Couple purchases Paintbrush Inn

Paintbrush Inn has new ownership where Bob and Collette Spain recently sold their motel to Kristen Hohman and her significant other Michael Cumston, who are originally from Tiffin, Ohio.

Their backstory for the Paintbrush Inn is interesting. Cumston wanted to come out on vacation and check out Wyoming. Hohman worked in dispatch for the county sheriff in Ohio, starting in 2007 and said, “Because we thought when it’s down the road to retire, it would be nice to find a piece of land and be able to build a little cabin. He accidentally while trying to book a room at the Paintbrush Inn here in Thermopolis he thought he was looking at a different hotel and that is how we ended up staying at the Paintbrush. We came here and looked around and thought, this is a very beautiful place. This is the type of area he thought to settle down in. He was already retired, but Hohman wasn’t quite retired yet.”

Hohman added, “We were staying here and Collette actually overheard us talking about finding something out here, running something small like a hotel here. She said, ‘Funny you said that.’ ‘Why do you say that?’ ‘Well, we’re for sale.’”

Hohman and Cumston went home and tossed around the idea of purchasing the motel, did some research and according to Hohman, “It just ended up working out. We came back here around September, did some more digging in the motel and made our offer.” The new ownership officially occurred on January 8. 

They are getting adjusted at the motel and things have been working out. Hohman said, “Everything is going great. It’s an adjustment considering that I spent over 20 years in some type of public service or public safety. I started out in the 90s as a correction officer and ended in dispatch.” 

They anticipate for the coming year to integrate into the community. Hohman said, “We already have a few things going where we like to help out the other businesses. As far as the business they plan on learning more than what they already know, running it and making their guests happy. We absolutely love this area. He likes waking up every morning and looking outside and seeing mountains.”

Hohman concluded, “Wyoming, it’s just absolutely beautiful out there. It doesn’t matter where you seem to go.”