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Luxury homes to be built on site of 1880s resort
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White Sulphur Springs resort was built in the 1880s. After the hotel closed, it was used as a chicken house.
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Published: June 15, 2008
MOUNT AIRY
As work begins on White Sulphur Springs, a 145-acre luxury residential development north of Mount Airy, developer Burke Robertson is banking on the location and history of the former resort famous for its curative waters.
"What we're selling here is a lifestyle," Robertson said during a recent hike to one of 92 home sites that are a mile north of the city limits.
The community will include arts-and-crafts-design houses valued at between $500,000 and $1 million, along with a new spring house, a pavilion and a 28-room inn.
Construction is scheduled to begin this year on three houses in the development -- two speculative and another for a Mount Airy businessman.
The development is being built at a time when the housing market across North Carolina is leveling off. But Julie Woodson, a spokeswoman for the N.C. Association of Realtors, said that the luxury market has yet to feel the slump.
"People who have secure, high-paying jobs have been mostly insulated from the slower economy," she said. "Interest rates are low, and those people who are able to afford luxury homes or higher-priced homes are willing to make that investment now."
Grover Shugart, a home builder in Winston-Salem, said he has been through recessions and slowdowns in the economy since 1967.
This time is different because of interest rates, he said.
"Most of the time if you see a downturn in the housing market it's because of high interest. If people were going to buy, they had to move down a price range," Shugart said. "The way it is now, that upper-end market, if they want something, rates are about as good as they've ever been. The ones who can afford it, it couldn't be a better time."
Robertson said he is marketing his development to baby boomers looking for a small town and a return "to an era of rejuvenation, regrouping, reconnecting and relaxing."
The development is on the old hotel site of White Sulphur Springs. The hotel's heyday was the early part of the 20th century. It was eventually converted to a chicken house after it closed, and a fire destroyed it in 1955.
The new residential White Sulphur Springs will have a restaurant and a horse stable, in addition to the other amenities. In addition to the 92 home sites, there are also plans for the construction of town houses and an intricate system of greenways.
Robertson said he wants to preserve as much of the wooded site as possible. Plans include a seven-acre meadow and two small mountains.
The old resort was built in the 1880s and had a reputation as a "fine summer resort."
During its peak, visitors would ride to Mount Airy by train and enjoy the cooler weather and participate in social activities.
County officials said that the resort inspired some early visitors to move their factories and families to Mount Airy.
But the Depression brought fewer visitors, and the hotel soon closed.
The building burned in January 1955.
Ivan Richard, a local resident, bought the property in 1957, and he built a home there in 1978. He lived there until he died in 2004. Robertson bought the property from Richard's estate that same year and began envisioning the return of the resort.
It could be part of the answer for Mount Airy as it and surrounding communities watch traditional economies decline.
Mount Airy needs to hinge its future on more than the tour buses that stop for pork-chop sandwiches on Main Street, Robertson said. People moving into his development will buy cars, appliances and furniture. And they will bring their education and backgrounds to the community.
"My theory is we need to move Mayberry to the next level,'' Robertson said. "My definition of Mayberry is small town life, community and friendliness."
■ Sherry Youngquist can be reached in Mount Airy at 336-789-9338 or at syoungquist@wsjournal.com.
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