In an era when many small resorts are sold off for their waterfront land values and developed into condos or lake homes — Minnesota has fewer than half the “ma and pa” resorts it did 50 years ago — Sean and Jill Leary are bucking the trend.

The Learys are building North of North, a three-cabin resort on 11 acres of raw land at 12265 State Highway 1, 10 miles east of Ely, from scratch.

The first cabin was ready for guests last week, the other two were just about finished and their website went live this week to accept reservations.

“It’s taken a little longer than we expected, but we’re almost there,” Jill Leary said as she unpackaged steak knives from a box for one of the cabin kitchens. “There was nothing here before. No driveway. … The first time we came to the property, we had to come by boat.”

It’s been exhausting work and many trips back and forth from their home in Minneapolis. They cut a path from Highway 1 into the property and slowly figured out how the cabins would fit onto the landscape.

North of North is an all-new destination for lovers of the Ely experience, the Superior National Forest and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness — just a stone’s throw up the Kawishiwi River. But it’s also perhaps unique in the Northland woods for being built, from the ground up, to be fully accessible for many people with disabilities.

It hasn’t just been Sean and Jill Leary on the job. It’s been a family affair with daughters Annika, 10, and Britta, 7, helping along with the family’s sled dog, Freya.

The idea sprouts

The Learys were on their first post-pandemic family vacation to the Yellowstone National Park region a few years ago when they decided they wanted their own destination in the northwoods of their home state. Moreover, they wanted a place where others with disabilities — Jeff has been using a wheelchair for 23 years — could enjoy Minnesota’s “up north” like everyone else.

They had an idea to build a small resort using accessible design principles so people at any stage of their lives, from the elderly to families with infants and strollers, could get around. Even the waterfront lot they chose was picked because of its relatively flat topography, with easy access to the lake.

From the gentle slopes between the driveway to the cabins, and paths to the lakes, to the height of the cabin counters and tables, to the wheel-in showers and the 425-foot boardwalk and floating dock on the lake, everything about North of North is designed to be accessible under guidelines in the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Little things, like lower light switches and shower controls, and an opening under the sink so a wheelchair-bound person can wash dishes, are icing on the cake.

Even the doors to the barrel-style saunas have been widened to make way for wheelchairs.

“People throw around ‘accessible’ pretty easily,” Sean said. “Everyone has a different definition. … Hopefully, we are there for most people.” He’s also been visiting Ely restaurants and other attractions to take note of accessibility and offer tips for his future guests.

It’s all about removing barriers, from thresholds of cabin and sauna doors to getting into a kayak on the lake. It’s the Learys’ goal to create a place that is not only welcoming and accessible for anyone to stay but also opens access to the great outdoors to people who haven’t always been able to get out.

“It really doesn’t take that much more thought to do this in a way that works for people in chairs,” said Sean, 41. “Yet, most of the time, people still don’t think of it when they are building something.”

Access to outdoor adventure

Sean Leary was 18 when he was driving home from a long day of work one night during his summer before college. He drifted to sleep and his truck left the road. The accident cost him the use of his legs and he has been in a wheelchair ever since.

But it didn’t take long for Sean to move on. An avid wilderness paddler and snowboarder before the accident, he adapted his outdoor pursuits to his newly defined abilities, including off-road hand bikes. He traveled across the U.S. and Europe and tried scuba diving and adaptive wilderness canoe trips. He met Jill when she was a canoe guide, and the St. Cloud natives married in 2010.

Sean’s theory is that if you build it right, they can and will come — meaning anyone with accessibility issues.

Jill sees the resort as a destination for family reunions and group trips.

“We hope this becomes a place where families can bring grandma and grandpa back to the lake again,” Sean added. “But anyone can come here. … Do you think disabled people only want to be around other disabled people?”

The Learys have had to correct some confusion about the resort. Since they have more than $1 million tied up in a mortgage with their name on it, the resort itself is for-profit and has to pay the bills and at least break even.

“We don’t expect to make money off this,” said Jill, 39. “It (the resort) has to make it on its own, but we’re both going to keep our day jobs.” Jill is a teacher in the Minneapolis school system; Sean is an environmental project consultant.

“We’ve put everything we have into this,” Sean said.

The 1,100-square-foot cabins are not inexpensive. At $550 per night, they are competitive with the region’s nicer resorts and VRBO rentals.

And, they are first-class, including panoramic views of the forest and scenic Birch Lake; individual saunas (with lake views) for each unit; sleeping arrangements for up to eight people; screened-in porches; a deck with barbecue grill and campfire pit; a dishwasher, washer and dryer; televisions, high-speed internet and Wi-Fi.

Through the Learys’ nonprofit, Adaptive Wilderness Within Reach, they hope to set up people with physical disabilities in the cabins while they participate in various wilderness experiences like kayaking, canoeing, fishing, cycling, dog sledding and more.

To that end, AWWR (say it fast to sound like a wolf howling) already has received $16,000 from the Department of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation — with additional state money expected soon — to buy accessible kayaks and build an accessible kayak launch at the end of their unusually long boardwalk/dock, which is also fully accessible. Canoes and kayaks can be rented, and Sean said he hopes to go into accessible BWCAW outfitting in the future.

Motorboats and other watercraft can be docked at the resort for free and can also be rented and delivered to the resort by Ely outfitters.

For more information on North of North Resort, or to make reservations, go to northofnorthresort.com. To find out more about the nonprofit Adaptive Wilderness Within Reach, go to awwr.org.