ParkCitYLIFE / High Profile
The SKY’s the Limit
Kitty abdalla brings wellness to main street. by Vanessa Conabbee
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The Abdall a name has fueled rumors and driven conversation since 2011, when Los Angeles couple Ken and Kitty began purchasing landmark properties along Main Street. When news of the sales went public—the most dramatic shift of Main Street property ownership in the last decade— speculation about the Abdallas, who are former investment bankers from Southern California, ran rampant: How did they earn their money? What were their nationalities? Where did they really live and what were their intentions with their Main Street real estate purchases? “I’ve always used my maiden name, Kitty Stoneburner, so when we first moved to town, I would overhear people talking about the ‘Saudis’ buying property and I didn’t even realize they meant Ken and me,” Kitty explains. “Ken is from San Francisco and his family is second-generation Lebanese and Japanese. He is gregarious, but he is also a private person. He was always very up front about his plans. That may have been what turned people against him in the beginning—because he was very open about what he thought needed to be done, and people disagreed with his vision of increasing real estate values.” After spending vacations at their Deer Crest home, the couple saw an opportunity to develop properties they felt were underused, blending the desire to provide upscale lodging with Kitty’s vision to create a wellness center and retreat focused on alternative healing. A small town girl from Ohio, Kitty studied in France and applied to an international business program, which led to work in Japan and a position at Solomon Brothers.
Park City makes it truly possible to put health and happiness on the front burner every day.
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photo ADAM FINKLE
–Kitty Abdalla
After suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome and returning from Japan with multiple illnesses, she turned to homeopathic medicine for relief. “I spent time at the Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic, and the medications I took completely ruined my immune system,” Kitty says. “Nothing anyone prescribed truly cured me, and it was actually a homeopath that provided the most successful healing.” She later enrolled in the American University of Complementary Medicine. “After three weeks of classes, I never went to the ER again. I learned to identify my children’s symptoms and treat them myself through a number of basic remedies.”
At Main & SKY, Kitty is building the interactive health center she envisioned, creating a space that functions as both a spa and wellness center, where guests can choose from à la carte services or stay for a week or weekend for entire wellness programs. Kitty’s Sugati Spa & Wellness offers a full service menu of esthetics, massage, energy work, body therapies, ayurvedic therapies, far-infrared saunas, and traditional Japanese soaking tubs. Of particular note are programs in cleansing. Her Sugar House business, Just Organic Juice, produces 19 cold pressed juices to fill standing orders for the guests of the hotel, its restaurant, Tavern, and Sugati. As the wellness center continues to evolve, Kitty draws from a local network of health care providers; one day she hopes to have a naturopath, a chiropractor, a life coach and an acupuncturist in house. This summer, Main & SKY will host practitioners speaking on various topics every Thursday evening and wellness luncheons and yoga events on Fridays. For now, Kitty seems to have achieved that rare balance of business and pleasure, dividing her time between the emerging wellness center and Park City’s trails and mountains. “Park City makes it truly possible to put health and happiness on the front burner every day,” she says, “which is why I hope to create a wellness institution and community center that amplifies that effect.” ParkCityLife J u ly / A u g 2 0 1 5
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