TAHOMA, Calif. — Future employees of Homewood Mountain Resort may have a new place to call home following the acquisition of Tahoma Meadows Cottages.

The cottages, located just south of Homewood, will continue normal operations for the time being, but eventually could house dozens of employees while offering easy access to the resort.

“Employee housing, workforce housing is the number one issue facing businesses in the Tahoe Basin,” said Art Chapman, founder and chairman of JMA Ventures, which owns and operates Homewood. “We’re certainty aware of it and we’re going to do everything we can to make sure we’ve got safe, decent, affordable housing for our employees.”

Tahoma Meadows sits on one acre of land and includes 15 onsite cottages and an additional cottage adjacent to the property, according to the company’s website. The buildings date back as far as the 1930s. About half the cottages were moved from Homewood Lodge prior to the 1960 Winter Olympics, and were used as worker and press housing.

Homewood purchased the property earlier in the month, according to the Placer County Clerk & Recorder. Chapman said the resort has yet to file paperwork for permits to allow the cottages to be utilized as employee housing.

“We’re always looking out for our employees,” added Chapman. “We look at available properties every year.”

Chapman declined to give a price for the purchase of the Tahoma Meadows Cottages.

Homewood is targeting mid-December for its season opening. In the coming years, plans are to shift away from day sales of lift tickets to a model to a that gets rid of day passes, and adopts a members-only approach.

The plan, according to Chapman, will allow the resort to have a more reliable, consistent revenue source and will offer members a year-round experience that includes summer hiking and mountain biking.

Guests to Homewood won’t see any changes in the resort’s pass structure this season. Changing to a members-only resort will take place gradually, said Chapman, who added that there will likely be small changes to the passholder program for the 2023-24 ski season and major ones the following year.

For more information, visit http://www.skihomewood.com.

Justin Scacco is a reporter for the Sierra Sun, a sister publication of the Tribune.