Jack Martin -  Partner

Jack's involvement with the Mark West Lodge is the perfect pairing of his years of food and beverage experience with with his love of historic buildings.  His eye for design and attention to detail assures that when you arrive to celebrate your special day, that everything looks and works just right.

After graduating from State University of New York at Albany in 1974, Jack went to work with the city of Albany overseeing the rehabilitation of historic downtown row houses. In 1978 he moved to California to work for San Mateo County as a Housing Rehabilitation Specialist. Wanting to pursue his love of coffee along with his building and mechanical expertise, he participated in the creation and management of various Bay Area coffee houses. He found a home with Pasqua , the pioneering San Francisco coffee company that brought European-style coffee "elbow bars" to San Francisco. His contribuitions to Pasqua were instrumental in creating the first sidewalk coffee carts in the city, as well as helping to lay the groundwork for this dynamic company that grew to over 50 stores.

But the northern California wine country beckoned, and in the early 1990's  Jack and his young family moved to Calistoga where they still reside. (They are, however, not quite so young any more...) Jack was a founding partner of the Calistoga Roastery (which still serves the best coffee in the Napa Valley), and also started Jack Hunter's Smokehouse Cafe , a casual eatery that served up generous portions of delicious comfort food to wine country visitors as well as Calistoga residents for many years.

More to come.....  Jack is presently busy coordinating the construction of a new outdoor wedding and event site on the Lodge property, adjacent to Mark West Creek.  This unique site will boast a huge outdoor river rock fireplace, and a stage and dance floor inside the old mineral springs swimming pool. Missing from this picture is Sadie , his Miniature Schnauzer.