Park Lane, Hot Springs, Virginia
The Omni Homestead Hotel in Hot Springs, Virginia is notoriously hard to find. Their own website warns GPS ROUTING IS NOT RECOMMENDED and suggests that you call them for assistance in getting there. There are youtube videos and even a Reddit group dedicated just to giving directions to it.
It's all to this house's benefit.
It might otherwise go unnoticed among the cluster of historic Homestead houses, its giant Veteran's Day flag hanging over the garage notwithstanding.
In fact, you might notice it two or three times as you keep circling toward your destination.
It's definitely worth that second or third look. Built in 1895, this Federal style house is as much of an historic treasure as the old hotel.
The bricks used in its construction were fired on site -- and make up its insides as well as the outside. The house is brick-framed instead of wood-framed.
Many of the available furnishings were formerly property of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
The kitchen's marble vent hood hails from Italy and clocks in at 1,500 pounds.
The bathroom and sunroom are slightly less decorative and historic, and cozy instead.
Upstairs are five bedrooms and two more bathrooms. The house is 5,000 square feet.
The master bedroom mantel was salvaged from the Queen's University Belfast.
The bedroom's balcony and corbels were apparently once part of the U.S. Capitol Building.
The remaining bedroom spaces are on the third floor.
This house offers a few flexible spaces for entertaining...and I've got plans for them all.
If it were mine, the games would move elsewhere and this room would become a lounge hideaway:
This unused hallway...
would become a colorful library:
This utilitarian wine cellar would stop looking like a detention center...
and instead offer a space to belly up to the bar:
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I didn't forget about the games. They could get relocated in the old summer kitchen just off of the pickleball/basketball court...
Alternatively the games could be held in the garage.
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The garage is not only a blank canvas, but a fantastic seasonal signpost, whether you're driving past it to the hotel, or it's your ultimate destination.
The realtor calls the house "Scarlett's Burden" -- a tongue-in-cheek reference to former owner Scarlett Bunting. There are no details behind the name, but perhaps she was like another Scarlett who realized her beloved home was a bit of a money pit. I wanted to learn this Scarlett's story too, but when you google Scarlett Bunting, you get this:
