Soon after Zac Loomis and his wife, Lauren, purchased the Inn & Spa at Cedar Falls in February 2019, he asked the chef to tweak the menu at its restaurant, Kindred Spirits, so that every dish would be tree-nut-free. “It was the first directive I remember giving the staff, and I did it because our son, Carter, has a tree-nut allergy,” explains Zac. “I wanted him to be able to eat anything we serve.”
Ah, the joys — and challenges — of operating a 75-acre Hocking Hills resort where guests come to bask in the uninterrupted beauty of nature and enjoy high-quality lodging, dining, and spa services. Though they live in the Columbus suburb of Lewis Center, the Loomis family (Zac and Lauren, along with their 13-year-old daughter, Quinn, and 15-year-old Carter) became instant “co-op people” when they acquired the inn, which is a member of Lancaster-based South Central Power Company. Zac, a successful real estate agent and investor, initially went to the inn to help longtime owners Ellen Grinsfelder and her husband, Terry Lingo, find a buyer. Instead, he fell in love with the place and bought it himself.
Inn & Spa at Cedar Falls is a 75-acre Hocking Hills resort.
Flanked on three sides by Hocking Hills State Park, the inn was one of the first Hocking Hills venues to offer guests lodging as well as an on-site fine-dining experience. That not only played a key role in putting the region on the tourist map, but over the next three decades, the inn also grew from a modest, barnlike bed-and-breakfast that original owner Anne Castle founded in 1987 into what is arguably the Hocking Hills’ most iconic — and complete — destination. “The inn is the only private property on State Route 374,” Zac says, “and since that’s a paved two-lane road, we installed signage to let people know when they are driving by it.”
After Castle died in 1991, her daughter Ellen and son-in-law Terry continued operating the inn and established its casual but exceptionally cordial hospitality standard. They transformed 1840s log houses into overnight accommodations; constructed made-for-couples cottages tucked away in the woods; added Pacific-style yurts; and turned one cabin into a spa. The inn’s heart, of course, was Kindred Spirits, which Ellen and Terry also expanded as a LEED-certified environmentally friendly gathering place. At the restaurant, wines flowed, candles glowed, and guests got the distinct pleasure of dining on filet mignon while wearing hiking boots and jeans.
“Anne, Ellen, and Terry left a remarkable legacy at the inn that I’m trying to preserve and protect by rounding out the guests’ experiences,” Zac says. Although he’d been building new log homes in the Hocking Hills region for years and had driven by it countless times, Zac had never visited the inn until Ellen suggested he meet her banker for a tour in August 2018. Six months later, he and Lauren owned it. “Everybody knows this property,” Zac says. “It’s so iconic that in the beginning, I thought I was under a microscope.”
For the Loomises, their first real ownership test was the COVID pandemic, which surfaced only about a year after their purchase. To keep the inn’s staff working, they built three climate-controlled geodomes that were the first in the United States to offer indoor plumbing, HVAC, and electricity. Featuring large windows overlooking the woods, the geodomes boast king-sized beds, kitchenettes with retro-style appliances, and private decks.
Since then, Zac and Lauren also converted nine of the original bed-and-breakfast rooms into spa treatment spaces that offer a wide range of services for both individuals and couples. Thus, the inn now has 24 lodging units on-site: three geodomes, three yurts, six cabins, and 12 cottages.
As their children have gotten older, running the inn has become a true family affair. Carter and Quinn have done everything from dusting the gift shop and making homemade granola to cooking with restaurant manager Candice Pagano. They also learned life lessons like coping with feelings and emotions at a young age, and after Zac and Lauren bought the picturesque Hocking Hills Golf Club on U.S. 33 a few years ago, their kids set up a stand selling used golf balls.
Opened in June 2025, the Golf Club’s new “stay and play” concept consists of four modern suites and lofts that accommodate between two and four overnight guests, and its Urban Grille serves a finger-food American menu — including bang bang shrimp, citrus berry salad, and bourbon burgers — plus cocktails, mimosas, and mules. Besides the Golf Club’s four suites, the Loomises also own four log houses and manage 18 others located throughout the Hocking Hills for friends and family members.
“No two days are ever the same,” says Zac, “and that’s not on purpose. It just happens.”
