Legends Hotel and Resort
Encyclopedia
The Legends Resort & Country Club, often called simply Legends, is a hotel
located on County Route 517 in Vernon Township
in Sussex County
, New Jersey
. In the 1970s, Hugh Hefner
built it as the Great Gorge Playboy Club
. The Playboy Club was closed in the late 1980s and sold and turned into Seasons Hotel. Later, Seasons was sold again to parent-company Metairie Corp., which turned into its current incarnation as the Legends Resort & Country Club.
rejected a proposal by Metairie Corp. and another firm that included 372 townhouses on 580 acres (2.3 km²) surrounding the property. Township officials refused to allow any new construction at the resort until renovations were completed at the hotel itself, which officials described as an "eyesore."
owners who argued that promised amenities were no longer available and that Legends officials were being dishonest and unreceptive to their concerns. Dozens of the owners, who formed an organization called Legends Owners United, said little upkeep had been done on the property, parts of the facade were falling off, the parking lot was cracking, tennis
courts were deteriorating, interior ceilings were stained, hallway lighting was spotty, plywood
covered some windows and many services were regularly closed, including an indoor pool, gym, restaurant, club and store. They also claimed Legends officials failed to provide them with statements documenting where money for repairs had been spent. About 1,600 people own Legends timeshares, which sold for between $8,000 and $11,000 each. Timeshare buyers generated $15 million in revenue for the Metairie company, as well as thousands more each year in maintenance fees.
Three lawsuits against Legends have been consolidated and are currently pending in New Jersey Superior Court
; two were filed by timeshare owners alleging mismanagement or impropriety in selling timeshares while the building was in violation of state fire codes, and one seeks class-action status for all timeshare owners. In a separate matter, Mountain Spa Inc., a McAfee
-based spa
company that rented space at Legends, sued the resort for $1 million in May 2006, alleging that the hotel frequently failed to provide heat and electricity when the spa rented space there starting in 2003. As a result, spa officials said they were frequently unable to operate its health club and had to close in August 2005. Hillel Meyers, Metairie Corp. president, acknowledged to state officials in a May 2005 letter that "the property may be properly characterized as 'distressed.'" Legends was previously part of RCI, one of the largest timeshare brokers in the world, but in December 2006, RCI removed it from the program, which many timeshare owners said significantly reduced their ability to trade vacation weeks with other resort locations. Legends Owners United has filed complaints with the Federal Trade Commission
, the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs
and the state Real Estate Commission
. State real estate regulators launched an investigation into the Legends Resort & Country Club in early 2007 in response to the complaints. Legends and Metairie officials have indicated they plan to sell some of the company's assets and make improvements, but have not provided specific plans or a timetable for any such changes.
outside the hotel on August 17, 2008. Haulmark, an Oklahoma
native who was working on a pipeline project in nearby New York
, was found lying on a sidewalk near the east entrance of the resort around 3 a.m. He had been battered around the face and head, and authorities determined the cause of death to be blunt force trauma to the head, neck and face. Jacob R. Gentry, 27; Jarrod C. Gentry, 20, of Port Jervis, New York and Emily M. Henry, 24, of Plymouth, Michigan, were arrested in Port Jervis on August 17 in connection with the homicide
. The Gentry brothers were charged with first-degree murder and endangering an injured victim. Henry allegedly pepper spray
ed Haulmark and left the scene of the crime; she was charged with endangering an injured victim and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Defense attorneys said Jarrod Gentry jumped in to defend his brother after Haulmark and Jacob Gentry got into a fight, and claimed they would argue a self-defense case. All three suspects are currently in Sussex County Jail. Police have not yet disclosed a possible motive for the alleged murder, but Gentry family members said Jacob Gentry had previously lived in Legends and moved out due to prior physical altercations with Haulmark over Henry, who was Jacob's girlfriend. Jacob Gentry also worked as a contract laborer with Precision Pipeline, the same Eau Claire
, Wisconsin
-based company where Haulmark worked. The Gentry brothers and Henry, all previously lived in Michigan
(the Gentry brothers are originally from Tennessee
), waived their extraditions from Orange County
, New York on August 19 and will be tried in Vernon. The crime was the first murder charged in Sussex County in almost two years.
, starring Richard Pryor
and Gene Wilder
, were set and filmed at the hotel, referred to simply as the "Great Gorge Resort" in the movie.
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
located on County Route 517 in Vernon Township
Vernon Township, New Jersey
-Communities and neighborhoods:Communities and neighborhoods in Vernon Township include the following sections:*Vernon Village "Town Center"*Vernon Valley a.k.a...
in Sussex County
Sussex County, New Jersey
The County of Sussex is the northernmost county in the State of New Jersey. It is part of the New York City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 Federal decennial census, 149,265 persons resided in Sussex County...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. In the 1970s, Hugh Hefner
Hugh Hefner
Hugh Marston "Hef" Hefner is an American magazine publisher, founder and Chief Creative Officer of Playboy Enterprises.-Early life:...
built it as the Great Gorge Playboy Club
Playboy Club
The Playboy Club initially was a chain of nightclubs and resorts owned and operated by Playboy Enterprises. The first club opened at 116 E. Walton Street in downtown Chicago, Illinois, United States, on February 29, 1960. Each club generally featured a Living Room, a Playmate Bar, a Dining Room...
. The Playboy Club was closed in the late 1980s and sold and turned into Seasons Hotel. Later, Seasons was sold again to parent-company Metairie Corp., which turned into its current incarnation as the Legends Resort & Country Club.
The hotel
During the 1970s, the Great Gorge Playboy Club had 650 rooms, but various owners since that time have combined units and converted many into condominiums, reducing the total number to less than 400 rooms at the current Legends Resort & Country Club. The eight-floor hotel has a cabaret, ballroom, restaurant, a fitness center, indoor pool, jacuzzis and an Olympic-sized swimming pool located outside. Most of the rooms have been renovated at least once, but some are still set up as originally constructed in 1970s decor.Renovation
In 2005, the Vernon Township Zoning BoardZoning in the United States
Zoning in the United States comprise land use state laws falling under the police power rights that State governments and local governments have the authority to exercise over privately owned real property.-Origins and history:...
rejected a proposal by Metairie Corp. and another firm that included 372 townhouses on 580 acres (2.3 km²) surrounding the property. Township officials refused to allow any new construction at the resort until renovations were completed at the hotel itself, which officials described as an "eyesore."
Section 8 & Low-Income Families
Starting in 2005 and continuing to present, The Legends Resort & Country Club started housing people year-round to accommodate low-income families mainly on welfare and public assistance and those with chronic health and mental health issues. Additionally, the facility has been used by the state as a halfway house for some criminal offenders released from prison.Complaints from timeshare owners
The Legends Resort & Country Club has been subject to several complaints and lawsuits in the 2000s by timeshareTimeshare
A timeshare is a form of ownership or right to the use of a property, or the term used to describe such properties. These properties are typically resort condominium units, in which multiple parties hold rights to use the property, and each sharer is allotted a period of time in which they may use...
owners who argued that promised amenities were no longer available and that Legends officials were being dishonest and unreceptive to their concerns. Dozens of the owners, who formed an organization called Legends Owners United, said little upkeep had been done on the property, parts of the facade were falling off, the parking lot was cracking, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
courts were deteriorating, interior ceilings were stained, hallway lighting was spotty, plywood
Plywood
Plywood is a type of manufactured timber made from thin sheets of wood veneer. It is one of the most widely used wood products. It is flexible, inexpensive, workable, re-usable, and can usually be locally manufactured...
covered some windows and many services were regularly closed, including an indoor pool, gym, restaurant, club and store. They also claimed Legends officials failed to provide them with statements documenting where money for repairs had been spent. About 1,600 people own Legends timeshares, which sold for between $8,000 and $11,000 each. Timeshare buyers generated $15 million in revenue for the Metairie company, as well as thousands more each year in maintenance fees.
Three lawsuits against Legends have been consolidated and are currently pending in New Jersey Superior Court
New Jersey Superior Court
The Superior Court is the state court in the U.S. state of New Jersey, with state-wide trial and appellate jurisdiction. The Superior Court has three divisions: the Appellate Division is essentially an intermediate appellate court while the Law and Chancery Divisions function as trial courts...
; two were filed by timeshare owners alleging mismanagement or impropriety in selling timeshares while the building was in violation of state fire codes, and one seeks class-action status for all timeshare owners. In a separate matter, Mountain Spa Inc., a McAfee
McAfee, New Jersey
McAfee is an unincorporated area within Vernon Township in Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. The area is served as United States Postal Service ZIP Code 07428....
-based spa
Spa
The term spa is associated with water treatment which is also known as balneotherapy. Spa towns or spa resorts typically offer various health treatments. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters goes back to prehistoric times. Such practices have been popular worldwide, but are...
company that rented space at Legends, sued the resort for $1 million in May 2006, alleging that the hotel frequently failed to provide heat and electricity when the spa rented space there starting in 2003. As a result, spa officials said they were frequently unable to operate its health club and had to close in August 2005. Hillel Meyers, Metairie Corp. president, acknowledged to state officials in a May 2005 letter that "the property may be properly characterized as 'distressed.'" Legends was previously part of RCI, one of the largest timeshare brokers in the world, but in December 2006, RCI removed it from the program, which many timeshare owners said significantly reduced their ability to trade vacation weeks with other resort locations. Legends Owners United has filed complaints with the Federal Trade Commission
Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act...
, the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs
New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs
The New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs is a governmental agency in the U.S. state of New Jersey that is responsible for protecting the public "from fraud, deceit and misrepresentation in the sale of goods and services." The DCA operates within the New Jersey Department of Law and Public...
and the state Real Estate Commission
Government of New Jersey
The government of New Jersey was established by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the current state constitution. It comprises three branches: the executive, headed by the Governor of New Jersey; the legislative ; and judicial, headed by the New Jersey Supreme Court.- New Jersey State...
. State real estate regulators launched an investigation into the Legends Resort & Country Club in early 2007 in response to the complaints. Legends and Metairie officials have indicated they plan to sell some of the company's assets and make improvements, but have not provided specific plans or a timetable for any such changes.
2008 murder
David Haulmark, a 36-year-old contract laborer living in the Legends Resort & Country Club, was beaten to deathMurder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
outside the hotel on August 17, 2008. Haulmark, an Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
native who was working on a pipeline project in nearby New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, was found lying on a sidewalk near the east entrance of the resort around 3 a.m. He had been battered around the face and head, and authorities determined the cause of death to be blunt force trauma to the head, neck and face. Jacob R. Gentry, 27; Jarrod C. Gentry, 20, of Port Jervis, New York and Emily M. Henry, 24, of Plymouth, Michigan, were arrested in Port Jervis on August 17 in connection with the homicide
Homicide
Homicide refers to the act of a human killing another human. Murder, for example, is a type of homicide. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English...
. The Gentry brothers were charged with first-degree murder and endangering an injured victim. Henry allegedly pepper spray
Pepper spray
Pepper spray, also known as OC spray , OC gas, and capsicum spray, is a lachrymatory agent that is used in riot control, crowd control and personal self-defense, including defense against dogs and bears...
ed Haulmark and left the scene of the crime; she was charged with endangering an injured victim and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Defense attorneys said Jarrod Gentry jumped in to defend his brother after Haulmark and Jacob Gentry got into a fight, and claimed they would argue a self-defense case. All three suspects are currently in Sussex County Jail. Police have not yet disclosed a possible motive for the alleged murder, but Gentry family members said Jacob Gentry had previously lived in Legends and moved out due to prior physical altercations with Haulmark over Henry, who was Jacob's girlfriend. Jacob Gentry also worked as a contract laborer with Precision Pipeline, the same Eau Claire
Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Eau Claire is a city located in the west-central part of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 65,883 as of the 2010 census, making it the largest municipality in the northwestern portion of the state, and the 9th largest in the state overall. It is the county seat of Eau Claire County,...
, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
-based company where Haulmark worked. The Gentry brothers and Henry, all previously lived in Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
(the Gentry brothers are originally from Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
), waived their extraditions from Orange County
Orange County, New York
Orange County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area and is located at the northern reaches of the New York metropolitan area. The county sits in the state's scenic Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley...
, New York on August 19 and will be tried in Vernon. The crime was the first murder charged in Sussex County in almost two years.
In popular culture
Portions of the 1989 comedy See No Evil, Hear No EvilSee No Evil, Hear No Evil
See No Evil, Hear No Evil is a 1989 American comedy film directed by Arthur Hiller and produced by Marvin Worth for TriStar Pictures. It stars Richard Pryor as a blind man and Gene Wilder as a deaf man who work together to thwart a band of murderous thieves.-Plot summary:A blind man named Wally...
, starring Richard Pryor
Richard Pryor
Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor was an American stand-up comedian, actor, social critic, writer and MC. Pryor was known for uncompromising examinations of racism and topical contemporary issues, which employed colorful vulgarities, and profanity, as well as racial epithets...
and Gene Wilder
Gene Wilder
Gene Wilder is an American stage and screen actor, director, screenwriter, and author.Wilder began his career on stage, making his screen debut in the film Bonnie and Clyde in 1967. His first major role was as Leopold Bloom in the 1968 film The Producers...
, were set and filmed at the hotel, referred to simply as the "Great Gorge Resort" in the movie.