Before buying and restoring the Commodore Hotel Linden hotel in 2007, Michael and Kathy Dumont, lived and worked in Rhode Island. 

Michael Dumont is originally from Rhode Island, and spent his professional career as a real estate developer and mortgage company owner in RI, Massachusetts and Florida. Kathy worked for several years as a Mortgage Loan Officer during the real estate boom of the late 1990s-early 2000s.  Prior to that, her experience included customer service and sales positions: at a mailing-list management firm, where she handled part of the Time-Warner account, retail, and Fidelity Investments.

In 2003, Michael and Kathy purchased a farm in Linden, Tennessee as a second home and family retreat. Michael continued his development passion with the restoration of the historic, 1800s log cabin and farmhouse on the Tennessee property. He then rescued the landmark hotel building in the center of the decaying downtown area and he and Kathy reopened it as the Commodore Hotel. Through this venture, Michael started meeting with and discussing local economic development with the local mayors and concerned citizens when local unemployment rates reached 27%. These discussions led to the formation of VisionPerry in 2009.

Michael served as Executive Director of VisionPerry, which became an innovative community development organization receiving national attention for creative rural development strategies. The program received regional best practice awards and focused on the creation hundreds of new jobs in rural areas with above average salaries in digital information sector. Michael has presented the successes of the organization at numerous conferences including, the Governor’s Conference on Economic Development, National Historic Preservation Trust, The Tennessee Governors Conference on Tourism, The South East Regional Economic Development Council Conference, The Delta Regional Authority Broadband Summit, TVA Economic Development Conference, TN Economic Development Council Conference, and the East Tennessee Preservation Alliance Conference. In 2017 Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam appointed Michael to serve as a Commissioner on the Tennessee Arts Commission.

After growing up in small Sterling, Illinois, Kathy moved to Connecticut, where she (née Wolfe) finished high school.  Scholarships and her nearby sister took her to Dallas’ Southern Methodist University, where Toay (as she was known by her classmates – her middle name) achieved a Bachelors of Business Administration in Marketing, and a Minor in Music: Vocal Performance and Percussion.

Kathy credits her Fidelity Investments experience with putting her on her career path: “I discovered, while working at Fidelity, that my natural talent was helping people in a friendly, positive, and patient way.  I never would have thought that was a marketable skill.”

Besides being the operating partner  of the Commodore Hotel, Kathy’s  other passion  is the Dumont’s home on  a 400 acre farm where she raises Australian Shepherd dogs, sheep, chickens, and a few rescue horses. She is also known for her culinary skills on farm with a love for outdoor open fire cooking.

Michael and his wife Kathy have since become full time Perry County residents and own and operate the Commodore Hotel Linden, a vintage 1939 hotel they lovingly restored. The venue has received statewide recognition as a unique venue complete with fine dining and quality live music. The Dumont’s also bought and restored the oldest commercial building in downtown Linden - the original bank building -which had been boarded up since 1965. In 2015 the Dumont’s purchased and restored two other historic properties in Downtown Linden adding additional rooms to the hotel’s footprint. Through the efforts of the Dumont’s and other visionary local merchants, the Linden downtown area is becoming transformed into a quaint, nostalgic downtown with interesting shops that is attracting tourists daily.

Recently the Dumont’s have expanded their efforts to the neighboring town of Clifton, TN. They have recently opened the Commodore Inn at Clifton, a meticulously restored 1892 Victorian Bed and Breakfast.