give you a tour. Yeah. Trust me, Cognac will

take really good care of you. And, oh, by the way, they do have an

app, and so I've actually used the app to

share some passes with people. You can use the app to, I

believe, reserve space in different rooms. Because we're actually in the chess

room right now, which is a beautiful dark blue

room that it just has a certain ambiance about it. It's very

cool. The colors are muted, but it's a very warm room.

It's the easiest way to describe it. And I've actually recorded two

podcast episodes here, and I actually hope to do a few more. So

anybody that's listening to this that I potentially invite on the podcast,

you may be joining me up here at the Stonebreaker to record an

episode. So you'll get to see it for yourself. Yes. And then have a tour

with me afterwards. Right, Exactly. So the deal is, if you get

invited onto this podcast and we do it at the Stonebreaker, you also

have to commit to taking a little walking tour with Cognac

Franklin. And I'm sure she will take really, really good care of you

and show you what the Stonebreaker is all about. Well, Cognac, thank you

so much for sitting down, and I certainly appreciate our friendship,

and I thank you for all that you're doing here at the Stonebreaker and just

doing in our community as a whole. You've got a lot going on, and we

just kind of scratched the surface of who Cognac Franklin is. We'll probably have to

get you back on this podcast in the future to talk about some of the

other cool things that you're working on. But we really appreciate it and we want

to encourage everybody to come on out to

thestonebreakerhotel.com online to

check it out. You can also call them up at

479-350-1000. I would encourage

you, if you're looking for a place for a staycation, look no further than the

Stonebreaker. How many rooms do you guys have here? 76 rooms. 76 rooms. So they

have a room for you and they will leave the light on for you when

all is said and done. So I really want to encourage you to take advantage

of that. But Cognac Franklin, thank you so much. Thank you so much for having

me on. Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, listen, folks, spaces like the

Stonebreaker don't just happen. They're designed with heart,

intention, and a deep belief in the power of community, as

Cognac has so aptly stated. Cognac Franklin and her

team are building more than a business. They're cultivating

belonging right here in Fayetteville. So the next time you're in

Fayetteville, stop by the Stonebreaker. You might just find

what you didn't know you were looking for. I'm Randy Wilburn, the

host of the I Am Northwest Arkansas podcast, and we'll see

you back here next week with another new episode of the

podcast, Peace.

We hope you enjoyed this episode of I Am Northwest

Arkansas. Check us out each and every week, available

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