 CLOSE TO HOME
From élan October 2008:
Close to Home: Virginia’s Hunt and Wine Country Inns
Time to Slow Down
By Ruth A. Hill
Imagine the dancing light of a fireplace, an elegant dinner, a bottle of local wine and a night or two in a country inn. This vignette, paired with the quiet and rolling terrain outside, is balm for the soul, Hunt and Wine Country style. And it’s especially soothing in slow season. Take up residence at Middleburg’s Goodstone Inn & Estate or Hume’s Marriott Ranch–two of the Piedmont’s best-kept secrets–and it’ll be ever so easy to forget the nearby power plays of politics and business.
The local old guard and the fabulously wealthy have known this serene atmosphere for generations. Now it’s easier than ever to share it with them. Winter wine dinners, lower room rates and less competition for weekend bookings offer even more reasons to go.
Some guests blend the pampering with active pursuits such as hiking, biking and riding the hills. And of course, there are historic attractions as well with legends and lore dating to the colonial era. Mix it all up with a few local winery tours and tastings, some shopping and pub stops, and you’ll think twice about returning to reality.
When the Hunt Country touched the souls of a McLean couple over a decade ago, they purchased a 265-acre historic estate three miles outside Middleburg for a personal retreat. But preserving the property’s legacy and beauty as a country inn seemed like a better idea. So they’ve transformed Goodstone Inn & Estate into a sanctuary for dining, relaxing and sleeping within 17 unique accommodations–some totally private, others perfect to share with friends and family groups. If you have a horse, you may wish to bring it along since the estate stables equine guests and there’s plenty of room to ride.
The Carriage House is the centerpiece of the estate. Relax by the fire with your favorite beverage in the Great Room, then dine in Hilltoppers restaurant on chef Chris Carey’s three- and five-course prix fixe dinners of American cuisine with an international flair. Especially nice for the slow season, Hilltoppers offers monthly wine pairing dinners. The restaurant’s richly appointed wine cellar is the perfect private dining choice for about a dozen guests, who will relish the edible art and vino alongside a hunt mural by Leesburg artist Penny Hauffe.
The wings of the building were once reserved for the estate’s horse stalls (two for stallions) on the ground level, and the second-floor attic stored hay and grain. Only traces of the former occupants remain in the creatively appointed guest suites of today–a few obscure hoof marks can be spotted on the wood paneling, and water troughs now serve as planters. General Manager Brian Crook says The Hayloft, with its private redwood deck and vantage on the rolling hills, is the favorite of romantics in residence.
Downstairs choices include the Stallion and Mare suites. Three stone-and-wood cottages, each in its own private setting, dot the estate. The cottages have two to four bedrooms with private baths, large kitchens, sitting rooms with fireplaces, hammocks, patios or porches and décor styles that draw on French and American country décor. The Manor House is a more formal choice, with grand views of the countryside and the elegance of a 19th-century hand-painted wall mural featuring American historical events. Satellite TV, phones, Internet access and CD players are in place everywhere for those who can’t tear away from technology.
Additional information about Goodstone’s quintessential Hunt Country slowdown is available at www.goodstone.com or 540-687-4645. The estate is a member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World.
 Deeper into the Piedmont hills near the village of Hume, you can enjoy the same country escape J. Willard Marriott Sr. and his wife Alice relished for years. A couple of decades after they launched their D.C.-based international business empire with an A&W Root Beer stand during the summer of 1927, the Marriotts assembled 4,200 acres in Hunt Country for farming and personal retreat. The love of livestock and wide open spaces were embedded in Marriott’s soul, because he had grown up on a sheep ranch in Utah. The mountains aren’t as high, but Marriott frequently said his Virginia acreage reminded him of Rocky Mountain ranges where he spent his early life.
Marriott entertained heads of states and other notables (Roy Rogers was a regular) at his private Piedmont enclave–formerly known as Fairfield Farm–until his death in 1985. Members of the Marriott family continue to visit occasionally, and it’s the scene for the annual Marriott corporate picnic and other events for up to 2,000 people.
Marriott Ranch serves individual leisure travelers, business groups, weddings and other special events. In the slow season, the ranch’s executive chef works with local winemakers to create menus for the winter winemaker dinner series in the James Marshall Manor House. Private wine dinners also may be arranged for groups of eight and more.
The ranch’s overnight accommodations include four rooms in the B&B-style Manor House that dates to 1814. Its high ceilings and windows present expansive views of the surrounding hills and knolls. The Carriage House has three rooms preferred by those who want a more Marriott-style sleepover, while the Baroness Cottage, originally an early 1800s cabin, has a large eat-in kitchen and a more rustic feel.
Day visitors show up for horseback riding by the hour, while others opt for overnight excursions, breakfast, river, mountain or twilight rides as well as three-day adventures. Four-wheelers offer a thrilling way to explore the ranch’s vistas, rugged terrain and trails that cross pastures and wind through meandering streams.
For details on slow season adventures and elegant wine dinners at Marriott Ranch, visit www.marriottranch.com, or telephone 540-364-2627. |
|
