The Homestead (Hot Springs, Virginia)
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The Homestead
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Front view of the Homestead
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| Location: | Hot Springs, Virginia |
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| Coordinates: | 37°39′43.70″N 79°49′46.72″W / 37.6621389°N 79.8296444°WCoordinates: 37°39′43.70″N 79°49′46.72″W / 37.6621389°N 79.8296444°W |
| Built: | 1892 |
| Architect: | Multiple |
| Architectural style: | Queen Anne, Greek Revival, Colonial Revival |
| Governing body: | Private |
| NRHP Reference#: | 84003494 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP: | May 3, 1984[1] |
| Designated NHL: | July 17, 1991[2] |
The Homestead is a luxury resort in Hot Springs, Virginia, in the middle of the Allegheny Mountains. The area has the largest hot springs in the state, and the resort is also known for its championship golf courses, which have hosted several national tournaments. The resort also includes an alpine ski resort; founded in 1959, it is the oldest in Virginia. The resort has been designated a National Historic Landmark; it has a history extending nearly two and a half centuries.
History
In 1766, Thomas Bullitt built a lodge on the site, which is considered the founding of The Homestead. It has hosted vacationers ever since, including twenty-two U.S. presidents. The modern resort dates from 1888-1892, when a group of investors headed by J. P. Morgan bought the business and started rebuilding it from the ground up. The original hotel buildings burned down in 1901, and the main Homestead hotel was constructed afterwards. Many American Presidents and influential people were Homestead guests, along with such notables as cartoonist Carl E. Schultze of Foxy Grandpa fame.
From December 1941 until June 1942, following the United States' entry into World War II, the Homestead served as a high-end internment camp for 785 Japanese diplomats and their families until they could be exchanged through neutral channels for their American counterparts.[3][4] The diplomats were later transferred to the Greenbrier Hotel in West Virginia.[5]
In 1993, The Homestead was purchased by Club Resorts, the same company which owned the Pinehurst Resort. In 2006 Club Resorts and its parent company ClubCorp, Inc. were acquired by a private-equity group led by KSL Capital Partners, LLC. KSL Resorts assumed management of The Homestead at this time.
It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1991.
Golf
The Homestead features two golf courses. The club is sometimes referred to as Virginia Hot Springs Golf & Tennis Club.
The Old Course started as a six-hole layout in 1892, and the first tee is the oldest in continuous use in the United States.[6] It was expanded to 18 holes by 1901, and Donald Ross redesigned it in 1913. The course has been modified at various times since, and the current course has six par 5s and six par 3s, a somewhat unusual layout.
The Cascades Course is the most famous of the three, and is usually ranked among the top 100 U.S. courses by both Golf Digest and GOLF Magazine. The Cascades is the course used when hosting national tournaments, including seven United States Golf Association championships. It was designed by William S. Flynn (who was also a main architect for Shinnecock Hills), and opened in 1923.
Famed PGA Tour champion Sam Snead lived in or near Hot Springs all of his life, and served for decades as the Homestead's golf pro. One of the Homestead's restaurants, Sam Snead's Tavern, contains many memorabilia related to his career.
Tournaments
- 1928 U.S. Women's Amateur, won by Glenna Collett
- 1932 National Intercollegiate Championship, won by Yale (team) and John Fischer (individual)
- 1966 Curtis Cup, won by the United States over Great Britain & Ireland 13-5
- 1967 U.S. Women's Open, won by Catherine Lacoste
- 1980 U.S. Senior Amateur, won by William C. Campbell
- 1988 U.S. Amateur, won by Eric Meeks
- 1994 U.S. Women's Amateur, won by Wendy Ward
- 1995 Merrill Lynch Shoot-Out Championship (Senior PGA Tour)
- 1996 Merrill Lynch Shoot-Out Championship (Senior PGA Tour)
- 2000 U.S. Mid-Amateur, won by Greg Puga
- 2004 NCAA Division I Men's Championship, won by California (team) and Ryan Moore (UNLV)(individual)
- 2009 USGA Senior Women's Amateur Championship
Ski resort
The ski area at The Homestead was opened in 1959;[7] it is the oldest ski resort in Virginia, and the second-oldest continuously operating alpine ski resort in the Southern United States (after Wisp Resort).
The resort's northwest-facing slope is serviced by five lifts, including a double chairlift which accesses the intermediate and advanced terrain at the top of the hill, and four surface lifts which serve the beginner terrain at the bottom. The chairlift has a mid-mountain drop-off station which accesses intermediate terrain. The resort offers a half-pipe and a terrain park for skiers and snowboarders, and a variety of other winter activities including snow tubing, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, ice skating, and snowmobile tours.
Ice skating rink
In 2008, The Homestead built a 30 X 20 foot ice skating rink in time for the 2008-2009 winter season. It is located on the north slope of the property, next to the outdoor restaurant and gift shop. A small festival of lights surrounds the rink, and an outdoor fire with piped-in Christmas music completes the scene.
Statistics
Elevation
- Summit Elevation: 3,200 ft (980 m)
- Base Elevation: 2,500 ft (760 m)
- Vertical Rise: 700 feet (210 m)
Terrain
- Skiable area: 45 acres (0.18 km2)
- Runs: 10 total
- 30% beginner
- 30% intermediate
- 40% advanced
- Longest run: 4,200 feet (1,300 m)
- Annual snowfall: 50 inches (1.3 m)
Resort capacity
March 2009 shooting
On March 21, 2009 two resort employees were shot and killed in the hotel kitchen;[8] the community of Hot Springs was briefly locked down under code red procedures as a security precaution.[9] Authorities identified fellow employee Beacher Hackney as a suspect in the killings.[10] The slayings were the first homicides in Bath County since 1983.[11] As of April 2012, Hackney was still at large—some speculate that he may have fled to the expansive nearby forest.[12]
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2007-01-23.
- ^ "Homestead, The". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved 2008-06-26.
- ^ "The Homestead: A Great Hotel Entertains Jap Diplomats as a Patriotic Duty," Life Magazine, 1942-02-16, at p. 68.
- ^ "World War II Detention of Diplomats & Families". Montreat History Spotlight. Presbyterian Heritage Center at Montreat. 2010. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
- ^ Stewart, William H. (2012). "Diplomats, Disputes & Deceit World War II's First Exchange of Enemy Diplomats". Saipan Stewart. NCC Consulting. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
- ^ http://www.vsga.org/article.asp?ID=137
- ^ Phillips, John (2001). Ski and Snowboard America - Mid-Atlantic: The Complete Guide to Downhill Skiing, Snowboarding, Cross Country Skiing, Snow Tubing, and More Throughout the Mid-Atlantic Region. Guilford, Connecticut: Globe Pequot Press. p. 178. ISBN 978-0-7627-0845-1.
- ^ "2 Workers Shot to Death at a Virginia Resort". The New York Times. 2009-03-22. Retrieved 2009-03-23.
- ^ "News Release". Bath Co. Sheriff's Office. 2009-03-21. Retrieved 2009-03-23.
- ^ "Search continues for Bath County shooter". www.wdbj7.com. 2009-03-23. Retrieved 2009-03-23.
- ^ Kunkle, Frederick (2009-03-23). "Man Sought in Slayings of Homestead Resort Supervisors in Bath County, Virginia". The Washington Post. p. B01. Retrieved 2009-03-23.
- ^ Mitchell, Lynn R. (23 April 2012). "Three years later … where is the Homestead Resort murderer?". Bearing Drift. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: The Homestead (Hot Springs, Virginia) |
- Official site
- Detailed look at the Cascades Course
- "Taking the Waters: Hot Springs." Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, University of Virginia
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