The story of Homestead Preserve is richly intertwined with the history of the landmark resort from which it receives its name.  The Preserve is situated on land originally owned by the Virginia Hot Springs Company.  The company was formed in 1892 by J. Pierpont Morgan as part of an effort to preserve the mountain forest of Virginia’s Allegheny Highlands and to serve as a buffer between development to the east and the relative isolation of The Homestead resort. The Homestead sold the holdings of the Virginia Hot Springs Company, 11,500 acres, to Homestead Preserve in 2002, entwining the history of the two communities for years to come. 

The Homestead is located near seven natural mineral springs in Hot Springs. For thousands of years, ancient peoples visited these springs to benefit from their natural healing properties. Like the Native Americans before them, colonial explorers and surveyors were drawn to the springs in the early 1700s and were even visited by a young George Washington.

In 1764, Thomas Bullet and Andrew Lewis obtained a grant of 300 acres that included all seven of the mineral springs in Hot Springs and two years later founded the recreational property that would become known as The Homestead.  Since then, the healing waters at both Warm Springs and Hot Springs have been visited by thousands, including Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Mrs. Robert E. Lee.

It was the Ingalls family that was largely responsible for making The Homestead into the resort it is today.  Fay Ingalls, Jr., became president of the Virginia Hot Springs Company and manager of operations of The Homestead in 1922.  Fay Ingalls’ grandfather, Melvin Ingalls of Cincinnati, was one of several executives of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad who invested in The Homestead and surrounding mountain acreage in the 1890s, developing the Virginia Hot Springs Company, which ultimately brought the railroad to Warm Springs.

The Ingalls’ legacy lives on to this day with the sporting lifestyle of Bath County and The Homestead that Fay and his wife, Rachel, so enjoyed.  The guest list at the hotel has included a wide array of illustrious Americans, including John D. Rockefeller, John Astor, Harvey Firestone, Andrew Carnegie, and Henry Ford.

The Homestead