The American Glamping Association just published the story of how Monument Glamping started, and honestly, it’s a good reminder of how far this thing has come from where it began.
Back in 2004, long before Monument Glamping existed, I bought my first canvas tent from Davis Tent for annual hunting trips. What stuck with me wasn’t just the tent — it was the people. I met one of the Davis Tent patriarchs in person and walked away impressed by how much he knew about his own product and how much the family loved what they built. That tent went home with me, got used a handful of times, and then sat rolled up in storage for the next fifteen years.
In 2019, Wendy and I were mid-remodel on our bedroom and faced a simple choice: sleep in the living room for a month, or figure out something else. We pulled that old Davis tent out of storage and pitched it in the backyard instead. We loved it enough that when the remodel wrapped, we asked an obvious question: what if we listed it on Airbnb? That single tent booked out the rest of the summer and brought in $2,400 — money we hadn’t planned on, from a tent that had spent most of its life in storage.
The next year we added a second, used Davis tent. That season brought in $18,000. The year after, we bought our third — this one new — and revenue climbed to $90,000. Growth wasn’t all smooth. We ran into real friction with the county, the building department, and the health department along the way. Instead of backing off, we dug into land-use regulations, permitting requirements, and building codes until we had a fully permitted operation — one that’s still expanding today.
Monument Glamping now includes five Davis canvas tents and three luxury container homes, with permits in hand for four more accommodations. We’re also underway on a second family development, with permits for 24 units, on our son’s neighboring property.
Davis Tent has been part of this from the very first purchase in 2004 to the tents we’re pitching today. When people ask what to look for in a manufacturer, my answer is simple: antiquity. Davis has been around for decades, and the family is still personally involved — I still talk with Chris Davis every now and then. That kind of relationship matters more than any spec sheet.
The traditional safari tent — what Davis calls the Outfitters Tent — is still the design that people picture when they imagine luxury camping. Lots of styles have come and gone in this industry. That one has endured, and it’s the heart of what we offer at Monument Glamping: private-property glamping in Monument, Colorado, where you get your own space, your own deck, your own hot tub and fire pit, and nature without the campground chaos.
You can read the full AGA feature here: From One Hunting Tent to a Thriving Glamping Destination.
If you want to see what that one hunting tent turned into, check availability and book direct at MonumentGlamping.com. Just show up. We’ll handle the rest.
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