Tar Heel Travels
The Homestead
Becoming a Pinehurst Company resort has saved the famed landmark
By Bill F. Hensley
 Pat
Corso knew that Dallas-based ClubCorp had made a wise move when it
purchased The Homestead, one of America’s oldest and best known
resorts, in 1993. But he also knew it would take a lot of money and
tender loving care to restore the classic, once proud property to its
glory days. Founded in 1776, The Homestead has ranked with the
nation’s finest for most of its historic existence, entertaining the
likes of Washington, Jefferson and Lee and other presidents and
dignitaries. There were many ups and downs along the way, including
fires, wars, depressions and financial plights that would bend but not
break the resort’s deserved reputation for gracious, hospitable
living.
But funds for badly needed improvements in the 1980s were hard to come
by and the Ingalls family, the owners for more than a hundred years
and four generations, decided in 1993 to sell rather than see the
resort continue to slip.
Now, eight years and $75 million later, the resort is a shining
example of what can happen when a sensitive company with deep pockets
and a keen sense of duty where heritage and tradition are concerned
gets involved.
“We did it with Pinehurst,” Corso says, “and I knew we could do
it with The Homestead.”
Now operating as a Pinehurst Company Resort under Corso’s
leadership, The Homestead has regained the various stars and diamonds
from the various hotel-rating services.
“There was much work to be done throughout the property,” Corso
explains, “including remodeling more than 500 rooms, the public and
meeting space, the spa, and the three golf courses. The work was
costly, but it was worth every dime we spent.”
New this year is a spectacular 14,000-square-foot grand ballroom and
an adjacent pre-function room of 6,000 square feet that enable the
resort to host larger conventions. The facility can seat a thousand
guests for banquets — 1,200-theater style.
“With this extravagant new facility, and our other additions, we
feel that our meeting capabilities rank with the finest in the
world,” says Gary K. Rosenberg, president and CEO. The addition
gives The Homestead a total of 72,000 square feet of meeting space.
For nearly a hundred years, Tar Heel residents have flocked to the
popular resort that sits on 15,000 lush acres deep in the Allegheny
Mountains of western Virginia. They came for meetings and conventions,
and for relaxing vacations. Each year, numerous North Carolina
associations of doctors, lawyers, bankers and textile manufacturers
often alternated annual meeting between in-state resorts and such
places as The Homestead and the nearby Greenbrier Hotel. The
outward flow began to wane when the resort’s reputation began to
fade a decade ago.
“But that’s in the past,” says Corso, “and The Homestead’s
future has never been brighter.”
Few resorts can match the many things to do that The Homestead offers.
Guests choose from a variety of activities at the stately hostelry
(it’s a National Historic Landmark), including golf, tennis,
horseback riding, swimming in indoor and outdoor pools, bowling,
fishing, hiking, mountain biking, skiing and ice skating. The resort
was the Southern pioneer in skiing, first offering the winter sport in
1959.
In addition, the spa is world-renowned and dates to the mid-1700s. And
an on-site gun club has hosted annual shooting events — skeet, trap
and sporting clays — since 1933.
Combine elegant accommodations, fine dining, dancing, afternoon tea, a
full-service children’s program, in-house movies, lectures and other
entertainment, and satisfied guests are not hard to find.
If there is a focal point, it probably is golf and the three fine
courses that surround the resort. The legendary Sam Snead, a native
son, began his career as the host golf pro in 1934 and served for
decades. His many tournament victories and the resulting publicity
played a large factor in the resort’s rise to national prominence.
Now 89, he still lives on a farm not far from the great Cascades
course that ranks with the best anywhere.
Golf debuted at The Homestead in 1892 when the Old Course, a six-hole
layout, opened. Twelve holes were added in 1913, and its first tee has
been in constant use for 109 years. The Cascades was designed by
William Flynn and opened in 1923. During its reign, the course has
hosted a number of national championship events and achieved
international acclaim for its challenges and design. A third course,
the Lower Cascades, was added in 1967. A Robert Trent Jones creation,
its addition helped make the resort a golf mecca.
The Homestead is open all year and offers a number of packages.
For more information, call 1-800-838-1776 or visit www.thehomestead.com.
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