By Deborah Huso
Photography by Douglas Miller
Garth Newel has long been known for its elegant chamber music concerts and recently for hosting the annual Virginia Blues & Jazz Festival. Today, this choice music venue in the Alleghany Highlands is also an excellent spot for dinner, with entrees that complement the concerts. And a setting in harmony with unforgettable evenings.
Nestled just south of the tiny village of Warm Springs in Virginia’s remote Alleghenies, Garth Newel Music Center has slowly won a reputation as one of the state’s premier spots for the enjoyment of chamber music.
While first-class music has long been a given here, so, more quietly, has dining.
“It makes sense that our concerts are usually combined with a meal,” explains Garth Newel Executive Director Jacob Yarrow. “Hundreds of years ago, when chamber music was part of people’s daily lives, it was social music. You’d have people over to play, eat and drink. The way we do it here gets back to those roots.”
More About Garth Newel
What to See: Galleries, Golf and Taking the Waters
No visit to Warm Springs would be complete without a soak in the springs that gave this mountain village its name. The Homestead resort in nearby Hot Springs owns the ancient pools at Warm Springs, now known fondly as the Jefferson Pools, though they have been used by man for at least 9,000 years.
The first bathhouse at Warm Springs was built In 1761, and still stands today, sloping and rickety with age and dampness, serving men who come to take the waters.
The women’s bathhouse, only steps away, was built in 1836.
Today the landmark Homestead resort, only five miles south of the Jefferson Pools, often eclipses the thermal waters at Warm Springs, but the pools are still a must-do here, as is some strolling through local art galleries, a round of golf on some of the nation’s top-rated courses and a retreat to The Homestead Spa.
When you’ve finished wining and dining at Garth Newel, be sure to tour the rest of these old resort villages:
• Take a soothing soak in the Jefferson Pools, which hold steady at 98 degrees Fahrenheit, with a flow rate of 1,200 gallons per minute.
• Play a round of golf on one of The Homestead’s three top-rated courses. The Old Course, completed in 1892, has the oldest continuously used first tee in the U.S.
• Schedule a massage and soothing wrap at The Homestead Spa.
• Check out the many art and antique galleries in Warm Springs and Hot Springs, including the Warm Springs Gallery, The Gallery at Seven Oaks, William M. Grover Galleries, Jackson River Gallery, and Old Ashwood School Antiques.
• Visit the museum at the Bath County Historical Society on Courthouse Hill in Warm Springs.
• Take a scenic hike through The Nature Conservancy’s Warm Springs Mountain Preserve. A relatively short hike along the ridgeline is accessible at the Warm Springs Overlook on Route 39, just east of Warm Springs.
Where to Stay
Garth Newel offers lodging on site at its 1924 Manor House or in Christine’s Cottage, which allows concert-goers the opportunity to spend an entire weekend on the rolling grounds of this 114-acre property. Availability is limited. No worries – there are endless options for overnight stays, ranging from luxurious to cozy.
The Homestead offers 438 guest rooms, from standard bedrooms to luxurious tower suites. And guests at the resort can enjoy all the amenities, from horseback riding to skeet shooting, as well as five dining choices, from the old Southern elegance of the main dining room to the casual atmosphere of Sam Snead’s Tavern.
The Inn at Gristmill Square in Warm Springs offers cozy, historic accommodations alongside a babbling brook and dinner, as well as Sunday brunch, is available at the inn’s Waterwheel Restaurant, located in a 19th-century gristmill that is registered a Virginia Historic Landmark.
For more information on area lodging, dining, and activities, visit www.discoverbath.com or call 800-628-8092.
About Garth Newel:
Founded more than three decades ago by Christine Herter Kendall and former Rowe String Quartet musicians Luca and Arlene Di Cecco, Garth Newel, which means “new hearth” in Welsh, was originally a country estate. Today, the property serves as home to three resident musicians. The group plays chamber music concerts throughout the year in a refurbished horse barn in meadowland below Warm Springs Mountain. |
Late Fall Schedule:
Czech, Please!
November 27 and 28, 2008
Table for Two! November 29, 2008
– DH
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