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Kori and Tim Freund hope their D'Monaco Luxury Resort will attract visitors looking for upscale accommodations.
Kori and Tim Freund hope their D'Monaco Luxury Resort will attract visitors looking for upscale accommodations.

Couple opens private resort on Table Rock Lake

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Tim and Kori Freund, owners of D’Monaco Luxury Resort and Restaurant near Ridgedale, believe Branson-area visitors are ready for a new level of upscale accommodations.

The Freunds, under their company, T.A. Freund Developments LLC, opened the $6 million, six-suite D’Monaco at the end of January.

Suites range in size from about 1,700 square feet for a two-bedroom, two-bathroom suite, to 3,000 square feet for a three-bedroom, three-bath suite. Suite rentals range from $348 to $1,122 per night. The gated resort is restricted to guests 18 and older.

“We call these villas rather than condos. We’re definitely not timeshare,” Tim Freund said. “We are promoting a very private, exclusive place to stay. I want (guests) to feel special … like it’s their own private resort.”

The 25,000 square-foot resort facility, 4125 Missouri Highway 86, sits at the west end of Long Creek Bridge. The villas have private verandas with hot tubs overlooking Table Rock Lake. The interior of each villa includes a living room, dining area and full kitchen. Some rooms also include fireplaces, but none of the floor plans or furnishings are the same, according to Kori Freund. She said all bedrooms have king-size beds with European comforters, wireless Internet and double-sink bathrooms. “Each bedroom is set up as a master suite. It gives everyone their own privacy,” she said.

The Riviera décor that marks D’Monaco’s interior and exterior is an influence the Freunds brought with them when they moved to the area from Houston in 2004. “We’ve always just liked the Mediterranean-style architecture,” Kori Freund said. “There is a heavy amount of that architecture in Houston. We wanted to make our own statement up here.”

D’Monaco offers amenities such as room service, a heated outdoor pool, boat dock and conference room. The concierge can provide guests with Branson show tickets, limousine service and GPS service to navigate area roads. Grocery shopping is not a problem either. “We have a personal shopper who will fill their villa ahead of time,” Freund said.

The resort has a restaurant on site with seating for 54 inside and about 75 patio seats outside. Under the supervision of Chef Mike Roth, the restaurant serves three meals a day to guests and caters for special events. Currently, it is open to the public 5:30–9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights by reservation. Beginning with the summer season, the restaurant will open to the public by reservation for lunch and dinner seven days a week. The menu ranges from pasta and chicken dishes to hand-cut steaks and seafood, and includes appetizers, desserts and a full list of wines and spirits.

The Freunds believe that Branson Landing, Branson Convention Center and Branson Airport will be attracting a new kind of visitor to the area. “I see people coming in here from the coasts,” Tim Freund said.

He also sees a part of his business coming from specialized events such as weddings and corporate off-site meetings, and he plans to operate year-round. “I don’t think the seasonality of Branson will affect us,” he said.

T.A. Freund Developments served as general contractor for the project. The self-financed D’Monaco was built on four acres over the foundation of a previous commercial structure that was never finished. The Freunds bought the property out of a bankruptcy proceeding. Auctioneer/Realtor Billy Long brokered the deal.

“I had two structural engineers come in, but I knew what I wanted to do with it. We used a little bit of the previous structure,” Freund said.

Great Adventure Architects of Springfield designed the resort and Silverhill Co. LLC was the structural engineering firm. Freund said the existing resort structure is Phase I of a larger project, but he would not give details on Phase II.[[In-content Ad]]

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