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Little Washington

What’s there to do in Washington, Virginia? If you ask a local, as I did one hot afternoon, he might tell you to sit on the corner and see if anyone famous gets out of the limos. If you’ve got the money, the Inn at Little Washington (see more information on page ###) is the real reason to come to this tiny village of just under 200 people, at the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Around Town

Just an hour and a half from DC, the inn has attracted all high-falutin’ folks from Hollywood and government. Movie stars Paul Newman and Barbra Streisand have lent their names and accolades to the inn’s brochure. Locals have spotted the likes of Alan Greenspan, Andrea Mitchell and Linda Carter stepping out of the limos. Their drivers park in front of the tiny post office waiting for their passengers, and sometimes grab a sandwich from the Country Café next door.

That said, there are plenty of other things to do – in town and around it. Many outlying farms are open for tours. There are several wineries nearby, and of course, all the recreation offered by the Blue Ridge Mountains.

For such a small town there’s an unusually eclectic and sophisticated array of art galleries, gold and silversmiths, boutiques and antiques stores housed in quaint old homes. There are not one, but two community theaters.

It’s safe to say all other business in town relies in some way on the Inn and its clientele. After all, no matter how luxurious the accommodations or pampering the service at the inn, guests have to get out and take in the air at some point. What they find is basically a country village, still two-by-five blocks just as George Washington laid them out, where upscale boutiques and artisans have set up shop. Watch them at work in their studios painting, making furniture and pottery. In others, pre-Columbian art, antiques and Tibetan rugs are displayed. There are a couple of bed & breakfast inns and an organic farm market that also sells gourmet cheese and fine wine.

From the outside, the Inn at Little Washington is a modest country inn, but the interior has been transformed into a lavishly decorated European-style hotel and restaurant. You can easily drop a cool grand on one night’s lodging and dinner, and it might take months to get a Saturday night reservation.

It’s a place where you may be greeted by a Dalmatian wearing a pearl necklace; a place Barbra Streisand called “extraordinary,” and Travel + Leisure the “Top Hotel in the World for Food.”

Reinhardt Lynch and chef Patrick O’Connell opened the Inn in 1977, decorating it with their art and antiques collections, and the help of a London stage designer. They themselves call it “utterly decadent in detail.” It’s five-star all the way, for both food and accommodations.

While there’s bound to be some local jealousy towards out-of-towners who’ve “bought half the town,” cooperation and good will between the Inn and the town is apparent. The proprietors installed a fountain and bench across the street for public use, have held tours of the Inn that benefit the neighborhood church, and they help support local farms by using their fresh herbs and produce on the menu.

The Inn has managed to blend in nicely with the character of the town and its country surroundings, where most locals refer to the neighboring valley as a holler and drive pickups instead of Mercedes. Just a few miles down the road, Ben Jones, who played Cooter in the Dukes of Hazzard television show, sells Moon Pies and RC Cola from Cooter’s Store (there’s even a replica of the General Lee on the front lawn). As a side note, Jones writes a weekly newspaper column and ran for the 7th congressional seat in the Virginia House of Representatives in 2002, challenging the incumbent to debate him in country stores, barbershops, beauty parlors, and corner drugstores.

The bulletin board in front of the post office serves as the visitor information center, with brochures on lodging and shops. It also serves as a reminder that this still is a trusting, small town