A new beginning for World Famous Fox Hollow Resort as new owners get back to their Texas roots

By Steve Nussbaum | Photos courtesy of Hank Erler

Locals enjoy live music at Foxy’s Outdoor Cantina

A television show featuring Possum Kingdom Lake proved to be the spark a California couple needed to get an early start on their “empty nest†plan to move back to Texas.

Hank and Jennifer Erler both spent parts of their respective childhoods living in Texas, with Jennifer – who grew up in Abilene – having been to the lake in her younger days.

The Erlers have three children, two of whom are still in school, and the family lives in Southern California, where Hank Erler is in the real estate business.

The couple’s research for a potential business started about four years ago, when Hank Erler was watching an episode of “My Lottery Dream Home†on HGTV. The show’s premise is to follow around lottery winners as they go through the process of buying a new home with their newfound wealth, and the episode that grabbed his attention featured homes on Possum Kingdom Lake. Erler called to his wife to watch the show with him.

“That place is beautiful!†he exclaimed.

Watching the episode brought back fond memories from their younger days, so the couple researched businesses in the Lone Star State and found a listing for World Famous Fox Hollow Resort in July 2020. It had been a local west side business for decades but was closed at the time because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

They flew to PK to look at the potential business venture, and Erler said he immediately saw a “diamond in the rough†with Fox Hollow. The Hungry Fox Restaurant was closed because of the pandemic, but the business also had some older cabins, as well as short- and long-term rentals for RVs and trailers.

The Erlers loved what they saw and bought the property in January 2021. Hank Erler said he planned to spend 60 days in Texas overseeing the first phase of improvements, but ended up staying 90 days instead. He added that he knew he would need help running the resort, and it had to be somebody who could see his vision for Fox Hollow, so he contacted Gary Latimer, who Erler had met and watched work at the casino at Harrah’s Resort Southern California. The two had met at the casino’s bar but didn’t know each other well.

Nevertheless, Erler offered to bring Latimer and his wife, Gina, out to Possum Kingdom to see the place. Erler described Gary Latimer as “the master of mixology,†and said he’s famous for his exotic cocktails.

The couple worked for a week in the restaurant and refused to take any pay while they explored the area. At the end of the week, the Latimers were on their way from California to PK. They bought a home on the property and have been managing the day-to-day operations ever since.

In fact, the Latimers ended up loving PK so much that their grown daughters are planning to move to the area and work at the resort, too.

Last year was a whirlwind of activity to get the resort ready for the busy season, with a slew of improvements, including gutting and remodeling several old cabins and giving them a modern look. The Erlers also paved the parking lot, remodeled the restaurant, completed a total remodel of kitchen, added the outdoor cantina space and brought in new docks.

Erler said the business now does in half a day what it used to do on its busiest day, and that spurred he and his wife to make even more improvements to the property.

This year, the couple remodeled more cabins and are putting finishing touches on their three-bedroom cabin, which will be the showplace of the site. The cabin will feature high-end finishes, with a large new deck and expansive views of the lake. Other improvements include the purchase of three modular homes that are available for sale.

During the winter months, the Erlers also removed some older mobile homes and added some RV slots. They’ve also been busy improving the pavement around the property, and have added new pontoon boats and wave runners for rent.

Erler also bought more land this year around Fox Hollow to accommodate any upcoming expansion plans, but he and his wife are still deciding what to do with the new property. They are exploring adding a gym and expanding RV rentals. A swimming pool is being added to the property, too, but construction won’t be finished until next year.

Overall, Erler estimated the price tag for all the improvements at more than $1.5 million, including the additional property.

If the early part of this year is any indication, though, it ought to be a huge season for the World Famous Fox Hollow Resort, and the Erlers plan to bring their entire family to PK for the summer and make it a true family business.

For Hank Erler, the best part about the improvements are the positive reactions from customers and staff about the property.

From the looks of things, the couple may have found their own “lottery dream home.â€