This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The popular and picturesque French restaurant La Caille at Quail Run is up for sale.
Sotheby's International Realty is listing the 20-acre property, with extensive landscaped grounds near the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon, for $19.9 million.
The restaurant, open since 1975 on the site of an earlier restaurant known as Quail Run, has been a popular site for dinners, weddings and other events.
A call to the restaurant for co-owners David Johnson and Steven Runolfson was not returned. A Sotheby's agent said no other information was available.
In March, former La Caille partner Mark Haug was awarded $4.7 million after a jury found that Johnson and Runolfson breached a 1993 partnership agreement.
Johnson's father, Lester, opened Quail Run in the mid-1960s, according to the business's website. David Johnson purchased the property in the 1970s, and he and Runolfson opened La Caille in 1975. They built a "chateau" for the restaurant and imported antiques from France.
The restaurant employs about 100 people, according to the website.
Haug later became a partner with the other two, but strains developed. In a four-year legal battle, Haug accused his partners of trying to rob him of his share of the enterprise and of making a false report to the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office that he had misappropriated company funds.
Court records indicate the legal battle is continuing, with the sides disputing the awarding of attorneys' fees and other costs and with a motion pending for a new trial.
La Caille has four dining rooms, five open-air patios, as well as meeting rooms. Its ponds and grounds are home to swans, peacocks and turkeys.
According to the website listing for the property, lacailleutah.com, there are three parcels involved in the sale:
• The restaurant with outbuildings and a single-family residence known as the "cabin," with 25,170 square feet on 14.4 acres.
• The Runolfson house, a Tudor-French Country style home with about 5,000 square feet, including vaulted ceilings, a commercial-style kitchen, four bedrooms and six bathrooms; also included is a 613-square-foot Honeymoon Cottage on 2 acres bordering Little Cottonwood Creek.
• The Johnson house, a 6,952-square-foot European-style mansion with four bedrooms, six bathrooms and an "expansive kitchen" on almost 4 acres overlooking Little Cottonwood Creek.
Get more information on property
O View the real estate listing, photos, a map and take a tour at http://lacailleutah.com.