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A
blend of sophistication and country charm, hot springs is an eclectic
entry point to
Virginia
�s
Allegheny Mountains
.
As young people, we couldn�t wait to
get out,� says Hot Springs resident and Cooperative Living columnist
Margo Oxendine, of her beloved home in the Allegheny Highlands. Oxendine
grew up here and says her experience mirrors that of many locals. �Many
of us went away, made our way in the world, and have come back here to
live again,� she says. �The initial draw is often family, but also the
idyllic surroundings we came of age in.�
|
New
sidewalks and streetlights are part of recent improvements to the
downtown area of Hot Springs. |
Idyllic is perhaps an appropriate word
to describe the small community of
Hot Springs
, which is nestled alongside The Homestead, a landmark resort that has
called
Bath
County
home since 1766. In part because of the presence of The Homestead and its
diverse guest list, which has included heads of state and famous
capitalists,
Hot Springs
exhibits a level of refinement that would normally be rare in such an
isolated community, situated as it is some 60 miles west of the
Shenandoah Valley
. �It�s a diverse and fluid community,� notes Charles Garratt, a
15-year resident of the area and currently a staff writer with The
Bath-Highland Recorder. He credits the constant flow of tourists and
seasonal residents as an advantage to this small town, creating a culture
of multi-generational families alongside an influx of new blood.
But that mix of old and new isn�t
always well-received. Percy Nowlin, who represents the district
encompassing
Hot Springs
on the Bath County Board of Supervisors, says, �I see some residents
being overly concerned with the issue of outsiders versus people who have
always been here.� He says some of his constituents are concerned that
the increasing flow of new and seasonal residents will gradually erode the
small-town, close-knit atmosphere of
Hot Springs
. But Nowlin himself disagrees with that assessment, noting, �I don�t
think we�ll have any rapid change here. There just aren�t that many
jobs available close by.�
Hot Springs
� largest employer, not surprisingly, is The Homestead, which is staffed
by more than 1,000, many of them residents of
Bath
County
. The resort�s new Vice President and General Manager Sean Maddock, who
recently moved to Hot Springs from Scottsdale, Arizona, says he believes
the level of service guests experience at the hotel is directly related to
the natural hospitality and caring the local residents already exhibit for
one another. �The
Homestead
wouldn�t be what it is without the people who work here,� Maddock
says.
|
The
Homestead has been drawing visitors to Hot Springs for well over
two centuries. Photo courtesy of The Homestead. |
And the staff members of The Homestead
exhibit tremendous loyalty to the historic resort, many having worked
there for decades, some from families that have been employed at the
resort for generations. Homestead Director of Golf Don Ryder first began
working at the resort in 1965, when he was 18 years old, starting out at
the now-defunct Homestead Garage, which garaged automobiles for hotel
guests. He left the community for a few years, beginning in 1969, then
came back to work at the resort again in 1973. He�s been there ever
since. �The most exciting thing for me is how I got where I am,�
explains Ryder. �I started as a doorman in �73. There is always
opportunity for the people of
Hot Springs
at The Homestead if you do your job and are good to people.�
Ryder, who has lived in
Hot Springs
all his life, says the community has changed very little over the years.
�It�s a very safe community,� he says. �People look out for each
other. If you have a flat tire, you won�t ever have to change it by
yourself.� An avid golfer, Ryder says he has had the opportunity to golf
with vice presidents and sports celebrities like
Bath
County
native Sam Snead. He adds that most of his fellow employees grew up in the
area just like he did.
�Everybody has a reason for working
and working hard,� says Ryder. �Mine is because there�s so much
history here in my family and my wife�s family.� His wife�s
grandfather worked at the resort for 65 years.
developer
drawn to THE AREA
That kind of history is part of what
drew nationally recognized developer Celebra�tion
Associates, whose principals worked on the award-winning community of
Celebra�tion,
Florida
, to locate a new conservation-oriented community in
Bath
County
known as Home�stead
Preserve. After purchasing 11,500 acres from the Virginia Hot Springs
Company in 2002, Celebration Associates sold 9,250 of those acres to The
Nature Conservancy (which now holds that acreage in conservation for
perpetuity as the Warm Springs Mountain Preserve) and then placed another
935 acres in permanent conservation easement with the Virginia Outdoors
Foundation. The remaining 2,300 acres of Homestead Preserve will feature
no more than 450 homes, all built in architectural styles native to the
region in and around the villages of
Hot Springs
and Warm Springs to the north.
|
Don
Killoren. Photo courtesy of Homestead Preserve. |
Homestead Preserve Co-General Mana�ger Don Killoren says the company was
first drawn to the area by the presence of The Homestead, but then became
enthralled with �the amount of undeveloped and unspoiled property as
well as the amount of national forest� (89 percent of Bath County
remains covered in forest). Killoren,
who with his wife Ellen, is now a full-time resident of
Hot Springs
, says that he has been impressed with the local residents� attention to
and appreciation of their history. �People have been coming here on
vacation for 200 years,� he explains. To build a second-home community
like Homestead Preserve in a place with such a unique draw, both in terms
of its natural beauty and its resort amenities, seemed like an ideal plan.
Killoren admits that area residents
were at first skeptical of the new development, but he feels the
relationship Homestead Preserve has with the local community now is a good
one. �We�ve proven ourselves and done what we said we would do,� he
notes. Homestead Preserve also employs 70 people, many of them local, and
has brought millions of dollars in economic benefit to the area with its
road building and home construction efforts. �On any one day, we have
100 to 200 people working on homes here,� Killoren says.
But even with new opportunities for
economic growth, Nowlin feels that
Hot Springs
has lost a lot over the years in terms of providing good jobs for local
residents. He points out that Mead Westvaco in neighboring
Alleghany
County
has eliminated a lot of job opportunities because of advancing technology.
He worries that there just isn�t enough economic opportunity to keep
people employed locally. Nowlin is hopeful that Homestead Preserve will
continue to help the community grow, however, without taxing the local
government. �One of the greatest expenses of development,� he points
out, �is the increase in school costs. But with Home�stead
Preserve, we don�t have the economic crush because most of the residents
are seasonal and retirees.�
One of Homestead Preserve�s few
full-time residents happens to be Killoren, who just finished building a
new home in the community. He has fallen in love with
Hot Springs
and the surrounding mountains. �Ellen and I are both empty nesters, and
we thought moving to the mountains at this time was a good idea,� he
explains. �I like getting away from the city. In
Charlotte
, I had to lock my car in my own driveway. I don�t have to do that
here.�
natives
weigh in
|
Iris
Leary |
Iris Leary works at The Forest Place
Gift Shop and
Visitor
Center
on
Main Street
and has lived in the community all her life. She knows exactly what
Killoren is talking about. �We don�t have the crime,� she says.
�You feel safer here. We don�t lock our doors, and there�s no hustle
and bustle.�
In fact, there�s probably less
hustle and bustle in
Hot Springs
today than there was years ago. Leary says downtown doesn�t have all the
offerings it once did, and now people have to go to Wal-Mart in Covington
to get a lot of the everyday items of life. Oxendine agrees: �
Hot Springs
was more vibrant in my childhood days. There was a soda fountain at the
drug store, a movie theater, and shops and stores that provided the basic
necessities of life.� Oxendine waxes nostalgic about what has been lost,
saying, �Who decided we no longer needed a movie theater and soda
fountain? I wish those things would come back.�
|
Charles
Garratt. Photo by Amanda Isley, The Recorder |
Garratt says he has to agree, even
though he has seen
Hot Springs
benefit from positive physical changes in recent years like new sidewalks,
streetlights, and planters downtown. �There�s still a lot of potential
in
Hot Springs
,� he says. �There�s more room here for retail. I�d like to see
Hot Springs
change into more of a thriving arts community. There�s room for some�thing
like that here.�
Gradual
Change
And gradually,
Hot Springs
is taking on a new feel. Melinda Nichols, office manager for the Bath
County Chamber of Com�merce,
which is located on
Main Street
, points out that
Hot Springs
now has art galleries and even a wine shop. �There�s more culture than
there used to be,� she notes.
The visitation to the area is pretty
eclectic as well. Nichols says she sees visitors from all over, including
England
and
France
, even
Austria
. �Often they come to do genealogical research, but people are also
looking for some place to go that is out of the way.� She says about
7,000 people a year stop by the Chamber of Commerce visitor center. She
thinks
Hot Springs
� biggest draw, apart from The Homestead, is its outdoor recreation,
including hunting, fishing, camping, and hiking. �You can drive two
miles out of town and see nothing but trees,� she remarks.
Garratt agrees, noting that the view
from his newspaper office window is hard to match. �It�s just
fantastically beautiful here,� he says. �Most of what I see when I
look out the window is trees and mountains. Living here really changes
your perspective on things.�
