Michelle and Leroy DuBre have always been drawn to wild places. The couple met by chance at Yellowstone National Park in 2008, while Michelle, who’d once worked at the park’s Roosevelt Lodge, was on a trip with two of her girlfriends and Leroy was with his father. They were near Old Faithful, a site that begs for undivided attention. But there was a spark between the two strangers, so intense the iconic geyser seemed to pale in comparison. Six months later, the two married on the spot where it all began.
Shortly after they married, they moved to Arkansas. Michelle had grown up in the Natural State and wanted to return. Leroy, a North Carolina native, was easy to convince. “When he first came to the Arkansas Ozarks, he said it felt like coming home,” Michelle said. “The same rivers, the same ridgelines, the same quality of quiet. It was not a hard sell.”
In 2024, that love of the Ozarks led them to Whispering Woods, a lakeside resort in Jordan, Arkansas, on Lake Norfork.
They were already familiar with the property from trips to visit Michelle’s best friend nearby, and when they learned it was for sale, the timing seemed right. The couple returned with their youngest son, Jonah, for a weekend. From the moment they arrived, Michelle said, everything seemed to align. Like so many other moments in their lives, “it felt meant to be.”
It isn’t difficult to understand what drew them in.
Autumn, with its welcome chill in the air, is an especially picturesque time to visit, with vibrant fall colors and cooler temperatures luring visitors to explore the Whispering Woods grounds. Michelle’s favorite spots include the gazebo and patio, where, she said, “you just can’t beat the views.”
The surrounding area offers plenty of reasons to get outside, from time on Lake Norfork to some of Arkansas’ best-known trout waters. Whispering Woods is just minutes from the Norfork National Fish Hatchery, the White River and the North Fork of the White River.
While guests are exploring the outdoors, the staff at Whispering Woods are bustling to keep things running smoothly. Some nights there are bonfires; others feature live music. And then there’s The Grill, where Chef Zach Davis, who trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Scottsdale, Arizona, oversees a menu that has helped make the restaurant a destination of its own.
Behind that experience, however, has been a steep learning curve. Michelle remembers a particularly busy Friday during their first six months as owners. After finally crawling into bed around 1 a.m., she realized she had forgotten the restaurant towels. Without clean linens for the morning, back to work she went. What she expected to be another 30 minutes became at least an hour.
“I think I cried,” she said. “Actually, I know I did.”
Fortunately, running Whispering Woods has become a family affair. Josh, the oldest, helps with social media, handyman jobs and the business side of the operation. Noah, who is on the autism spectrum, has an encyclopedic love of plants and helps tend the flowers and landscaping guests see throughout the property. Jonah often joins the food truck crew, while Levi handles some of the decidedly less glamorous jobs, hauling towels to the laundry, recycling cardboard, delivering ice and taking out the trash.
And when something runs out? Michelle and Leroy’s mothers have been known to make emergency supply runs from what Michelle jokingly calls “the big city” of Mountain Home.
After spending years in the corporate world, Michelle enjoys this life on her own terms. Leroy’s younger years were spent in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, where he became an Eagle Scout. Later, he served as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division and worked as a police officer and firefighter before returning to school to earn his law degree. In addition to his work managing Whispering Woods, he is a JAG attorney in the Army Reserve.
The life the DuBres are building at Whispering Woods is only the latest chapter in the property’s story. Its history goes back to the 1940s, when Irene and Cecil Jennings built a few cabins to accommodate workers building the Norfork Dam. Michelle imagines what those times were like. The men toiling to create a new vision for the area, and the Jennings laboring to make sure they had a comfortable place to rest. Deep connections were almost certainly made.
One recent guest made that history especially tangible. He was a great-grandson of the Jennings family, and when he saw the DuBres’ tribute to the original owners—complete with their story and photographs—Michelle watched his reaction. “You could tell he was proud their legacy was being carried on. Somewhere along the way, without anyone quite deciding it would happen, this ragtag and wonderful group of people became our second family. A motley crew, honestly, and we mean that with every ounce of love we have. Each of them is invaluable. Each of them is part of the story.”
For the DuBres, that sense of connection extends beyond Whispering Woods. “October through December last year, we parked our food truck in the community and fed the homeless. Once a week. For free. It was just something we believed we should do, and so we did it. Genuine hospitality, we believe, does not stop at the edge of the dining room.” The tradition continues this year.
In 2008, two strangers met at Yellowstone, one of the nation’s greatest natural treasures. Years later, they returned with their sons. While looking at the lodge, Josh remarked that it reminded him of Whispering Woods. His brothers agreed. For Michelle, the trip helped the boys understand a little more about their parents—their love of nature and what had drawn them to this adventure in the first place.
What a perfect compliment for Michelle and Leroy, the couple who put their hearts into making Whispering Woods their own.
Suggested Whispering Woods and The Grill Itinerary (Thursday, Friday, Saturday)
Thursday: Settle into one of the 11 lakeside cabins. Enjoy dinner at the Norfork Overlook Gazebo and watch the sunset.
Friday: Have the staff recommend a fishing guide for your trout fishing adventure on Lake Norfork or the White River, where rainbow, brown, cutthroat, and brook trout are abundant. Eat lunch at The Grill and spend the afternoon on the lake or exploring the property. Bonus: On Friday evenings, there is live music on the patio.
Saturday: Head toward Mountain View for a day of Ozark exploration. Tour Blanchard Springs Caverns near Fifty-Six, then visit the Ozark Folk Center State Park in Mountain View, where traditional Ozark crafts and music take center stage. Bonus: On Saturday evenings, there’s a bonfire at Whispering Woods, which is perfect on an autumn evening.
To learn more about Whispering Woods Cabins and The Grill, visit whisperingwoodsar.com.
