View all newsletters
Latest in Luxury - Sign up to our weekly newsletter
  1. Travel
  2. Travel News
August 9, 2008updated Feb 11, 2013

Everlands, A New Exclusive Members Club, Offers Unlimited Access To World’s Finest Estates

By Pardhasaradhi Gonuguntla

Everlands is a global Experience Club for those who share a passion for travel and the outdoors and enjoy the camaraderie that comes from partaking in nature. Members have unlimited access to 45 of the most stunning, iconic places of natural beauty on Earth, and Everlands’ mission is to conserve these extraordinary destinations, which have been selected for their historic importance and storied pasts, for future generations.

Everlands is committed to a grand conservation initiative. The Club has established a Conservation Initiative that will award The Everlands Conservation Prize annually to individuals who demonstrate innovation, creativity and daring in conserving nature. The award, funded by a portion of Membership fees and annual dues, is designed to become a self-sustaining legacy, with the goal to award annual prizes of $1 million each. Members will be involved in the award process, including nominating candidates and choosing recipients.

Everlands has also partnered with many of the world’s most outstanding conservation groups and individuals, including Trout Unlimited in the US, The Countryside Alliance in the UK, the Atlantic Salmon Federation in Canada, the NASF in Iceland and Dr. Richard Leakey in Kenya, to support their projects and to participate in the Everlands Conservation Initiative.

The first destination to become part of Everlands is the venerable Point on Saranac Lake in New York’s Adirondacks region. This former Rockefeller estate, a beautifully remote lakeside haven, is consistently ranked as one of the top boutique lodges in the world. It offers travelers the ultimate civilized wilderness experience and typifies the caliber and offering of an Everlands estate. Other properties that are part of the first acquisition phase include Lone Mountain Ranch in Montana; Lake Rotoroa Lodge in New Zealand; The Farm at Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts; Mangrove Cay Club in the Bahamas; Bristol Bay Lodge in Alaska; and Castle Hot Springs in Arizona. Subsequent acquisitions will include a country estate in Devon, England; a wild partridge habitat in central Spain; an Atlantic salmon property in Iceland; an estancia in Patagonia; and a game reserve in Kenya.

Everlands Members enjoy transformational experiences and unmatched levels of service at some of the most unique and magnificent destinations across the globe. There is a sport, cuisine, activity and countryside to match every taste and preference, throughout the year. Experiences include lessons for families about conservation and nature; boating and hiking in the Adirondacks; antiquing in countryside markets; bone fishing in the Bahamas; pheasant shooting or horseback riding in Devon; cycling and cold saltwater angling at Martha’s Vineyard; stimulating literary events around a fireplace; cross country skiing in Montana; salmon fishing – accessed by the lodge’s own seaplanes – in Alaska; the pure pleasure of the ‘magic waters’ discovered by Apache Indians in Arizona; and casting for the noblest of fish – the brown trout – in the streams of New Zealand.

“Our vision in creating Everlands was to bring together a global community of likeminded individuals who share a love of people and family and a passion for nature and the great outdoors, defined by a desire to preserve and protect it,” said Bob Burch, Everlands Co-Founder and Chairman. “Everlanders have the opportunity to experience the world’s most magnificent destinations while preserving them for future generations.”

For more information, visit www.everlandslife.com.

About Everlands

The Background: Everlands was created with the purpose to reconnect people with the out of doors and nature in a way that combines beauty, art, architecture, great cuisine, world class experiences and conservation in an understated way emphasizing community, well being and pride of ownership through a collection of some of the world’s most special places that serve as members’ clubhouses the world over. It truly is a unique model that is multi layered in its approach.

Content from our partners
Explore Incredible India with Oberoi’s Exotic Vacations Itineraries
The Three-starred Restaurants in Spain with Green Michelin Stars
Trails Less Traveled: Sensei’s Luxurious Hiking Retreat in the California Desert

The founders have methodically built this business over the past 4 years when James Millership and Bob Burch conceived the idea while working together in Argentina. Since then they have achieved many milestones including the acquisition of 6 great properties worldwide, with an additional 4 under contract and others being negotiated in Africa, Europe and South America. The company has alliance agreements with many of the foremost conservation groups in the United States, Canada, Iceland and the United Kingdom including Trout Unlimited and have created a world class board of directors, including Dr. Richard Leakey (world famous Paleoanthropologist as Chairman) Mr. Orri Vigfusson (Chairman of the North Atlantic Salmon Federation and winner of the Goldman Prize for Conservation).

The Vision: Ultimately over 40 properties will be owned by a conservation minded group of members and their families who not only have the ability to enjoy and steward these properties in perpetuity but also pay to support the Everlands Conservation Initiative whose mission is to build awareness by recognizing individuals at the grass roots level who are making a meaningful difference in the efforts to protect the planet.

The out of doors and nature attract an understated group who care, not only about conservation, but also about their fellow members and the communities in which they reside. This creates a very powerful platform that allows great, authentic properties to be protected, local communities and their programs to be supported and awareness to be generated and capital to be raised for worldwide conservation efforts.

Everlands iconic properties:

– The Point at Lake Saranac, New York – one of the last remaining Adirondack Great Camps and formerly owned by the Rockefeller family. It is Relais & Chateaux accredited, and consistently ranked as one of the top boutique lodges in the world;

– Hotel Endsleigh in the Devon countryside on the edge of Dartmoor National Park – built in 1810 by the Duke and Duchess of Bedford and recently redesigned by Olga Polizzi, Hotel Endsleigh has been voted the top Rural Hotel in the United Kingdom;

– The Farm on Martha’s Vineyard – one of the original island homesteads dating back to 1691 and now comprising 57 acres all under conservation easement;

– Lone Mountain Ranch in Big Sky, Montana, voted The Best Nordic Skiing in North America and part of the National Historic Registrar;

– Bristol Bay Lodge – the foremost Alaskan wilderness lodge with grandfathered fly out camps accessible by your very own fleet of DeHavilland Beaver floatplanes (the workhouses of the Pacific Northwest with only 2,400 ever built);

The business model for Everlands is robust. Lehman Brothers has made a significant commitment, both as financiers and investors, in addition to Bob Burch’s own financial investment in the project. Burch is CEO and Partner of Red Badge Inc., a real estate investment and venture capital corporation with interests in real estate, cattle ranching, insurance, Internet, biotechnology and financial services companies. The company is also involved in the development and management of boutique hotels and residences in Latin America.

Membership to Everlands is by invitation only. Each Member pays a one-time Membership fee, as well as annual Club dues. Everlands is owned entirely by its Members, who own a pro rata equity interest in the Club Membership Corporation. Everlands Members co-own the land, buildings, and all real property, including furnishings, artwork, boats, floatplanes, facilities, equipment, horses and livestock – debt-free.

The Membership fee is $1 million, with early-in opportunities for Founding Membership starting at $475,000. Annual dues of $40,000 cover all amenities, such as world-class dining, fine beverages, local transportation, and a broad array of sports instruction, equipment and outdoor adventures – all handled by dedicated “Experience Managers.” Members enjoy unlimited access to the properties, and bookings are made simply on a first-come, first-served basis. To minimize financial risk for Members, a 15 percent deposit is required by each Member at the time of commitment, which will be returned with interest if initial Membership goals are not achieved. The balance is due when the Club secures 100 Members, at which time the properties will be available to Members only.

Until then, Everlands properties will continue to operate as usual and are open to all guests. A spouse or significant partner is included within each Member’s usage fee, and can use the properties unaccompanied.

Members’ children between 18 and 23 years old who are still living at home may use the properties unaccompanied by an adult. Guests must be accompanied by a Member. To create a lasting conservation legacy, a Membership may be willed to a spouse or child.

Robert L. Burch
Co-Founder and Chairman

Mr. Burch is the Founding Manager and Chairman of Everlands and a Founder and Director of The Everlands Conservation Initiative. The Everlands Conservation Initiative is chaired by Dr. Richard Leakey and has an internationally recognized board of directors and advisors.

Its mandate is to identify individual conservation initiatives on a global basis, to reward those efforts, and then bring those initiatives to the attention of the global community. The Everlands Conservation Initiative hopes to grow to have the resources to award $1 million Everlands Conservation Prizes on each continent every year.

Mr. Burch has over 20 years of experience in managing a complex group of businesses and of growing businesses into successful brands. He is the Chief Executive Officer and a Partner in Red Badge Inc., a real estate, venture capital and investment company with interests in apparel, industrial real estate, technology, cattle ranching, aquaculture and insurance, as well as other passive investments. Red Badge also holds a majority interest in The Lifestyle Development Company, a real estate development company.

Until January 1998, Mr. Burch was the Chief Executive Officer, Co-Founder and Director of Asian American Partners, a manufacturer and retailer of women’s and children’s sportswear, which was marketed under the brand names Eagle’s Eye and Eagle’s Eye for Children.

From 2000 to 2007, Mr. Burch was the majority shareholder and managing partner in El Porteño Properties, a series of real estate developments in Argentina. These projects, done in cooperation with, and under the name of, Mr. Alan Faena, were recognized internationally for their scope and quality and included some of the world’s best-known architects.

Mr. Burch was a Founder and Director of Continuum Group, a technology infrastructure fund. He was also a founding investor for Internet Capital Group, ICGE, a highly successful business-to-business Internet holding company.

Mr. Burch is a graduate of Denison University. He is currently a Board Member of the Academy of Natural Sciences and has served on the boards of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Philadelphia, The Franklin Institute and The Haverford School.

James Millership
Co-Founder and Chief Strategic Officer

Mr. Millership is a Co-Founder and Chief Strategic Officer of Everlands.

Working closely with both the Chairman and CEO in crafting overall corporate strategy, his daily responsibilities include: new business development and strategic initiatives, structuring of financing rounds and investor programs, overseeing the UK and European product launch, as well as working with the Executive Director of the Everlands Conservation Initiative.

Mr. Millership has extensive start-up experience and specific expertise in building successful platforms from which early stage companies may grow and mature. His private equity background has taken him to several countries, with a specific focus on Latin America. Previous positions held include Chief Operating Officer of a technology fund with offices across Latin America and most recently head of Business Development for an innovative real estate development company in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Mr. Millership is a Partner in The Lifestyle Development Company, a global real estate development business.

Mr. Millership has worked as both a volunteer and as an instructor for troubled youth at a wilderness program in Vancouver, Canada. The purpose of the program was to build self esteem in young adults by incorporating the natural world into their lives. His love for the out-of-doors has taken him to Nepal, India, East Africa, and South America.

Mr. Millership graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a degree in Urban Development and Business Administration. He later completed his MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business in Canada.

Topics in this article : , ,
Select and enter your email address Be the first to know about the latest in luxury lifestyle. Get the latest news on hotel openings and in-depth travel guides. Get insider access to exclusive promotions and special offers from our luxury partners.
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how Progressive Media Investments may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thank you for subscribing to Elite Traveler.

Websites in our network