A New Chapter at Gull Lake's Resorts: Cragun's and Madden's

Two of Gull Lake's landmark resorts are writing new chapters at the same time. Cragun's, family-owned for 85 years, sold in March 2025 to Baxter-based Leisure Hotels and Resorts, which has since renovated the Legacy golf courses and introduced new South Beach Cabins, while Madden's is celebrating 100 years of its Pine Beach East golf course with a centennial weekend in August 2026. For East Gull Lake, where the resorts anchor both the tax base and the social calendar, the changes are worth watching.

What the Cragun's Sale Means

After 85 years of family ownership, Cragun's on Gull Lake changed hands in March 2025, with roughly 260 rooms and 54 holes of golf moving to Leisure Hotels and Resorts. The new owners moved quickly to invest: the Legacy courses got a full renovation, with the final nine, the Dutch Red, unveiled in 2025 alongside design partner Tom Lehman, and a new set of luxury South Beach Cabins opened on Gull Lake's south shoreline. New ownership spending real money on a lake resort is a vote of confidence in the asset and in the market around it.

Madden's Celebrates 100 Years of Pine Beach East

Madden's is marking the 100th anniversary of its Pine Beach East golf course with a centennial celebration weekend set for August 14-17, 2026, featuring hickory-club golf, vintage balls, and 1920s-style events. The resort's competition credentials have been rising too: The Classic at Madden's moved up to No. 80 on Golf Digest's 2025-2026 list of America's 100 Greatest Public Courses and hosted the 2025 MGA State Amateur Championship. A century in, the resort is both honoring its history and still earning national attention.

Why Resort News Matters to Homeowners

Resort investment is community investment on Gull Lake. The resorts employ local staff, draw the visitors who support the area's restaurants and services, and their condition shapes the impression buyers and guests take home. When both of the lake's signature resorts are reinvesting at once, it says the resort model here is healthy, which is good context for anyone holding or buying shoreline. Our look at what living on Gull Lake shoreline is really like puts the resort scene in the context of daily life here.

What Buyers Should Watch

For buyers, the practical takeaway is simpler than it sounds: amenity access on Gull Lake is getting better, not worse. Renovated golf, new cabins, and an expanded guest base can mean more visitors and more boat traffic in peak season, and it also means more proof that the lake's premium price tag is backed by ongoing investment. Long-term value on Gull Lake has always hinged on water quality, shoreline, and community strength, and resort reinvestment supports the last of those.

The Bottom Line

Cragun's and Madden's are both placing big bets on Gull Lake's future, one with new owners and new cabins, the other with a centennial and a Golf Digest ranking. For East Gull Lake, that is about as clear a sign as the market offers that the lake's resort era is not fading, it is being rebuilt. Residents get better amenities, and buyers get a community that is investing in the experience that drew them here in the first place.

Want to understand what East Gull Lake property really involves? Schedule a conversation or start with our East Gull Lake community guide and the Gull Lake versus Whitefish Chain comparison. Cheers!