Rediscovering America_ Exploring the Small Towns of Virginia & Maryland - Bill Burnham [28]
TIP: On the Homestead grounds is the Shrine of the Sacred Heart Catholic church. Mass is held at 5 pm on Saturday and at 9 am Sunday.
If a quiet country cottage is more your speed, Hickory Cottage is two miles north of Hot Springs in a secluded, wooded setting, sleeping up to eight people (tel. 540-839-2645, $$). King’s Victorian Inn offers rooms in the main 1899 house, as well as two cottages. Inside are antiques and Oriental carpets, outside, rockers sit on a verandah that wraps around the house. Full breakfast is served in the formal dining room. (tel. 540-839-3134, $$)
The Anderson Cottage Bed & Breakfast is in the part of Warm Springs known as Germantown until World War I. The original four rooms made of logs were an 18th-century tavern. Additions were made over the years, and the building has served as a doctor’s residence, girls’ school, inn and family vacation home. It’s been in the same family since the 1870s, and the library has several thousand books. The separate 1820 brick kitchen is now a guest cottage, where pets can stay, no extra charge. (Old Germantown Road, tel. 540-839-2975, $$)
The Inn at Grist Mill Square in Warm Springs is a quaint complex of restored buildings centered around the 1900 mill-turned-restaurant. The inn has 17 guest rooms and suites, all with private baths, cable TV, refrigerators, and private phone lines. Continental breakfast is served in your room, and an option is a package plan that includes a five-course dinner. There’s an outdoor pool and tennis courts. The inn was created in 1972, using five 19th-century buildings, including an old blacksmith shop, a hardware store and two homes, one belonging to the miller. Today the buildings house the Warm Spirit Spa (tel. 540-839-6600, $$) and the Country Store, in addition to guest rooms. (Route 619, tel. 540-839-2231, www.gristmillsquare.com, $$)
Meadow Lane Lodge sits on 1,600 acres of forest, meadows and streams, with fly-fishing, 20 miles of hiking and mountain biking trails. A reading room is located in a former slave cabin that was once a part of Fort Dinwiddie in 1805. The barns and lodge were built in 1920 by Allan Hirsh, whose descendants still operate the inn’s 14 guest rooms, suites and cottages. Some have fireplaces and porches, and all have private baths. A full country breakfast is served. The Lodge also owns the Francisco Cottage in the village. Horses can be stalled for $20/night. (Route 1, tel. 540-839-5959, www.meadowlanelodge.com, $$)
Pet-friendly: In Hot Springs, the Vine Cottage Inn is a casual country house, open since 1905, that takes pets in certain rooms with a $15 charge. Private baths, breakfast, and dinner by pre-arrangement. Located on Route 220, one block south of the Homestead. (tel. 800-410-9755, www.vinecottageinn.com, $$)
Bonnie Brae Guest Cottage B&B is two miles south of Hot Springs on a private road, accommodating up to four people and pets at no extra charge. (tel. 540-839-6466, $$)
Pet-friendly: In Warm Springs, Three Hills is an Italianate mansion built by Mary Johnston, a novelist and feminist in the early 20th century. It’s now a B&B with a coffee shop and several two-room suites. Pets are accepted with a $5 charge. (tel. 888-23HILLS, www.3hills.com, $$)
The wrap-around porches of Warm Springs Inn overlook the Jefferson Baths across Route 220. A portion of the house is the 1803 Bath County courthouse and the old jail. Private baths, air conditioning, phones and cable TV. Breakfast and dinner are served in the Courtroom Restaurant (open only in the summer season), cocktails are served in the lounge, and picnic lunches can be ordered. Pets are welcome with a $10 fee (tel. 540-839-5351, $). RoseLoe Motel, one mile south of Warm Springs, takes small pets with a $10 charge per stay. Some rooms have kitchenettes. (tel. 540-839-5373, $)
MORE OPTIONS FOR PETS: Philpot’s Pampered Pooches is located in Carloover, Virg., five miles south of The Homestead