W hat stands there today is more than a collection of unique accommodations. It’s the result of generational ties to land, years of global exploration, and a clear vision shaped by both experience and instinct. For owner Chesley “Chet” Long, Sunken Escapes is not simply a business - it’s a return, a reinvention, and in many ways, a continuation of something that began long before him. Chet grew up in Sunken Lake, part of a family with roots in the area stretching back over a century. Like many, he left home at 18, drawn to the energy and opportunity of city life. Toronto became his base, and from there, his career took shape in unexpected ways. He worked across industries - selling heavy equipment, navigating sales environments, and eventually building a business that would take him across North America. For six years, Chet lived nomadically, running a yoga festival that moved from place to place, bringing together communities in diverse and often unconventional settings. That chapter of his life was defined by movement, exploration, and a constant search for meaningful experiences - both for himself and for the people attending his events. But when the COVID-19
pandemic brought the events industry to a halt, everything shifted. “It forced a pause,” he reflects. “And in that pause, I saw an opportunity.” That opportunity wasn’t somewhere new - it was back home. Returning to Sunken Lake meant moving back to the land his family had tended for nearly a century, helping care for his mother, and raising his own family in the place where he grew up. It also meant reconnecting with a landscape deeply tied to his history and rediscovering a property that had once operated as a campground under his great uncle. When the campground closed decades later, the land remained largely untouched - until revitalizing it became Chet’s way to honor his family legacy while creating something entirely new. “That piece of land always had something to it,”Chet says.“It just needed a new vision.” The idea that would become Sunken Escapes didn’t arrive all at once. Instead, it formed at the intersection of two distinct influences. The first was deeply personal: a desire to be closer to family and to build something meaningful in a place that already held significance. The second came from years of travel - of staying in unique accommodations across continents, from Latin America to Europe to Australia.
It forced a pause, and in that pause, I saw an opportunity. ” “
62 SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • VOL 26 ISSUE 2
BUSINESS • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE 63
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator