Grove Park Inn Resort And Spa
Grove Park Inn Resort And Spa
The Grove Park Inn is a historic resort hotel on the western-facing slope of Sunset Mountain within the Blue Ridge Mountains, in Asheville, North Carolina. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the hotel is an important example of the Arts and Crafts style. It also features a $44 million, 40,000 square foot, modern subterranean spa, which placed #13 worldwide in Travel & Leisure's World's Best Hotel Spas in 2008.
History
The Grove Park Inn was conceptualized by Edwin Wiley Grove (1850-1927) with the help of his son-in-law Fred Loring Seely (1871-1942). Seely was married to Evelyn Grove. She was from Grove's first marriage to Mary Louisa (Lou) Moore Grove. Grove owned Paris Medicine Company. Originally based in Paris, Tennessee., the firm was moved to St. Louis. Its primary money making product was Grove's Chill Tonic which was a tasty syrup elixir containing quinine. This formula would help tame the raging chills brought on by malaria. At one time the number of bottles of Chill Tonic outsold bottles of a famous brand of Cola. He believed the climate of Asheville, North Carolina would have health benefits and be the ideal location for a resort. His doctors sent him there to determine if the climate would help reduce or cure his bouts with extreme hiccups. The hiccups would last several weeks at a time.
E.W. Grove began to accumulate the land for the Inn and his Grove Park-Kimberely Avenue developments in 1910. He bought several farms and sloped areas all the way to the top of Sunset Mountain. Construction began in 1912 and was completed in an amazing 11 months and 27 days. This was accomplished by paying high wages to the dedicated workers. Circus tents were erected on the job site to house the workers. The Inn opened July 12th, 1913. The hotel was outfitted with furnishings from the Roycrofters of East Aurora, New York, one of the most important designers and manufacturers of Arts and Crafts furniture, metal work and other accessories. The hotel was built of rough granite stones and the expansive lobby is noted for its enormous granite fireplaces and expansive porch with its scenic overlook.
During World War II, the Inn was used first as an internment center for Axis diplomats. The diplomats and their staff were allowed guarded trips to town where they would purchase goods from the local merchants. This was a boon to the strapped local economy. The Inn was then used by the Navy as a rest and rehabilitation center for returning sailors. In 1944-45, the hotel was an Army Redistribution Station where soldiers rested and relaxed before being assigned to other duties. The Philippine Government functioned in exile from the Presidential Cottage on the grounds during the war.
The resort has been expanded over the years under the direction of the owners Mr. and Mrs. Sammons and continues to be a popular tourist attraction. Though pets are prohibited at the Inn, Mrs. Sammons would bring her dog in under cover in a baby carriage. Mrs. Sammons died in 2008.
The Grove Park Inn has accumulated a significant collection of Arts and Crafts decorative items and hosts an important Arts and Crafts conference once a year.
Golf course
The golf club at the Grove Park Inn predates the hotel. It first opened for play in 1899, and was redesigned in 1924 by Donald Ross. Now owned by the resort, the par-70 course is a member club that is also open to the public and guests.
Famous guests
The hotel has hosted numerous celebrities over the years including William Jennings Bryan (who spoke at the hotel's opening), Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, Elbert Hubbard, Woodrow Wilson, John D. Rockefeller, Gen. John J. Pershing, Jerry Seinfeld, Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys, John Waters, David & Amy Sedaris, Mischa Barton, Mike Huckabee, current NC Governor Bev Perdue, Sanjay Gupta, Trey Anastasio,Charles Schwab, William Howard Taft, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, Dwight Eisenhower, Enrico Caruso, Harry Houdini, Al Jolson, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Bobby Jones, Wiley Post, Will Rogers, Bill Tilden, Billy Graham, Barack Obama, William Shatner, Don Cheadle and many others.
On February 3rd, 1930 William Howard Taft resigned from the US Supreme Court in the Great Hall Lobby.
In 1999, one of the gospel artist Bill Gaither recorded "Mountain Homecoming" in his series of Gaither Homecoming videos and CDs in the Great Hall lobby including artists Gloria Gaither, Mark Lowry, Larry Gatlin, the Bishops, Stephen Hill, Joy Gardner, and Ben Isaacs.
In January 2008, the mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick, stayed at the resort with a woman that was not his wife. Kilpatrick, and the woman who called herself Carmen Slowsky received a couples massage session described on the resort's website as "incredibly romantic." This event added to a brewing scandal involving past infidelity, perjury, and the misuse of public funds that would break two days after the pair left the resort.
Citations
- ^ "Arts & Crafts Conference" . http://www.arts-craftsconference.com/ . Retrieved 2010-03-14 .
- ^ Boyd, Leslie (2008-01-26). "Detroit mayor’s reported tryst saddens King event organizers". online (Asheville Citizen-Times) . http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880125148 . Retrieved 2008-01-30 .
- ^ Schmitt, Ben; M.L. Elrick and Zachary Gorchow (2008-01-30). "Posh N.C. resort confirms mayor's massage for two". detnews.com . The Detroit Free Press . http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080130/NEWS01/801300417&theme=KILPATRICK012008 . Retrieved 2008-01-30 .
Sources
- The Grove Park Inn Story , 1984
- Johnson, Bruce E. Built for the Ages: A History of the Grove Park Inn , Grove Park Inn and Country Club: Asheville, NC, 1991
External links
- The Grove Park Inn Spa & Resort official website
- UNC Historic Photos of the Grove Park Inn
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Photos from the 2001 Grove Park Inn Arts &
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