CAPON SPRINGS | LIVING IN MOUNDSVILLE | PARKS WITH PERKS spring 15
THE
HOME ISSUE
See inside some of the state’s most historic homes, contemporary cottages, and majestic mansions.
volume 8 ◆ ISSUE 1
Spring 2015
features
80
90
104
Living in Moundsville
Historic Homes
The Rite Stuff
From Huntington to Alderson to Romney, see inside some of the state’s most interesting houses.
A Wheeling landmark is being restored for its 2016 centenary.
carla witt ford
This Northern Panhandle city is changing what it means to thrive.
wvliving.com 5
volume 8 ◆ ISSue 1
73
25
43 23 spotlight
15 Dining Jim’s Spaghetti & Steak House is a Huntington institution.
18 Dining P.J. Berry’s is like a little SoHo in Sutton.
23 Road Trip These parks off the beaten path offer more than great views.
25 Shopping Find retro furniture galore at BarsandBooths.com in charles Town.
27 Shopping Serenity Now in lewisburg has everything you need for your next adventure.
31 Don’t Miss Preservation experts
in West Virginia make exploring historic theaters easy.
34 West Virginian Who Rocks
Meet Anna Sale, podcast host, charleston native, and your new best friend.
36 Event Tucker county’s ArtSpring is a must for Memorial day weekend.
6 wvl • spring 2015
heritage
43 Lodging The award-winning capon Springs in Hampshire county is unlike anywhere you’ve been.
in every issue 8 editor’s letter 10 letters to the editor 112 The Parting Shot
49 Art Weavers return to their roots at Ben’s old loom Barn.
55 Travel A tiny town in Hardy county
is on the cusp of greatness with outdoor recreation, culture, and creativity.
59 Living Local A family returns to a
history of salt-making in rural kanawha county.
On the Cover Capon Springs and Farms takes us back to simpler days. Photo by Carla Witt Ford
64 Spaces Sustainable development never
looked better than at Wild Rock near the New River gorge.
73 Food lemons light up any meal, but we recommend these recipes this spring.
CAPON SPR NGS | L V NG IN MOUNDSVILLE | PARKS W TH PERKS spring 1
THE
HOME ISSUE
See ins de some of the state’s most historic homes contemporary cottages and majestic mansions
editor’s letter A couple of months ago I had the privilege to spend the day at Heritage
Farm Museum and Village with my dear friend Mike Perry, who
passed away as we were going to press with this issue. His legacy lives on.
Home is where your story begins.
T
his is a special issue celebrating homes. We take you into Park Hill, one of Huntington’s grand homes (page 95), visit the sustainable community of Wild Rock (page 64) overlooking the New River Gorge, and tour a plethora of architecturally significant houses in Greenbrier County (page 99). One of my favorite historic homes is the Greek Revival plantation right outside of Romney called Ridgedale or Washington Bottom Farm (page 92). Each of these homes has a unique story. Although my home is not architecturally significant or historic, as I look around I’m also surrounded by stories. There’s my first globe I received from Santa when I was in the third grade. I’ve planned many a trip by spinning it on its axis. There’s the red barn my daughter painted for me a few birthdays ago. My antique wormy chestnut desk has seen countless hours of wordsmithing. As I reflect on the items within my walls, the things that matter most aren’t the lamps I purchased from HomeGoods or the wool rug from Lowes. The things that matter have their own stories. Items like the vibrant blanket woven by weavers at Ben’s Old Loom Barn (page 49), where looms date back to the Civil War, or pottery by artists like Lisa Kovatch (page 21), or
8 wvl • spring 2015
artwork purchased at festivals like ArtSpring in Thomas (page 36). Maybe your decorating tastes are more in line with the retro furnishings found in Charles Town’s BarsandBooths.com (page 25). If so, you need to visit this charming store or its website. This small business’ mission of helping others create a “back in time” vacation place has become an international success story. Speaking of going back in time, you don’t have to travel far to experience yesteryear. Capon Springs and Farms is one of West Virginia’s special places. This family-owned getaway is the perfect place to unplug (page 43). It is a place where family and friends come together to create lasting memories. And yes, it feels a bit like the mountain resort in Dirty Dancing. Another special place is Heritage Farm Museum and Village in Huntington. I’ve said this numerous times, but I’ll repeat it again. This is a place that every West Virginian needs to tour. It’s our version of Williamsburg. And now there’s even more reason to visit—it recently added a doll museum (page 28). Adults and children alike will be enthralled with this bigger-than-life dollhouse filled with handcrafted dolls and baby carriages. Another one of my favorite museums is the Marx Toy Museum in Moundsville. It
contains the largest display of Marx toys in the world. What are Marx toys, you ask? Once you step inside, you’ll be greeted by familiar favorites—from colorful tin windup toys to Rock’em Sock’em Robots to the Big Wheel. But there are even more reasons to visit Moundsville (page 80). The West Virginia Penitentiary, situated directly across from Grave Creek Mound, has become a popular tourist attraction; Grand Vue Park is an outdoor recreational haven; and nearby Prabhupada’s Palace of Gold is unlike anything else in West Virginia. So as the snow melts and thoughts turn to spring cleaning, I hope this issue inspires you to fill your home with handcrafted memories and to search out new experiences that will enrich your own story.
nikki bowman, Editor Follow us on
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facebook.com/wvliving twitter.com/wvliving pinterest.com/wvliving instagram: theWVeditor
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LeT TeR S to the ediToR LIVING IN CLARKSBURG | SNOWMOBILING | INSIDE THE KEITH-ALBEE winter 14
ARE YOU
A REAL
WEST VIRGINIAN? see pg. 104
Snow Days
Celebrate the simple pleasures and scenic treasures of winter in West Virginia.
Healing the Homesick
You help me stave off the homesick! I just wanted to express how much this magazine means to me. Having been gone from West Virginia for a number of years this magazine is my lifeline to home, keeping me up-to-date with all the
10 wvl • spring 2015
wonderful things going on as well as helping me reconnect with every single issue. It is a wonderful thing you are doing for our great state, keep up the great work! paige radley, via email
Cover to Cover
I’m biased, but I subscribe to a ridiculous amount of magazines and WV Living is one of the only ones I can’t wait to open and one of the only ones I actually sit down and read, literally cover to cover. You all are still doing an amazing job.
rachel coon, san antonio, texas, via email
WV Sound Blog
I’m so delighted and honored by this piece (by Mikenna Pierotti) WV Living Magazine wrote on the influence of the wonderful Appalachian Poet Louis McNeill’s verse in my songwriting, “From Poetry to Song.” “Kyle’s lyrics flutter back and forth between aching sadness and sheer beauty. Her words are haunting, rich in emotional undercurrents, regional imagery, and folklore. Each song in her albums—the first titled Monongah, the acclaimed second North Star— move seamlessly from the hills of West Virginia to the cliffs of the Irish coast.”
kyle carey, via Facebook
“I think the magazine is stunning. I always enjoy the beautiful pictures and wonderful articles.” cathy busch, via wvliving.com
Excellent Magazine
Your excellent magazine is something I look forward to receiving in the mail every quarter. amy kaiser, fairmont, via email
LeT TeR S to the ediToR
“Clarksburg is a great city to live in. I’ve lived in many states but was glad to come back to West Virginia to live. Many memories.” joanne marlette, via Facebook
Remembering Clarksburg
We left in 1968 and visit when we can. I have
since I last visited in June. Your extremely wellwritten, and obviously extensively researched, article makes me very proud to feel this way about my hometown. I look forward to reading more pieces penned by you! narda fryar,
via Facebook
I’ve been terribly homesick for Clarksburg
via Facebook Interesting article. Lots of good places to eat
eaten at many of the areas talked about, and now planning a trip back soon I hope. Yeah, North View and Barnes addition. ken posey,
One place not mentioned and celebrating 45
years this year is Smitty’s Pizza in North View. Going strong as carry out and delivery. barb
brunetti, via Facebook
Let us hear from you. We want to know what you think about the magazine, and we’d love to hear your suggestions. Email: info@newsouthmediainc.com Call: 304.413.0104 Mail: 709 Beechurst Avenue, Suite 14A, Morgantown, WV 26505 Take WV Living with you:
there. Many memories from high school days.
bill rymer, via Facebook
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Nikki BoWMAN
Back in Time Explore the area’s history and heritage at every bend in the road. PICTURED: BARSANDBOOTHS.COM, CHARLES TOWN, PAGE 25
the shoppes at seneca center Âť 709 beechurst avenue, morgantown
spotlight
dining
Going to Jim’s
Huntington swears by Jim’s Steak and Spaghetti House and its oldschool feel.
T
here’s something about Jim’s, locals will tell you. There’s something about the old-school restaurant with Huntington memorabilia lining the walls, servers in crisp white uniforms, and a cash- or check-only policy, that’s created a Huntington landmark. Its full name is Jim’s Steak and Spaghetti House, but no one calls it that. Opened in 1938, the restaurant has a reputation for good service, few frills, and just-right comfort food, all due to its founder—Jim. When Jim Tweel purchased The Kennedy Dairy Store on 5th Avenue in Huntington at the behest of his newly betrothed, Sally, the
couple began selling burgers and shakes to city residents. “My dad started out working the grill and my mother worked with him back then,” says daughter Jimmie Carder, now part-owner and general manager of the family-owned restaurant. “For a long time my dad’s role was meeting and greeting the public and doing what it took out front to make the restaurant work—host, cashier, paperwork, menus, banking—he did it all.” And he was good at it. The restaurant grew and grew, staying open late to accommodate crowds tramping home from shows and dances in downtown Huntington. In the mid-1940s an Italian immigrant named Roberto Elmoro dropped in wanting to
help establish a local spaghetti house and offered his help with the menu. After learning Roberto’s original spaghetti sauce recipe—a family secret still used today—and expanding the restaurant to include a neighboring space, Jim reopened as The Spaghetti House in 1944. It continued to grow and evolve, becoming Jim’s Grill and Spaghetti House, and, finally, after another expansion in 1962, Jim’s Steak and Spaghetti House. Jimmie says she doesn’t remember much of Jim’s growing up. “I once asked my mother why I don’t have the memories of being here as a child,” she says. “But my mother cooked at home every night. They were so busy at the wvliving.com 15
spotlight
Pie in the Sky Stop by Jim’s Steak and Spaghetti House after Mother’s Day for a Huntington treat. Strawberry Week at Jim’s Steak and Spaghetti House features homemade strawberry pies every day for one week. This year’s event begins on May 11, 2015. “We’ve already started making pie shells,” Jimmie Carder said in January. “It’s just huge. People come from all over.” Last year the restaurant sold more than 10,000 slices of strawberry pie, she says, with hundreds of customers coming in each day.
restaurant that we weren’t allowed to come down and take up a seat.” At lunch time the white counter was completely full. At dinner the olive green booths were packed. “For us to come as a family of five to sit and eat took up too much space,” Jimmie says of meal time with her two brothers. “So my mother cooked and my dad worked.” But Jim’s wasn’t just a job to Jim. “The one thing I always tell people is that my father truly loved everybody,” Jimmie says. “He went out of his way to make everybody feel good, to feel good about themselves, that they wanted to come back just to see him.” In the days before the free refill, Jim thrilled at topping off customers’ drinks. If people were celebrating a birthday, graduation, anniversary, or any other occasion, he’d gift a silver dollar. “There was a large bowl near the cash register that contained packs of chewing gum and small candies like York Peppermint Patties,” recalls longtime customer Dick Ash. “If you told Jim that you had first-time visitors from out of town, he’d ask where they were from and then he’d go get the bowl and let them pick something.” Dick supposes he went to Jim’s with his wife and coworkers for lunch at least once a week from 1979 until his retirement in 16 wvl • spring 2015
2014. “I love the spaghetti,” he says. “At first it might seem ordinary, since the sauce is a tomato sauce with a lot of ground beef, but it has a very good flavor and consistency.” It’s spicy enough to be piquant, but not too hot; tomato-y enough to be thick and sweet, but not overly so. The sauce is popular with a drizzle of Tabasco or as is—so popular that Jimmie and her staff make 40 gallons of spaghetti sauce every day to serve on dishes and to sell by the pint. Jimmie says Roberto’s recipe was tweaked a bit in 1948 but has stayed the same ever since. “We never change it,” she says. “We can’t afford not to do the same thing every day. We sell an enormous amount out the door.” Like the spaghetti sauce, Jim’s hasn’t changed much over the years either. Customers are still greeted by a smiling waitstaff, many of whom are decades-long employees. The menu has expanded, offering everything from sandwiches to steak dinners to homemade desserts to Diet Coke—a hard fought battle for customers and staff alike. The restaurant is still decked out in shades of green and white. Lighting fixtures from the 1960s still grace the ceilings and walls. “We have memorabilia pictures all along the east and west walls—Marshall University, old music photos, famous people
photos—all that Jim took,” Jimmie says. “My dad had access. He was known as the ambassador of Huntington.” The most famous of these pictures is a 1960s photo of John F. Kennedy visiting the restaurant during his 1960 campaign. That photo brings in hordes of tourists and diners. “It’s our million-dollar publicity stunt,” Jimmie says. “We’ve had people stand in line for 45 minutes to have their picture taken by it.” Jimmie says the only plans for Jim’s future are to stay put. “To duplicate or put this place somewhere else just wouldn’t be possible,” she says. While Jim passed in 2005, the family is still around and working hard to keep his restaurant just the same. “Our goal right now is to keep doing what we’ve been doing,” she says. “We’re trying to keep things running as they have been to keep the customers happy, to keep the atmosphere that’s always been here. Nobody wants us to change. Nobody wants us to remodel. Nobody wants anything different.” jim’s steak and spaghetti house
920 5th Avenue, Huntington, WV 25701 304.696.9788 jimsspaghetti.com written by katie
griffith bowman
photographed by nikki
spotlight
dining
SoHo in Sutton
This cozy restaurant and gallery brings big city flair to small town living.
N
early every Sutton native has a unique memory of the P.J. Berry building. In years past the threestory, 1800s redbrick structure on Main Street—a stone’s throw from the Braxton County Courthouse—had been a mercantile store, a five-and-dime Ben Franklin, a pet store, a tobacco shop, even a thrift store. When the building came up for sale once again in the early 2000s, Lex de Gruyl, a local school psychologist with his eye on retirement, saw an investment opportunity. His plan was to have someone else open a restaurant in the space while he would settle comfortably into retirement as a property owner. “It’s an amazing story if you look at the pictures from when I first bought it,” Lex says. “The last thing it had been was a thrift shop. I bought the building
18 wvl • spring 2015
with all this stuff in it. We had to get rid of all of it. Then we had to rip everything out.” Beneath layers of dust, paint, pegboard, linoleum, and carpet, Lex uncovered something surprisingly beautiful—brick walls, dark wood floors, an ornate ceiling, and large windows with a view of the courthouse square. He put in a new kitchen, built a modern wraparound bar, and brought the historic building up to code. “At that time we were still thinking another person would be opening a restaurant,” he says. Despite his efforts, it didn’t work out as expected. With his restaurateur pulling out at the last minute, Lex had a decision to make. Put the building back up for sale and leave Sutton with an empty storefront or take these lemons and make lemonade—in Lex’s case, crab cakes with a slice of lemon on the side.
Lex chose the latter and opened his own restaurant in 2010—naming it P.J. Berry’s for its historic location and iconic mural depicting the building’s 19th century past. Lex was born in Holland and grew up in New York City, and having lived in West Virginia since 1978, he had a sense for the sort of style and culinary art the small but growing town of Sutton might benefit from. And with successful upscale dining hotspot Cafe Cimino Country Inn just down the street, Lex knew the customer base had come to expect great things and would easily find its way to his doors. “The town has been trying to grow. And this was a good step,” he says. After finishing renovations, adding his own eclectic stamp to the décor, and trying out several chefs, Lex’s menu of comfort foods at affordable prices started to catch on. Soon patrons were lining up not only for plates of classic hot wings, sweet potato fries, and burgers topped with crispy bacon but also for culinary twists like Lex’s special arctic brownie, with layers of frozen brownie and ice cream smothered in fresh whipped cream and chocolate ganache, or his jumbo crab cakes, a blend of sweet lump crab meat, onions, and roasted bell peppers seared to golden brown perfection and topped with Cajun aioli mayo. Tourists and locals don’t just come for the food, though. P.J. Berry’s also has a great beer selection, including hand-crafted microbrews on tap from Fayetteville’s Bridge Brew Works. Patrons will also find a surprising retail side called The Artisans and Antiques Gallery at P.J. Berry’s, stocked with hand-selected antiques, vintage jewelry and purses, silk scarves, art photography, and homemade soaps. Die-hard antiquer and retired school teacher Paula Seal runs the show and says she’s been overwhelmed by the positive response, both from locals who cherish the building for its place in their memories and from visitors who stumble upon it unexpectedly. “We have many people who come in off the interstate and fall in love with Sutton and what we’ve done here. They are always shocked. There’s a flare here. We’ve had people tell us it’s like a little SoHo,” she laughs. “It’s tough to do this in a small town. But when you have something special and different, it’s worth it.” p.j. berry’s
226 Main Street, Sutton, WV 26601, 304.402.2105 pjberrys.com written by mikkena
pierotti bowman
photographed by nikki
history
Common Folk One of the earliest folklore societies in America turns 100.
frank and jane gabor west virginia folklife center
1201 Locust Avenue, Fairmont, WV 26554, 304.367.4403 fairmontstate.edu/folklife written by shay
20 wvl • spring 2015
maunz
fairmont state university
in 1915 two of west virginia’s earliest folk scholars founded the West Virginia Folklore Society in Morgantown and began collecting traditional folk songs and ballads from the region. “During that time there was a move around America to collect the lore of the people,” says Judy Byers, director of the West Virginia Folklife Center at Fairmont State University. Folklore societies were cropping up around the U.S.—the Morgantown society was the fourth in America. It was only active for two years but was revived in 1950, began printing a publication, West Virginia Folklore, and operated intermittently into the 1980s. In 1998, after being dormant for years, the Folklore Society evolved into the West Virginia Folklife Center at Fairmont State University and took up residence in a historic barn. Today it houses the society’s archives and Fairmont’s academic programs for folklore and museum studies. It also has a house folk band that plays every Thursday, public exhibits, and several publications. Judy says, “It’s important to have centers like this in an educational arena, not just in a state capital, because that way you’re going out among the people to share the folklore.”
artist
The Pottery Process Lisa Kovatch crafts imaginative yet durable items from her studio in Harpers Ferry.
“I
sort of fell into pottery later in life,” says Tamarack artist Lisa Kovatch. Lisa’s folksy earthenware pottery is beloved for its whimsical imagery and practical, made-for-use forms. “While preparing to attend graduate school I picked up a part-time job as a studio assistant for a potter, Trista Chapman, in Virginia. I fell in love with the process and decided to leave school and dedicate two years to the craft full-time and see if I could make a go of it. I wound up spending three years working for Trista, learning all I could.” Although not a West Virginia native, Lisa chose Harpers Ferry to set down roots for its proximity to Washington, D.C., access to easy travel routes for craft shows, and the beauty and community she found there. She bought a
comfortable two-story home and carved out a studio. “I never get bored because there are so many different steps to the process. When my hands start hurting after a few weeks of throwing I transition to decorating and firing. Then the cycle continues all over again, learning from mistakes or happy accidents that happen along the way.” Over the past 10-plus years she’s developed a unique style, defined by fun designs and colors on low-fire clay baked in an electric kiln. “I really like the quality of the surface. The colors are brighter. As a young adult I collected Fiestaware, not knowing it was made in West Virginia, and love the concept of mixand-match, which I have adopted into my own line of work. When I started out my designs were influenced by African textiles—I spent part of my childhood in Africa. When I moved to Harpers Ferry, with its historic architecture, I switched to red earthenware clay—traditional American slipware—and really love the surface quality, where the warm clay color bleeds through the glaze.” From fat-bellied birds on dinner plates to coffee mugs decorated in pensive owls and curling ferns, Lisa’s work is inspired by daily walks through Appalachian landscapes, including the simple pleasure she takes from her sunny cottage garden. A nature lover, Lisa donates 1 percent of her sales to a local chapter of the National Audubon Society. And she actively promotes other West Virginian and American artists and craftspeople by managing Westwind Potters, an independently owned shop that sells high quality American handcrafted goods like baskets, textiles, and, of course, an assortment of pottery, all at an affordable price from a cozy shop in Harpers Ferry’s market district. Lisa sells her work at Tamarack in Beckley and Westwind Potters in Harpers Ferry as well as at select craft shows and events. Her home studio is open to visitors by appointment only. Westwind Potters is open daily until 5 p.m. and by appointment. lkpottery.com written by mikenna
pierotti bowman
photographed by nikki
wvliving.com 21
road trip
Just Down the Road
Out of so many choices in the state, we picked four parks with unique amenities to tell the story of West Virginia’s lesser known outdoor adventures.
W
est Virginia is the third most forested state in the nation. It has award-winning parks and resorts, world-class recreation, and things to see and do around every bend in its notoriously winding roads. But go beyond the more visited parks and you’ll find unique pockets of creativity and fun amenities that are drawing tourists from around the world. Take Dorsey’s Knob Park in Monongalia County, 70 acres of sloping land and photoworthy views of the Morgantown area. Even on a chilly early spring day, you can head out Grafton Road, turn at Fawley Lane, follow that narrow lane to the top of the hill, and be instantly transported to a different environment, one where you’re almost guaranteed to find dozens of disc golfers on any given weekend, crunching through the grass, red-faced but laughing. If you’re brave enough to peer over the lip of the hill, you’ll see the city far below, but you won’t be tempted to leave the mountain so long as the sun is shining. The park is also home to a cozy lodge, hiking trails, playground, picnic shelter, and the park’s main attraction—a monolithic natural structure known as Sky Rock, where visitors can get a bird’s-eye view from nearly 600 feet up. “The park officially opened in 2006 after a long process of visioning and fundraising efforts,” says Melissa Burch, executive director at Morgantown’s Board of Park and Recreation Commissioners. “All told more than 1,000 individuals and organizations donated time and money to make Dorsey’s Knob Park a reality.”
That’s often the way of these off-the-beatenpath parks. It was for Pipestem Resort State Park, along Interstate 77 near Princeton, in the 1960s, says Dave Kaplinger, park superintendent. “Pipestem was really born during the presidential elections. John F. Kennedy toured this area looking for votes in the primaries, and West Virginia became an important state to his campaign. At some point the topic of economic development came up and one means people saw was a recreational facility that eventually took the form of a state park.” Today the park includes 4,000 acres of sweeping wilderness with the 113-room McKeever Lodge perched on the rim of the Bluestone River gorge; fully equipped cabins; and the secluded 30-room Mountain Creek Lodge inside the gorge, right beside the crystal water. But the park is really known as a golf destination, Dave says. He isn’t kidding. The park boasts four types of golf—from the traditional to mini to disc, plus
Dorsey’s the emerging sport of footgolf. Knob Park in “It’s a combination of soccer Morgantown and golf played on a golf course is a 70-acre getaway, but with larger holes,” he says. complete with The park also has an aerial a lodge and a tramway that takes visitors on great view. a breathtaking six-minute, 3,600-foot ride from the top of the gorge to the bottom, what would normally take an hour or more on foot. The resort’s water recreation is top-notch as well. Its crowning jewel is probably the Western-style fly-fishing package, where visitors can take advantage of the gorge’s remote location on the stocked Bluestone River and wrangle those elusive blue ribbon trout. Fishers access the river via horseback with professional guides at their disposal, stay at the Mountain Creek Lodge, and have all the food they might need for two or more days of fishing. “That’s hard to find in the eastern United States,” Dave says.
wvliving.com 23
“We offer things that are really unique in this part of the country.” West Virginia has a lot of one-of-a-kind parks. Grand Vue Park in Marshall County is no exception, especially for those looking for a laidback yet luxurious experience on about 650 acres. Opened in 1974 with 125 acres, the park has expanded exponentially and now includes deluxe log-sided cabins as well as newly renovated traditional cabins with free Wi-Fi, flat screen HDTVs, and full kitchens. If miles of multiuse trails, geocaching, an executive par three golf course, disc golf, and a synthetic ice rink don’t whet your vacationer’s appetite, then maybe the resort’s 7,500 feet of high adrenaline zip-lining will. “You will be anywhere from 60 to 400 feet off the ground,” says Craig White, general manager at Grand Vue. “It’s fairly physical, but I’ve seen 80-year-old people taking this tour.” 24 wvl • spring 2015
Book yours at least 24 hours in advance for the full experience with trained guides or grab a quick ride—no reservation needed)—on the last 2,500 feet for $15 most weekends. And if you’re planning a big event, Grand Vue has you covered with a beautiful 250-seat banquet hall with portable dance floor and catering kitchen, perfect for weddings and events. Coupled with a large amphitheater for concerts and festivals as well as an aquatic center and miniature golf course, anyone can find a perfect vacation. “Here you’ll get all that outdoor adventure with all the customer service you’d expect at a much larger resort,” Craig says. North Bend State Park in Ritchie County offers yet another remote, but full-service vacation destination, with a 29-room lodge; restaurant; conference rooms; fully outfitted cabins; and swimming, boating, and fishing on a
Grand Vue Park warm 305-acre lake and nearby streams. And don’t forget the 72- offers zip-lining. At North Bend mile North Bend Rail Trail that State Park, you can relax in forms one of the park’s borders, calm cabins. In offering an impressive range of the south, enjoy hiking, mountain biking, and Pipestem Resort State Park’s horseback riding opportunities. tramway. What started with a push from locals in the 1940s and ’50s to create a state park in Ritchie County later became a primitive campground along the North Fork of the Hughes River and has since evolved into multi-faceted four-season park. But Stephen Jones, park superintendent, says the park still fulfills its original intent. “People come to parks to get an outdoor experience or spend time with family at a pace that’s slower, more relaxed, less stressful,” he says. Perhaps one of its biggest attractions is summer programming, with events every day, from environmental education to recreation as well as March’s women’s getaway weekend, dinner theater in April, and May’s bluegrass festival. For Stephen, the best aspects of parks like Grand Vue are revealed in the quiet stillness before sunrise and sunset. “Get in a kayak an hour before and just sit out there and float, see the wildlife. Every time I come off the lake I feel incredibly relaxed,” he says. “Many West Virginians don’t realize what we have in our own backyards. We often look to faraway exotic places. But sometimes what we’re really looking for is right down the road.” For more great, often overlooked amenities at parks across the state, visit wvliving.com. written by mikenna
pierotti witt ford
photographed by carla
courtesy of grand vue park; carla witt ford; steveshaluta
spotlight
spotlight Inside the spacious, 4,000-square-foot BarsandBooths.com showroom, you’ll find a vast array of retro furniture, accessories,
shopping
A Trove of Timeless Treasures The BarsandBooths.com showroom in downtown Charles Town offers visitors a one-of-a-kind retro shopping experience.
A
visit to the BarsandBooths.com showroom in downtown Charles Town is like taking a step back in time, the black-and-white checkered floor and turquoise awning at the shop’s entrance signaling a return to a bygone era. Inside the spacious, 4,000-square-foot store, you’ll find a vast array of retro furniture, accessories, and appliances as
well as a unique collection of restored vintage vending machines, jukeboxes, kiddie rides, and more dating back to the 1940s through the ’70s. It’s definitely not your typical antique or thrift shop. The showroom, besides opening its doors to customers looking to browse, serves as the headquarters for the BarsandBooths.com and Back In Time Warehouse web commerce sites. BarsandBooths.com specializes in designing
and appliances as well as a unique collection of restored vintage vending machines, jukeboxes, kiddie rides, and more.
and building custom, retro-style bars, booths, tables, and cabinets, while Back In Time Warehouse restores vintage jukeboxes, soda and candy machines, kiddie rides, gas pumps, and other rare coin-operated machines. Between the two companies, G.W. Smith, who owns the businesses with his wife, Barbara, says he has customers all over the world. “We have customers in 48 states and have done restaurants in 48 countries, including a chain of restaurants in Paris called HD Diner,” he says. G.W. says customers from as far as Japan, Australia, and New Zealand have come to Charles Town to see samples and prototypes of custom booths, bars, and other items in person before ordering. “Then they’ll get back on their planes, and we’ll build it and ship it to them anywhere in the world.” The showroom also gets plenty of visitors from throughout the region. One of the draws is a complete retro-meets-modern kitchen model featuring black custom-built cabinets with a matching table and chairs and a brand new Big Chill refrigerator, microwave, and stove—all pale yellow. “Nobody else has a display like this,” G.W. says. “I get probably six to 10 people a week from D.C., Baltimore, Philly, Richmond, and Roanoke who come here just to see these appliances in person.” When it comes to kitchen cabinets and appliances, like all of the custom items crafted by BarsandBooths.com, customers can choose from any kind of wood and any colors they can imagine. “A lot of companies say you’ll have a choice of this or that,” G.W. says. “Well, we say let your imagination run wild, and we’ll make it a reality for you.” Some of BarsandBooths.com’s kitchen items, including the company’s signature art deco booth as well as several colors of Big Chill kitchen appliances, have been featured on the set of the Rachael Ray Show. The shop’s custom booths and bar stools also have been featured on TV shows like Extreme Makeover: Home Edition as well as in movies like Men in Black. BarsandBooths.com’s work can be seen here in West Virginia, too. At Grandma’s Diner, across the street from the BarsandBooths.com showroom, custom light blue and charcoal wvliving.com 25
spotlight
black booths paired with white and graytrimmed tables and sturdy black chairs add to the 1950s decor of the cozy eatery. Two bumpers from an old Ford Mustang and a Pontiac GTO that owner Luis Guzman bought from BarsandBooths.com and hung on the walls complete the look. “I wanted to give the place that extra-retro feel,” says Luiz, who owns the diner with his grandmother, Francisca Guzman. Charleston resident Lee Kuhn came across BarsandBooths.com when she was making plans to create a 1950s-style bar in the basement of her home several years ago. Lee says BarsandBooths.com staff guided her through the entire process of choosing and ordering her turquoise and white vinyl bar with matching bar stools and booth. “They were so nice to work with—they even sent me a swatch of the fabric in the booth so I could find matching paint,” she says. “I pretty much designed my whole 26 wvl • spring 2015
basement around their products.” The pale pink Big Chill refrigerator, matching pink payphone, 1950s artwork, and light-up Elvis Presley clock that Lee purchased from BarsandBooths.com add to the room’s ambience. In addition to offering endless options for customization, BarsandBooths.com and Back In Time Warehouse are known for the expert craftsmanship and fine quality of their products. “When I got into this business, I said we’re going to be the best in the world or we’re not gonna do it,” G.W. says. “I don’t have to make a lot of money—it’s more important to me that we establish our reputation. So we strive to be the best, have the best products, and give the best possible customer service, and we do it at a fair price.” G.W. founded BarsandBooths.com in 1997 after retiring two years earlier from his former career as the owner of an encyclopedia company.
He was inspired to enter the retro furniture and restoration industries during a visit to a diner after a stressful business meeting in 1989. “The song ‘Hello Stranger’ came on the jukebox, and all of a sudden I was reminded of when I was 14 or 15 years old, back in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina,” he says. “It took me back to a time where there was no stress, and life was easy. And my mind just took over.” Over the following few months, G.W. bought some old diner booths, had them re-covered, and remodeled one of the rooms in his house in Great Falls, Virginia, as a retro-style diner. “I found I could go back there, get a beer out of my Coke machine, play a couple songs, and get away from the world,” he says. “I could take a back-in-time vacation right there.” It wasn’t long before friends and visitors started asking G.W. about his retro items and where they could buy them, leading him to open his own shop where he sold restored vintage items in an antique mall in Falls Church, Virginia. Once he outgrew that space, G.W. moved on to found BarsandBooths. com and Back In Time Warehouse in Charles Town after driving through the town on his way to an antique mall. Today BarsandBooths.com and Back In Time Warehouse employ expert craftsmen and restoration specialists who are dedicated to creating high-quality and lasting retro and vintage pieces. All of BarsandBooths.com’s furniture is built exclusively for the company either at Dad’s Furniture in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, or at Upholstery Excellence in Martinsburg. Back In Time Warehouse’s restoration work takes place at the company’s workshop in Charles Town. “Our goal is to take the things we restore and make them heirlooms,” G.W. says. “If it’s restored right and you use quality paints and materials—the way we do—it’ll still look the same in 30 years.” While BarsandBooths.com and Back In Time Warehouse specialize in custom projects and large orders, customers looking to simply browse retro furniture can also shop online at the Retro Outlet, according to G.W. “We build all that as well—it’s just not made custom,” he says. The BarsandBooths.com showroom is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., as well as by appointment. barsandbooths.com
200 West Washington Street, Charles Town, WV 25414 304.728.0547, barsandbooths.com written by missy
sheehan bowman
photographed by nikki
spotlight
shopping
Guiding a Lifestyle Lewisburg’s Serenity Now Outfitters is selling more than just outdoor gear.
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echnically Craig Miller sells outdoor gear and apparel to nature enthusiasts: hiking boots, activewear, fishing poles, kayaks—that kind of thing. But since he opened his store, Serenity Now Outfitters, Craig has realized he’s doing more that that. “We’re not just selling a product, we’re selling a lifestyle,” he says. “We’re not just a store, we’re a mindset.” Craig is good at selling that lifestyle because it’s the lifestyle he leads himself. He’s not just an entrepreneur— he’s a fisher, hiker, dog owner, and lover of the outdoors. Craig opened Serenity Now in 2003, a few years after he graduated from West Virginia University with a degree in wildlife ecology. He’d been planning on going to law school to pursue a career in environmental law, but a few weeks before he was set to start classes he got cold feet. “When a lot of my relatives and friends who are lawyers, people who had been pushing me toward that goal, started to tell me I shouldn’t go if I wasn’t sure it was what I wanted to do—that’s when I knew I couldn’t go to law school,” Craig says. He
briefly considered business school, but in the end decided to skip straight to opening his own business instead. “I felt like I had a good head on my shoulders,” he says. “And the niche was here, waiting to be filled.” He opened his new store in Lewisburg, just 50 miles from Beckley where he grew up, because of its thriving business community and vibrant, outdoorsy culture. Plus a nearby stream, Second Creek, is one of Craig’s favorite places to fly-fish in the state—he wanted to do guided fly-fishing tours there in addition to the retail business. “I love that area so much and there was no one doing that on that stream,” he says. These days Serenity Now offers a wide variety of guided fly-fishing tours on streams throughout West Virginia and Virginia, plus some extended two-day trips in Tennessee. By 2005, just two years after it opened, the business had outgrown its original location on the edge of town, and Craig moved Serenity Now into a historic building downtown, doubling the retail space. Craig is so happy in that storefront he says he can’t imagine he’d ever move again, so he tries to be really smart about the products he keeps in stock in that space—he wants to be a one-stop shop for outdoor enthusiasts before they head off on their next adventures. “We try to be diverse,” he says. “We want to be really good at outfitting in this very small niche.” The store has an especially large section of
fishing gear but also carries gear for hiking, backpacking, and camping, among other things, and customers often comment on how well-stocked it is. Many of Serenity Now’s regulars check back often just to see what’s new in the store—and to hang out with Craig and his dog, a golden retriever named River. “He’s very popular,” Craig says. “River’s like our mascot.” serenity now
207 West Washington Street, Lewisburg, WV 24901 304.647.9779, serenitynowoutfitters@yahoo.com serenitynowoutfitters.com written by
shay maunz elizabeth roth
photographed by
wvliving.com 27
Step inside the doll and carriage museum at Heritage Farm and explore a miniature Main Street in the early 20th century. There,
heritage
A Legacy Collection
Heritage Farm’s Bowes Doll & Carriage Museum tells another side of West Virginia history.
I
t started with a missing link, a blueprint drawn on a dusty tabletop, and a firm handshake. For Don Bowes, his wife Connie, and the late Mike Perry, the exchange was “a classic West Virginia contract,” Don says. “With a lot of faith in two parties’ ability to create a very ambitious project linking several disciplines in relatively uncharted waters.”
28 wvl • spring 2015
The location was an old barn. The two parties in question were the Perry family, the owners of beloved Huntington tourist attraction Heritage Farm Museum and Village, and the Bowes, whose home was full to bursting with Connie’s Victorian and early 20th centurystyle handcrafted dolls and antique baby carriages. The pact these parties made was to use the Bowes’ doll collection to help tell
within artfully arranged vignettes, handcrafted and antique dolls and baby carriages depict snapshots of early 20th century life.
an often overlooked side of West Virginia history, one in which industries like steam, rail, and glass transformed domestic life from subsistence to opulence and everything in between. “Heritage Farm already tells a story. It tells the story of rural Appalachian life from log houses on through the development of steam and industry. But when these industries started to take off in the 1890s, the people who had lived on the farms started to gather and many formed successful villages and towns,” Don says. “Our intent was to take the dolls and use them in a way that shows those activities and lifestyles that were the next step. We wanted to answer the question of where all the people who came in and developed into industrialists would have lived. Despite what you might think, they didn’t live in log houses anymore.” It’s been about three-and-a-half years since Mike, Don, and Connie made their first plans. What was once a dusty old barn tucked into the Heritage Farm’s 500 lush acres now, in 2015, shelters a one-of-a-kind collection of handmade dolls, antique and classic dolls, artistic dolls, and restored antique carriages in a collection called the Bowes Doll & Carriage Museum, just upstairs from the Children’s Activity Museum. The barn itself is just a shell. Step inside and you’ll find yourself on Main Street in a town sometime in the 1920s or ’30s. All around are a series of artfully arranged vignettes within which dolls and carriages tell the story of early 20th century life. Peek in the windows of a re-created two-story house and you’ll find dolls of all kinds dressed head to toe in handmade costumes, surrounded by details like a sparkling crystal chandelier, gleaming wood balustrades, and period-style furniture. At the end of the street a doll mansion represents the home of the fictional town’s industrial leader. “We opened the doll museum to help show the advantages of being an entrepreneur in Appalachia,” Mike says. “These people opened stores and mills and potteries. They became industrialists. It
The late Mike Perry, owner of Heritage Farm, shows visitors the exquisite craftsmanship of the museum’s antique carriages, many of which
collection co-owner Don Bowes has painstakingly restored. Many of the museum’s dolls were handmade by collection
co-owner Connie Bowes, who also used heritage sewing techniques to create the dolls’ clothes and accessories.
would not be right for people to think these entrepreneurs lived in primitive houses with the type of primitive clothes and toys you might see in pioneer cabins.” As a collection, the doll museum represents not only a period of growth in West Virginia history but also a legacy of craftsmanship. Connie’s work creating many of the dolls, their clothes, and accessories as well as Don’s work restoring the carriages proudly carries on this tradition. “Each scene tells a little story in itself,” Don says. “But there’s a larger story. This museum is about dolls and carriages, but you have to ask why they are here and how they tie in. How do they show the progress of Appalachia over the years? For us the challenge was how we tie the dolls and carriages to heritage in a way that shows the growth and evolution in Appalachia.” wvliving.com 29
As passionate as they are, Don and Connie never imagined opening their own museum, though Connie grew up in New England collecting dolls and doll accessories, some of which her parents had a hand in crafting. But when her mother started expanding her collection to include antique dolls and started making porcelain dolls, Connie decided to sign up for doll-making classes as well. The hobby soon became something of an obsession. After years of instruction, Connie took a chance and entered one of her creations in an international competition. To her surprise, she won several awards. With the addition of that first antique carriage to accompany her growing hobby, the Bowes officially became collectors. For his part, Don, a scientist and career military man, became fascinated by the antique carriages’ construction and began repairing and restoring those the couple found. The Bowes’ house was very nearly full when the couple met Mike and Henriella Perry after touring Heritage Farm. The two couples shared an appreciation for West Virginia history and traditional crafts, and when Mike saw the Bowes’ collection he knew Heritage Farm could play a role in bringing the dolls to life for the public. “I thought, ‘How many people will ever get to see this?’ It was a small number. But I thought it was so fantastically and beautifully done,” he says. For Mike the collection was a natural addition to the farm, and it has become one of his favorite attractions. Yet the museum is far from complete. The Perry and Bowes families have big plans to expand the collection and keep it fresh, including the addition of a tearoom in 2015 where visitors can grab a bite in style. Most importantly for Mike, Don, and Connie, however, is the missing link the doll and carriage collection represents for Heritage Farm. In defiance of the eternal pioneer stereotype, the museum shows another side of Appalachian history, industry, and domesticity while proudly carrying on traditional crafts. “It shows phenomenal craftsmanship and pride,” Mike says of the collection. “Those were two characteristics that were important to our ancestors. You can see it in their quilts, their dolls, their handmade musical instruments, and I find it great to see it alive and well with Don and Connie.” heritagefarmmuseum.com written by
mikenna pierotti nikki bowman
photographed by
30 wvl • spring 2015
are open to and can be visited by the public.” These 24 historic sites range in character and fortunes. The monolithic 1910 Pocahontas County Opera House, for example, served as an automobile dealership, a lumber storehouse, and a basketball court before the county’s Historic Landmarks Commission restored it for use as a performance space in the 1990s. Opened in 1926 as a vaudeville house, downtown Parkersburg’s Smoot Theatre was saved by volunteers in 1989 just days before a scheduled demolition. Now patrons enjoy the showy mahogany and brass doors and hand-cut don’t miss Austrian crystal chandelier the Warner Brothers installed when it converted the theater in the 1930s to an elaborate Art Deco moviehouse. The Historic Theatre Trail website updates and builds on the partners’ A new website makes it easier than ever 2010 brochure that listed 26 theaters. Some are no to visit and appreciate West Virginia’s longer in business—the 1949 heritage of theaters small and grand. Grafton drive-in theater, for he single-screen Star Theater example, one of just five drive-in theaters on the in Berkeley Springs shows a original list, closed in 2012 when the owners different film every weekend and were unable to upgrade to a digital projector. But serves popcorn with real butter others, like Wheeling’s 1928 Beaux Arts Capitol made in a 1949 Manley popcorn Theatre, have since seen loving restorations. machine. Weekly tours of the restored Historic “That’s a project the Preservation Alliance has Fayette Theatre include the original 1930s been involved with over the years,” Danielle says. movie projectors. Sutton’s Landmark Studio “It was on our ‘endangered’ list in 2009. They for the Arts was built in 1886 as a Methodist have just completely finished restoring the facade church and retains its original steeple and 20of the building, and it’s now a very important foot stained glass windows. part of the community again.” In recent decades, communities around the Theater enthusiasts will especially appreciate state have rescued, preserved, and restored the website, Danielle says. But anyone who their historic centers of entertainment. Now enjoys a show in a historic venue will also find it these cherished venues appear on an easy-tointeresting. “I think the best way to use it is, if reference website as the West Virginia Historic you’re interested in theaters and you’re planning Theatre Trail, a project of the State Historic a trip, you can look at the website and find Preservation Office and the Preservation theaters you can visit. Through the website you Alliance of West Virginia (PAWV). The can access all of the theaters’ websites and their statewide initiative identifies theaters that are schedules to find events you can attend.” listed on the National Register of Historic wvhistorictheaters.wordpress.com Places, says Danielle LaPresta, executive written by pam kasey director of PAWV. “They are all places that photographed by elizabeth roth
Please Take Your Seats
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wvliving.com 31
bookworm
Sweetwater
Saint
Mumps, madness, and miracles—Marie Manilla’s novel crafts a humorous new mythology for West Virginia.
“I
s she or isn’t she?” The Patron Saint of Ugly’s most enduring question drifts through the mountains of fictional Sweetwater, West Virginia, tangling in the lives of its residents. For Garnet Ferrari, a young woman with wild red hair and oddly shifting portwine stains across her skin, the question is especially poignant. Thanks to her devoted Sicilian grandmother, half the town believes Garnet to be the reincarnation of a saint, supposed healer of skin ailments, defier of volcanic eruptions, and conduit of miracles. The other half shuns her. But when the evidence piles up in the form of mysteriously disappearing sties, vanishing freckles, and healed-over warts, an archbishop and representative of the Vatican shows up to hear the story firsthand. The old Nonnas and devout Catholics of the village might be convinced, but Garnet just wants to be left alone. Daughter of a beautiful, blond Virginian mother and a bitter, neglectful Italian father, Garnet tells the archbishop about a childhood torn between cultures— immigrant and West Virginian, bluecollar and blue blood. “This novel, fi lled with comedy and tragedy, allowed me to explore my Italian and Catholic roots,” Marie Manilla says. “Though my Sicilian grandmother died before I was born, she became my hero when I learned that she supposedly escaped an arranged marriage by hopping a ship to America. I wish I’d known her. That yearning inspired the special connection between the main character,
32 wvl • spring 2015
Garnet, and her Sicilian grandmother. Nonna Diamante settles in West Virginia because the landscape’s magical qualities remind her of home.” In intricately woven prose, Huntingtonbased writer and graduate of the renowned Iowa Writers’ Workshop Marie creates her protagonist. Garnet, an antihero with a blade-sharp tongue, a confl icted sense of self, has just enough faith left in herself and her family to muddle through the strange, some might say magical, things that seem to sprout in her footsteps and forge her identity. “As a native West Virginian, I am weary of all the negative stereotypes that have reduced us to one-dimensional punchlines,” Marie says. “I strive to present a fuller portrait of who we are in my fiction. In The Patron Saint of Ugly, I wanted to create a new mythology for my home state that would enable people to see us in a more complex, multi-dimensional way. What better way than to create a West Virginia girl who garners the attention of hopeful pilgrims, the Vatican, and 60 Minutes because she may be able to perform miracles?” mariemanilla.com written by
mikenna pierotti
did you know?
A Pass for Cass
Cass Scenic Railroad has a new owner—and a new lease on life. when, in spring 2014, rumors started circulating about the possible closure of Cass Scenic Railroad State Park, a furor erupted. A Facebook page called “Save the Cass Railroad” was formed in April 2014 and within five days had more than 5,000 “likes.” Supporters circulated the contact information for lawmakers and media outlets, urging Cass lovers to contact them and beg for the railroad to be spared. The scenic railroad, which runs train excursions from Pocahontas County on a fleet of historic engines, is one of West Virginia’s most cherished assets. Still, state officials say Cass has been operating at a loss of around $1.5 million for years, putting a strain on the state Division of Natural Resources (DNR). Enter the Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad, which already operates successful train excursions out of the Elkins Depot, including the popular Polar Express excursions every winter. In November ownership of Cass was transferred from the DNR to the state-owned West Virginia Central Railroad, with the Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad under contract for its operations. That means Cass is safe, and all the people who love it will see it not shuttered, but instead operating more and longer train excursions. The first train ride of the 2015 season—and the first for Cass under new ownership—leaves the station on May 22. The season ends November 1. 242 Main Street, Cass, WV 24927 304.456.4300, cassrailroad.com written by shay
maunz wvliving.com 33
west virginian who rocks
We Need to Talk
One Charleston native has made a name for herself by having tough conversations. anna sale is the host of Death, Sex & Money, an interview podcast about, well, death, sex, and money—those things that play a huge role in our lives but aren’t always easy to talk about. She’s also a Charleston native, a former political reporter for West Virginia Public Broadcasting, and a really good listener. Since WNYC, the public radio station in New York City, launched Death, Sex & Money in May 2014, the show has become one of the Internet’s most listened to podcasts, and Anna has become known for her candid, thoughtful conversations with celebrities and regular people. We caught up with her recently to talk about her show, her roots, and her behavior at dinner parties. What was it like growing up in Charleston? I loved my time growing up in Charleston, so much so that when I went to school at Stanford in California I remember feeling so surprised by my homesickness. And it was in part about being far from family but a lot of it was just missing Charleston, missing the city itself.
How did you get into radio? I moved back to Charleston for five years after college and didn’t really know what I wanted to do, but I knew that, of anyone in the world, I was most jealous of Terry Gross and what she got to do when she went to work. I applied for an open position at West Virginia Public Broadcasting and I got the job.
After years of covering nonstop campaign stories I was feeling a little hungry to do something else and didn’t really know what that was, 34 wvl • spring 2015
janice yi
Can you tell me about the genesis of Death, Sex & Money?
because I’d always been a straightforward kind of classic beat reporter. It just so happened that right around then a memo went out to every member of WNYC. They wanted to experiment and create new shows, so their idea was just to have everybody who worked here submit their ideas. Basically it was like somebody handing me a silver platter, saying, “See if you can articulate your dream job.” I wrote a six-page memo about how I envisioned the show, and then I was really lucky and got to pilot it.
Where did your idea for the show come from? I started out as a journalist covering stories alongside Ken Ward at the Gazette, and I always felt like in order to be good at what I’m doing I had to learn how to be like him—afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted. But over the years I realized I really like stories that are just about people talking about what’s going on in their lives, and Death, Sex & Money was a good way to write that down. And as a journalist I think that’s still important. I think it’s still serious journalism.
Why is this so important? You’re talking about who you love and who loves you. You’re talking about how you survive in the world. And you’re talking about the fact that we’re not going to be here forever so we have to make it matter. Those are the most important things. Those are also the places where, if you don’t feel like you’re mastering it, you can feel alone and like a failure and feel ashamed. That’s why I think we need to talk about them more. You can go to a bookstore and go to the self-help aisle, but that’s a lonely aisle. To hear people share their stories—it’s a totally different experience that makes me think, “Oh yeah, these are universal problems.”
How do you get your guests to open up to you? It’s from practice. When I started the show I’d been reporting for nine years, and the last couple of years I was basically parking my car in parking lots of strip malls and getting people to tell me what they thought about the direction of the country and what they’re afraid of.
Do you think part of that extends to the way you act in your personal life? I definitely am someone at a dinner party who at the end of the night has one best friend who I’ve been talking to all night. That’s my style. I like to go deep quickly. written by shay
maunz wvliving.com 35
spotlight Hundreds will explore Tucker County when ArtSpring takes over the towns in May.
event
ArtSpring
Tucker County hosts the annual festival on Memorial Day weekend. an arts walk might stretch a city block or two. A culinary crawl might take you a bit farther. But Tucker County’s annual arts bonanza—ArtSpring—takes you from east to west, across four locales, for a real look at what art in West Virginia’s highlands is all about. “There are so many artists from so many different genres and areas that we saw the potential for letting the rest of the world know about this wonderful arts community,” says Tucker County artist and ArtSpring coorganizer Gerri Wilson. 36 wvl • spring 2015
Ever an outdoor weekend hot spot for locals and out-of-staters, Tucker County is in the middle of an arts regrowth. While tourists continue to pour in for hiking and biking in spring and summer and skiing and snowboarding in winter, the county is quickly becoming a destination for artists around the country— and seemingly everyone is taking notice. “There is an increasing number of artists who live in the Tucker County area who consider Tucker County a center for what they do,” says Bruce Wilson, Gerri’s husband and fellow artist and ArtSpring organizer. “They want to live here because they like the lifestyle here, how beautiful it is, how small the population is. We wanted to let tourists know that we are an arts destination.” ArtSpring kicks off Memorial Day weekend in Canaan Valley, Davis, Thomas, and Parsons with attractions and events for locals and visitors alike. Hundreds pour in from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia for artist demonstrations, film screenings, culinary showcases, street music, markets, auctions, and kids’ crafts each Memorial Day weekend since 2011. “Last year it was a beautiful spring weekend,” says ArtSpring AmeriCorps volunteer Audrey Stefenson. “There were tons of people in Thomas walking up and down the streets, sitting along the benches listening to the street music, popping in and out of local eateries and
businesses.” In nearby Davis, a farmers’ and artisans’ market was set up in a field with a collection of local food and crafts. Artists had demonstrations outside the town’s two galleries with pop-up yard sales here and there. Visitors and locals were serenaded by street music. The community buzz was palpable. While the ArtSpring festival began as a way to bring together artists spread across Tucker County’s unique communities—some focused on traditional handcrafts and others more fine-arts oriented—it quickly blossomed to include a year-round effort to promote arts within the community. “The inspiration for ArtSpring came along with the idea that the more an arts community communicates and works together, the stronger it becomes,” says artist and ArtSpring founder Seth Pitt. “ArtSpring helps to facilitate all these things, but it's really the whole community that decides what happens. There’s tons of people involved, all doing some small thing to rally their support for the arts community here.” And the central event is only getting bigger, with major things planned for 2015. “We’ve created more and more programming to entertain the rising number of visitors,” Seth says. “Artists are starting to see people returning to their work for a third or fourth year. Galleries are developing relationships with their customers, and exhibitions are enthusiastically attended—often selling out.” This year organizers are focusing on strengthening buzz throughout the county. In Thomas, doors to businesses like the White Room Gallery will be wide open, featuring whimsical drawings, bold paintings, photographs, leatherwork, metal sculptures, and jewelry. The Purple Fiddle and Mountain State Brewing Company will be packed with music acts. Davis will host beer and food tastings, more local music, and fine arts galleries. Nearby Canaan Valley may see a pop-up gallery at Canaan Valley Resort State Park and a photography exhibition at Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge. In Parsons, activities will be less tourist-focused and more centered on activities benefiting locals, like classes and exhibits. “When you come to ArtSpring, you’re not only getting a healthy dose of some exceptional art, you’re also getting to know the Tucker County community,” Seth says. “And you’re surrounded by the mountains, not city blocks and neon signs.” written by
katie griffith nikki bowman
photographed by
cARlA WiTT FoRd
Stay and Play
Treat yourself to old-fashioned fun this spring. PICTURED: CAPON SPRINGS AND FARMS, PAGE 43
The Capon Way
Capon Springs and Farms is a modern mountain resort with roots in a bygone era. written by shay
maunz witt ford
photographed by carla
her itage | Lodging
capon springs and farms is hard to describe to modern audiences. It’s not like most other resorts of today, with their conference rooms and valet parking. When describing Capon it’s better to use older reference points—it’s like that place in Dirty Dancing, people often say, or maybe a seaside retreat where you’d find the characters in a Victorian novel traveling to take the curative waters. Capon Springs is an all-inclusive resort in the Eastern Panhandle that has been run by the same family since 1932—today the founders’ grandchildren and great grandchildren are at the helm—and in 2013 was named Family Owned Business of the Year by the West Virginia Small Business Administration. Capon was founded practically by accident. Lou and Virginia Austin, the resort’s founders, bought the run-down remnants of a 19th century resort in 1932 only because they wanted access to the freshwater springs on the property and the water they produced, which Lou Austin believed had medicinal properties— he wanted to bottle and sell it. But soon the couple started bringing friends to the property to entertain, those friends told their friends about this secret getaway at the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains, a trickle of guests became a steady stream, and without any marketing at all Capon became a full-fledged resort. “For years the only way you could stay here was if you had the name of someone who had already stayed here,” says Jonathan Bellingham, Lou 44 wvl • spring 2015
and Virginia’s grandson and the marketing manager at Capon. That’s not true anymore but, even now, most of Capon’s guests were introduced to it that way—through a link to one of the Austins’ first guests. Most families come back year after year. “We’re into our third generation of guests, just like we’re thirdgeneration owners,” Jonathan says. Capon today feels much like the Capon of 50 years ago when Lou and Virginia were still running it. That’s intentional—when the same family runs a business for eight decades, there’s a lot of respect for the way things have always been done. Everyone in the family wants to keep Capon up and running in a way that would please their parents and grandparents. “Instead of being shareholders of a corporation, there’s a real sense that we’re stewards, that this special place is entrusted in our care,” Jonathan says. “It’s a real privilege and our responsibility, but there’s also this sense that we can’t let this thing end on our shift.” Because the heritage of Capon is omnipresent, the resort has remained immune to many of the trends that define today’s vacation retreats. There isn’t a chic bistro on the property—meals are cooked by the staff and served family-style, three times a day. The operation doesn’t revolve around the nightlife scene—guests at Capon are welcome to imbibe in rooms or their porch’s cabin, but alcohol isn’t provided in the dining rooms, and guests are asked to respect an 11 p.m. curfew. Capon isn’t part of the arms
race toward the newest, best technology— guest rooms don’t have telephones, televisions, or Internet access. And Capon doesn’t boast over-the-top, luxurious facilities, instead favoring more modest ones—the resort is often described as rustic, in a comfortable, appealing way that charms visitors. There are 10 guest cottages on the property, each with two to 20 guestrooms, plus two private lodging facilities for couples. “It’s really a place where you can rejuvenate and go back to the outside world feeling rested and better,” Jonathan says. “Instead of a stimulating vacation, this is a restful one.” That might be especially true for families with children, because Capon is a uniquely isolated environment where even young children can be left to their own devices. “Kids these days are so used to being watched by their parents all the time,” Jonathan says. “Here their parents just say, ‘Oh, go have fun. It’s after breakfast right now—I’ll see you after lunch.’ They can go off with their friends and explore.” At Capon, the general idea is to give people plenty of things to do—but never rush them to do anything. There’s a golf course on the property—nine holes are regulation length, and a second nine are par three, pitch and putt style. There’s a spring-fed swimming pool. You’ll find two half-acre fishing ponds that are regularly stocked with bluegill, bass, catfish, and trout, and rowboats, bamboo fishing poles, and life vests are supplied. You can choose
All of the amenities at Capon Springs and Farms are there to serve the founders’ vision for a comfortable but modest mountain retreat revolving around the property’s soothing spring water. In 2013 the resort was named Family Owned Business of the Year by the West Virginia Small Business Administration.
her itage | Lodging
from three tennis courts. You can hike. There’s often a Bingo game, plus the occasional pingpong tournament, nature walk, or basketball free-throw contest. There’s even an elaborate scavenger hunt that changes every year—it’s called the Caponchase Adventure. One centerpiece of the Capon experience is the spa—a new addition in 2007, but one that really melds with Lou and Virginia Austin’s original vision for Capon. “We know our grandparents both would have loved to have seen a spa on the property again,” Jonathan says. “It was always part of our grandfather’s vision.” People have traveled to this property for its spring water—believed to heal sickness and relieve stress—since the early 1800s, and around 1850, the state of Virginia built a pavilion over the spring at Capon. People traveled there to bathe in the water under their doctors’ orders. That pavilion is still standing at Capon Springs, but its antiquated claw-footed bathtubs were removed in the 1930s to make way for guestrooms. In 2007 Capon built a new facility, the Hygeia Bath 46 wvl • spring 2015
“It’s really a place where you can rejuvenate and go back to the outside world feeling rested and better.” jonathan bellingham
House and Spa, in a style reminiscent of the original springhouse, but with modern amenities. The spring-fed soaking baths are designed after the original brick-lined baths from the 1800s, but today at Capon guests can also get a massage, facial, or reflexology treatment at the spa. “What’s neat about Capon is the fact that it’s so accessible,” Jonathan says. “Some people might be intimidated by a spa, or think it’s something too fancy for them. But at Capon everything is comfortable, so people will try it and then have this whole world opened up for them.” The comfortable atmosphere is at the core of Capon’s identity and has been since the beginning—Lou Austin
was known for cutting off gentlemen’s neckties if they wore them into the dining room at dinnertime. “My grandfather said, ‘If we’re going to do this resort business we’re going to run it like our own home,’” Jonathan says. “You don’t dress up in your own home.” Over the years many men have left Capon a little sore about the loss of their neckties, but the Austins held strong on this point—and so did their children and grandchildren. That’s how Capon has preserved the cozy, familial atmosphere that has made it a desirable retreat for more than eight decades. Jonathan says, “It’s the Capon way.” 1 Main Street, Capon Springs, WV 26823 caponsprings.net
Weaving Heritage
Inspired by the self-suďŹƒcient culture of Arthurdale, Ben’s Old Loom Barn keeps a tradition of weaving alive and thriving. written by mikenna
photographed by nikki
pierotti bowman
her itage | Art
on a foggy morning, one when the Canaan Valley hills can barely drag their heads above the milk white clouds until after sunrise, Sarah Fletcher gets to the weaving barn before 10 a.m. and opens its doors to the community. Not long after, a string of women—mature, most retired—filter into the warm, well-lit space and get to work at the looms. They chat and laugh in time to the gentle rhythm of treadles and the whisper of shuttles through vibrant threads. Together they make something of a performance, each occupied with a slightly different pattern— overshot, twill, plain, huck—creating a dance in color and voice. “You might say the kind of weaving you choose to do is an expression of who you are and what you like,” Sarah says. This remote crafts store and weaving studio in the Davis area is called Ben’s Old Loom Barn, named for the giant pre-Civil War-era barn frame loom (so called for its barn-like construction) pressed along one wall. Made of hand-hewn rough wood, the old loom came from Sarah’s father’s family and is still actively used to make things like rugs. Nearly all of the looms in Sarah’s barn are in constant use during the open season, generally the first of May to the end of December. Sarah and fellow weaver and basket maker Joni Neubert keep the barn open four or five days a week for local weavers and tourists. Almost every day you’ll find at least a pair of local weavers, sometimes as many as four, working in tandem as shoppers mill about. Sarah tries to cater both to the tourists who find their way to the barn even through the spring fogs, and to the weaving community. “We’ve been a best-kept secret for a long time. All the local weavers know about us. That and word of mouth are my two best advertisements,” she says. As owner and manager, Sarah is always looking for ways to promote the barn, though it’s been a fixture in the community since her mother, Dorothy Thompson, opened it in the 1980s. Other than the 800-square-foot sales space stocked with jewelry, soaps, baskets, and woven, crocheted, and knitted goods of all kinds, you’ll find a room happily cluttered with looms of many shapes and sizes, a space draped in feet upon feet of fabric and miles upon miles of thread. This is where the ladies come to perfect their craft, take weaving classes, and network. “The producers are mature adults. This is often a second income or a hobby. And it’s partially social,” Sarah says. “A couple of the girls, they have several looms at their own houses, but a lot of times it’s just more fun to work with a lot of people.” 50 wvl • spring 2015
Weaving is an ancient and often mythologized art. But for many women at the loom barn, including Sarah and her aunt Virginia Mayor, also a weaver, the connection they share to this craft is one more rooted in family than fable, growing out of a very American desire for self-sufficiency and a well-known Depression-era project called Arthurdale, more than 50 miles away. Ask 82-year-old Virginia about her connection to that particular experiment in self-sufficiency, the first homestead community to spring up in the wake of the Depression, and she’ll laugh. “Oh my goodness, don’t get me started,” she says. Some historians have been quick to rubberstamp First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt’s New Deal project, the town of Arthurdale, and the other 99 homestead communities as failures. Citizens chosen to live and work there had homes with land, electricity, and jobs working at local co-operatives or selling handcrafts like furniture and woven textiles. But these homestead communities
didn’t inspire the nation to revert back to a subsistence lifestyle. Neither did they reinvigorate the family farm nor steer the economy away from rapid industrialization— all things President Roosevelt cited as potential balms for widespread poverty and famine in the wake of the Great Depression. But, Virginia says, for the people who lived in Arthurdale and learned traditional skills like weaving and farming, the experience was life-changing. “All the families that moved there became self-sustaining. The men and the women worked on what they could. It was not a failure at all,” she says. People like Sarah’s mother and the barn’s founder, Dorothy, turned the experience of Arthurdale into a lifelong passion and business. “Weaving never would have come to this area if it weren’t for Dorothy and Arthurdale,” Virginia says. Dorothy’s kin, Slovak and Czech immigrants, came to Arthurdale in 1935 already a family of craftspeople. Dorothy’s mother taught her daughter to weave at 10 years old and Dorothy’s father was a
Art | her itage
The loom barn has more than a dozen looms—the largest of which is a pre-Civil War-era barn frame loom.
wvliving.com 51
her itage | Art Sarah comes from a long line of weavers. Old photos of
talented woodworker who made looms. “I can remember very well my mother and the neighbor lady down the road, they would get balls of rags ready and go out and take them to Dorothy’s mother. They would weave rugs there. That was my first introduction to weaving,” Virginia says. In a self-sufficient community like Arthurdale, a talent for weaving was nurtured. Dorothy went on to study weaving through local vocational classes, spending hours a day for two years. Both Dorothy and Dorothy’s mother, Rosie, had a talent for weaving and people took notice. Rosie also ran the weaving room at the local school. But it was Eleanor Roosevelt who made sure Dorothy perfected her craft even further. “Mrs. Roosevelt recognized her potential 52 wvl • spring 2015
“You might say the kind of weaving you choose to do is an expression of who you are and what you like.” sarah fletcher
and arranged for my mother to go to weaving school in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1940, fresh out of high school,” Sarah says. Thanks to the first lady’s intervention, Dorothy learned from one of the best hand-weavers of her generation, Lou Tate. Virginia remembers it, though she was just a child. “Dorothy graduated from high school
women who spun and wove to support their families fill the barn.
in 1939 and Eleanor was there. She came and spoke. Dorothy was down in Kentucky almost a year,” she says. But with World War II on the horizon, Dorothy hurried home to be with her family. Over the years, Dorothy’s passion for the craft evolved into a love of teaching, even as the dream of Arthurdale faded. After Dorothy was married she and her husband, Ben, whose grandmother had been a weaver and spinner, relocated to Canaan Valley, where Ben’s family owned acreage. There they started their own farm. Dorothy didn’t give up on teaching or weaving, though. In the 1960s she set up a local weaving program thanks to a Johnson Administration program supporting adult education. Even after the program ended, Dorothy continued teaching the countless aspiring weavers who came to her for help. “She started teaching up at the old school until they needed to tear it down. That’s when she started the barn,” Sarah says. From winding the warp to the more advanced techniques, she took on apprentices, taught at the August Heritage Center in Elkins, and did demonstrations at festivals. “The idea was to give local women a craft to make extra money because all we had in Canaan was farming. There was nothing else.” Meanwhile, one of Virginia’s sons, Doug, and his family had also moved to Canaan Valley. Doug was a builder and Dorothy enlisted him to help her husband, Ben, build the barn on the Thompson property in the 1980s. Virginia, who had missed out on the opportunity to learn weaving at school in Arthurdale, found a new opportunity under Dorothy’s tutelage. After retiring early and moving to Canaan Valley with her husband, Virginia took an apprenticeship under Dorothy, funded by the Augusta Heritage Center, which allowed her to learn overshot weaving, a skill Virginia later demonstrated at the Augusta festival and one she still practices several hours a day. And when Virginia’s husband and daughter passed away, she turned to weaving to keep her mind and heart busy. “A lot of nights I couldn’t sleep,” she says. “I would just come out and be at my weaving for an hour or so
and I could go back to sleep. I don’t know what I would have done without it,” she says. “Dorothy taught so many of us. She did a lot of good for a lot of people. Weaving gave the women things to do to stay active and make some money, which did a lot of good for the area. And it brought in a lot of people.” After her mother’s passing, Sarah took over the barn and breathed new life into this tiny bit of Arthurdale heritage, continuing to sell local arts and crafts and teach weaving as well as provide items from the barn’s artisans to local fundraisers and silent auctions. Sarah has regular exhibits at ArtSpring in Tucker County, the Leaf Peepers Festival in Davis, and the Mountain State Forest Festival in Elkins as well. She also acts as intermediary between local artisans and the public, taking orders over the phone and providing a lending library for her weavers. “I help people who are looking for help. I link them up with people and help them find what they’re looking for.” For Sarah, the barn is more of a calling than a profession and, like her mother, she sees the value in keeping the craft alive—for the people of Canaan Valley and anyone else who wanders in through the fog. “I always grew up with a loom in my house,” she says. “I’m carrying on that tradition that my mother started.” 209 Cortland Road, Davis, 304.642.4161 wvliving.com 53
Travel to Wardensville
A small dot on West Virginia’s map is well on its way to becoming a destination. written by laura
wilcox rote • photographed by carla witt ford
her itage | Travel The Lost River Trading Post and New Biz Launchpad (bottom, center) are
just some of the new ventures happening in Wardensville in Hardy County.
wardensville is probably not what you’d expect, assuming you expected anything. This town of less than 300 people, 100 miles from Washington, D.C., is arguably not on most West Virginians’ radar—but it should be. “The idea is to make this a destination,” says Mayor Barbara Ratcliff. Anyone traveling from D.C. or Baltimore to, say, Lost River—a community in the Hardy County mountains that’s long been popular with D.C.’s gay population as well as anyone seeking respite in the woods—has to drive the two-lane through Wardensville. There’s currently no other route. It’s how Paul Yandura, chair of the new Main Street initiative in Wardensville, found the place. “This is the first thing in. This is the first thing you see,” he says of traveling from D.C. to his vacation home in Lost River for years. Folks may one day bypass this small town, Barbara says, as plans are in the works for a freeway, though likely a decade or more away.
In the last five years Wardensville’s Main Street has begun to transform with shopping, dining, and even great art. “We need to be a reason to get off the freeway,” Barbara says. The beautiful Lost River Brewing Company, serving fresh seafood and other delectable dinners and handcrafted brews, opened in 2011. Paul’s store, Lost River Trading Post, opened in 2013. An art gallery, the Mansion on Main, opened in early 2015, as did an Eastern West Virginia Community & Technical College venture called New Biz Launchpad. In February lights went up on the rooflines of many Main Street businesses to attract even more attention downtown. “This town has been ignored for so long, but the bones are here,” Paul says. Buildings that used to house liquor stores or bars are now gift shops and spaces for entrepreneurs. There may be only a couple hundred residents, but they have access to a gym, yoga, and the arts. The town even has fiber optics. “There’s a lot of energy and excitement here,” Barbara says. Barbara has been a large part of moving the city forward, being elected mayor in 2014 as part of a largely new city council. Originally from San Diego, she’s lived in Wardensville for 15 years. “It’s just beautiful, and the people are really nice. You don’t get this feeling in a big city.” 56 wvl • spring 2015
Paul yandura
Turning Point
More to Explore Many West Virginians don’t realize what’s in the area at all, Paul says. Those who do simply want to see Lost River, and Paul is happy to
Mile Diner, and Star Mercantile are all must-see stops on a Wardensville weekend getaway.
Laura Wilcox rote
The Mansion on Main, Lost River Brewing Company, WV Hands, Quarter
Paul Yandura
Paul has similar sentiments, having lived in D.C. for more than a decade. He worked for the Clinton administration, but after years in politics, it was time to escape. He and Donald Hitchcock, longtime partner and Trading Post co-owner, have played a crucial role in reviving Wardensville after years of traveling through on their way to Lost River, less than 20 miles away. “The more I came out the more I was like, ‘I have to find something else to do and stay out here,’” Paul says. They purchased a 1940s feed store on East Main Street to create Lost River Trading Post. Then they bought the house next door— now one part home, one part real estate office. Today when people drive State Route 55 on the way to outdoor adventure at Lost River State Park or a weekend at the luxurious Guesthouse Lost River, they’re struck by an attractive facade inviting them to explore Paul and Donald’s Trading Post. They stop in for killer coffee or baked-from-scratch pastries and fall in love with the 5,000-square-foot store and art space. It’s like stepping back in time, only brighter and friendlier. “People are trying to re-create the old time, and we can do it authentically,” Paul says. Inside, you’ll hear ’40s music playing, in keeping with the building’s history. “It’s like a stage set and it’s supposed to be.” Everything at Lost River Trading Post is American-made. You can shop the offerings of 150 artists, from jewelry and handbags to wooden cutting boards and hand-painted axes. There’s also a huge craft beer selection, West Virginia wines, and regional coffee. Behind the store’s main room you’ll find the Grasshopper Gallery, where even famous artist and recluse Robert Singleton has shown his paintings. “He is a world-renowned artist who lives in the hills over here. He kind of hid for 20 years. He became so big he ran away from New York,” Paul says. On the other side of the gallery is another large retail space offering all things old—from weird antiques to metal signs and lights. “People know when they come in here they aren’t going to see what they see in Target,” Paul says. But the Trading Post isn’t the only place to shop local. In the back of the Wardensville Pharmacy is WV Hands, offering all West Virginia-made items, from Blenko glass to quirky, handcrafted clocks. “It’s a little hidden gem I don’t think people even realize is here,” Paul says.
courtesy of mansion on main
Travel | her itage
show them around, as long as they check out Wardensville, too. “They have no idea this is here,” he says. When Paul and Donald opened their own small business in Wardensville, they were banking on traffic from D.C. to stay afloat. “We thought it would just be the weekenders from Lost River who would be our business. I would say that’s 20 percent,” he says. “Tons of people around here want a better experience. They accept what’s here, but they also yearn for a higher-end experience.”
Paul says it’s all about atmosphere, and that’s clear from the booming business at both the Trading Post and Lost River Brewing Company. “This restaurant is the reason we’re here,” Donald says as entrees of rice noodles, fish and chips, and rib eye arrive at one of the brewpub’s packed tables. Local Wally Myers owns the brewery and runs the successful business with help from his sons, Adam, who brews, and Daniel. The family runs another restaurant on the Chesapeake Bay, where they get all of the restaurant’s seafood. “The first year I was here wvliving.com 57
her itage | Travel Lost River Brewing Company is in the heart of downtown and
and offers both fine brews and dining. Warden Lake offers a chance to fish.
Nearby, you can get a restful night’s sleep at The Inn at Abbott Farm.
Lake—both of which allow boating and fishing with proper licenses. Keep the excitement alive with a visit just over the county line to Capon Crossing Farm for Bluegrass in the Barn, held monthly. Dates for early 2015 are already set—including March 14, April 11, May 30, and June 20. While the music attracts hundreds of people from all over, you can also enjoy brisket, chili, and drinks on the 555-acre farm. Year-round, folks stop by to buy grass-fed beef or visit the small market for jellies, salsa, and more. Back in town, hear the sounds of Waites Run as it snakes through the 50-plus-acre Wardensville Town Park, also home to a swimming pool and facilities for volleyball, basketball, baseball, walking, and, of course, picnics. Waites Run is stocked with trout from March through May and is known for its great fly-fishing. Nearby, visitors in the know will find the private home where George Washington stayed when he surveyed the land in Wardensville in 1749.
people would come in and say, ‘Softshell crabs and oysters?’ I said, ‘I bring them up every week.’ Still do,” Wally says. Lost River Brewing has six beers on tap, from the popular West Virginia Common—an easy drinking light-bodied beer with floral notes—to the pale ale. You can also find its beers on tap everywhere from Morgantown to Huntington. Visitors and locals alike also love an oldfashioned meal up the street at favorites like the Kac-Ka-Pon Restaurant or Star Mercantile. For a meal like Grandma’s, the Kac-Ka-Pon is known for made-from-scratch pies—try the coconut cream—and more. Then there’s Star Mercantile, also known as The White Star, where locals slide into one of the original red booths for breakfast. Star Mercantile dates back to 1935 and has been a general store, apartments, and even a raucous bar. Now it’s part diner, part gift shop—with everything from handbags and 58 wvl • spring 2015
jewelry to kitchenware and décor. In summer its deck opens for music. Barely off the beaten path, the racing-themed Quarter Mile Diner is one-of-a-kind. The restaurant serves up everything from pizzas to fish tacos, but it’s really famous for the Nitro Burger—a charbroiled beef patty that is beerbattered, deep-fried, and topped with barbecue sauce, bacon, cheddar cheese, and bacon coleslaw. Fortunately, being nestled in the valley below the mountain that forms the VirginiaWest Virginia border—as well as lying along the Cacapon River—means you have ample opportunity to work off all those good eats kayaking or hiking. You can access the Great North Mountain Trails from many points in the county, and you’ll find trail maps and more information at Wardensville Visitor Center. The area is also home to two public lakes—the 44-acre Warden Lake and 17-acre Rock Cliff
Paul says more business is on its way, thanks in no small part to the New Biz Launchpad, which gives entrepreneurs the space and training they need to get off their feet. “It’s easy to start a business here and it’s cheaper than anywhere else,” he says. “In this town there are no excuses.” In late winter 2015, several new businesses were in the process of considering opening in town. Paul and Donald have big plans for the future, from dreams of getting a viewing deck over the Cacapon River across from their store to opening a farm-to-table restaurant one day. This past Valentine’s Day they hosted a pop-up restaurant at the Trading Post, and they hope to see more of those. More immediately, visitors this summer will find a farmers’ market outside the store, part of a partnership with local high school students. It’s all part of a larger effort to help the small city thrive. “We really want to get people to stop, and then once they stop, figure out a way to get them to stay, shop, and then hopefully want to move and live here,” Paul says. “We’re already seeing that as real estate agents. Before this was just kind of a place to stop and get gas before Lost River. Now people are saying, ‘I want to get closer to Wardensville.’”
Carla Witt Ford; Paul Yandura; Laura Wilcox rote
The Future
Earth, Water, and Light
A seventh-generation business draws on an ancient natural resource to please a modern palate in Kanawha County. written by mikenna
pierotti • photographed by elizabeth roth
her itage | Living Local
six hundred million years ago the earth that would become the Appalachian Mountains lay buried. Over that soil, Iapetus, a vast briny ocean, ancestor of the Atlantic, stretched blue-gray for thousands of miles. Continental shift would one day force the mountains to rise and swallow Iapetus. But millions of years later the salty traces leftover would shape the economy of an entire region, not to mention the fortunes of several West Virginia families, and perhaps point the descendants of those families in an unexpected yet fortuitous direction. “A lot of things had to go right, because a lot of things could have gone wrong,” says Lewis Payne, chief operating officer of J.Q. Dickinson Salt-Works. He isn’t talking about the death of an ocean, however. He’s talking about the rebirth of a family business now in operation on the same land after decades of stillness. “It seems like it was fate,” he says. Right now Lewis is in Charleston, amidst the dusty concrete and fluorescent glow of a small city. He works in natural resource management. But soon he’ll head southeast 60 wvl • spring 2015
of town to his family’s 60-acre farm in Malden, where J.Q. Dickinson Salt-Works has been producing its acclaimed handharvested gourmet salt since 2013. Lewis comes to the farm to check on production and help the saltworks’ two full-time employees with the harvest. But he also goes because it’s in his blood. It has been for seven generations. “When you drive by you think it’s an oasis—this green space in the middle of open sprawl. I’m there almost every day.” In summer and winter the harvest begins with pumping brine from a well and filling a 2,500-gallon tank. After employees filter out the naturally occurring iron in the water, the liquid is gravitationally fed to long shallow beds in greenhouses, called sun houses, where temperatures can reach 150 degrees. Once the brine has evaporated to a target concentration of salt, it is moved to a shallower beds. There, light, air, and time turn slushy brine into intricate crystal. The larger grains are first harvested as a finishing salt and the smaller grains are
collected for cooking salt, a product marketed to chefs. When harvesting, employees use hand-carved tools to shovel and scrape the salt into cloth towels that are then hung to dry, and the salt is sifted, ground, and packaged. Employees save and sell the leftover saltwater, called nigari, a coagulant used to make tofu and ricotta. Saltworks salt doesn’t belong in a shaker. Dickinson’s salt is the only salt in the northern hemisphere that comes from a natural brine aquifer, and it’s the sort of pure, bright white you’d imagine coming from an ancient ocean untouched by man. Piled in a cherry wood salt cellar, the crystals practically glow. The flavor is bold, mineral, and complex, with a crystalline texture that pops and crunches in the mouth. It pairs well with anything—fresh salad, bakery bread, meats, scrambled eggs, or salted caramel. “When we got our first good batch the taste was outstanding. It was strong and clean and the color really blew me away,” Lewis says. “It’s the taste that brings people back. People talk about how addictive it is.”
Living Local | her itage
The saltworks’ products come from an ancient brine aquifer. The brine is fed into beds in sun houses where
time, sunshine, and fresh air reveal pure, white salt, perfect for anything from meats to bread to savory salads.
her itage | Living Local Siblings Lewis and Nancy re-imagined their family’s seventh-generation salt-making business. Gourmet
In the early 19th century William Dickinson, an entrepreneur from Virginia, got hooked on this Kanawha mineral. He’d heard rumors of rural people in the valley who were boiling their water and making salt, and in 1813 he took a chance, investing in salt properties along the Kanawha River. The initial drilling was dangerous, backbreaking work. “The way they first drilled wells was very different,” says Nancy Bruns, CEO of the saltworks and Lewis’ sister. “They took hollowed out sycamore trees and drove them into the ground. Then they put a man inside and he would dig and send back up buckets of muck.” It took years, but by 1817 Dickinson was making salt. His business became one of the largest and longest operating salt producers in the area. Malden earned the title “saltmaking capital of the east” and Kanawha Valley pure white salt caught the attention of connoisseurs, winning best salt in the world 62 wvl • spring 2015
at the 1851 London World’s Fair. Even after the 1861 flood and the Civil War shuttered many regional salt makers, it wasn’t until 1945 that J.Q. Dickinson Salt-Works stopped producing salt altogether. Decades after its heyday, the saltworks found a new champion in Nancy. She and her husband had sold their restaurant in North Carolina, her husband was going back to school for a graduate degree in history, and something about his master’s thesis on the Kanawha Valley salt industry sparked her interest. Being in the culinary industry, Nancy knew of the recent resurgence in gourmet salt use. Himalayan, black Cyprus, hand-raked crystals from salt ponds in France—minerals from around the world were being marketed as key flavors. “Being in the food industry, we were devoting more and more of our pantry to different salts, and it occurred to me that there was a market for it,” she says.
chefs and customers around the world now seek out its products for the unique flavor and history.
She called Lewis. “At first I was taken aback. It seemed drastic,” he says. “But the more I thought about it the more it made sense. We had the history.” With Lewis’ expertise in resource management, Nancy’s knowledge of the culinary arena, and connections in both worlds, the brother/sister team approached their cousins who own the land and farm where the saltworks once stood and asked to lease some earth. With a full-service landscape design firm aptly called TerraSalis already going strong on the property, complete with the greenhouses Nancy and Lewis would need to dry the salt, it seemed like fate. Working with Gaddy Engineering in Charleston and relying on historical documents they’d uncovered from family members across the country, Nancy and Lewis chose the spot and started drilling. At 350 feet they hit the sweet—or salty—spot. “Fortunately we hit saltwater right were we thought we would. We were lucky,” she says. At that depth the water was four to five percent sodium chloride. “About that of an ocean,” Nancy says. Then came quality control. “We knew we could make salt from this source, but we didn’t really know what we’d get,” Nancy says. They experimented for three or four months at different stages, depths, bed sizes, and harvest times. “We got this amazingly beautiful salt and we tasted it. It brought tears to our eyes,” she says. “I knew we could make salt. I didn’t know it would be this good.” With decades of regional history in the earth under their feet, Nancy and Lewis pride themselves on working with local businesses for marketing and other services whenever possible. That’s just part of their story, they say, and it’s one reason why consumers are lining up at the many stores now selling their products. “We want to support local consumers and restaurants. That’s the reason we’re filling this niche. People want to know where their food is coming from. People are attracted to an authentic brand that has a good story,” Nancy says. “A lot of brands make up a look that appears authentic, but it’s all smoke and mirrors. Ours is true. It’s seven generations of history.” jqdsalt.com
Living Wild
This new vacation community is the place for active, sustainable living with great views. written by shay
maunz •
photographed by rick
lee photography
her itage | Spaces
clockwise
The Cliff House has stunning views. Its dining room and kitchen are sleek and modern.
picture a country road winding through the mountains that border the New River Gorge. All you can see is dense woods on either side of you and blue skies overhead— there’s not a manmade structure in sight. This is Carl Frischkorn’s vision for his new real estate development, Wild Rock, in Fayette County. “One of our goals is to be able to drive through and not see a bunch of homes,” Carl says. “There’s no need for lawns—the forest is so beautiful.” Wild Rock is a new community of vacation homes being developed on a 650-acre 66 wvl • spring 2015
piece of property near the gorge, surrounded by land protected by national and state park boundaries and the Adventures on the Gorge adventure resort. Wild Rock is still in its infancy, but when fully developed it could have as many as 150 homes—all tucked discreetly into the wilderness, blending in with their environs. “Respecting the natural environment and working with it when building—people give that a lot of lip service these days whether they know what they’re talking about or not,” says TAG (short for Tinsley Azariah Galyean, Jr.) Galyean,
Spaces | her itage The Cliff House takes advantage of passive solar gain.
The master suite has large glass doors that open onto a porch with a view.
master designer at Wild Rock. “But here they’re really committed to that and followed through with it. Wild Rock’s commitment to this is authentic.” The idea behind Wild Rock is to form a community in the wilderness while making minimal disruptions to the natural surroundings. And that goes for everything—from the master plan for the community as a whole to the footprint of each new home to the materials used when constructing it all. “We are a sustainable community in the sense that we want people to live, operate, and interact with the property on a light-touch basis,” Carl says. Even the pace of development has been determined by the developers’ wish to be minimally disruptive to the environment— they’re taking it slow and steady, with a few dozen new parcels of land up for purchase at a time.
Eye on Design Here’s how it works: When people purchase property at Wild Rock, they’re committing to a very deliberate, environmentally conscious design and construction process for their new homes. The developers don’t force property owners to follow one specific pattern when designing their houses, but they do expect they’ll work with architects to come up with plans that work for both their families and the environment. “When a lot of developers go to build a house they take a bulldozer and knock everything down, build the house, and then they go to the nursery and buy a bunch of trees and plant them,” Carl says. “Well, to take a 100-foot tree down and replace it with a 10-foot tree is crazy.” Wild Rock has a set of design guidelines that applies to all of its new structures— try not to cut down trees, for example, and reforest with native plants. To enforce and interpret those guidelines, there’s a review board of experienced designers. “It’s hard to make rules that apply perfectly in every condition, so there has to be interpretation there,” TAG says. “But at Wild Rock that interpretation is being done by folks with experience.” In addition to the handful of houses that have been built by property owners at Wild Rock, a few houses have been constructed by the developers themselves and are currently for sale or rent. One house designed by TAG is an especially striking example of sustainable design that works with the natural surroundings. For example, the house is built tall and away from the ground, so it has a relatively small footprint. “It’s up in the air a bit,” TAG says. “It has to go to the ground because we’re subject to the forces of gravity there, but the building has a minimum impact on the ground around it.” wvliving.com 67
“That’s the whole point of my work—to make somebody really calm as a guest, to use the space, experience it, love it, want to come back.”
The main building of The Tree House has a large, open kitchen, wraparound porch, and two master suites, each
68 wvl • spring 2015
with its own bathroom. It connects to a smaller bunkhouse with a sleeping porch, too.
Matt Sanchez, Digital Relativity
tag galyean
Spaces | her itage
It’s not that the environment is considered at the peril of creature comforts, though. TAG has had a long and notable career designing for luxury resorts like The Greenbrier, The Broadmoor Resort, and Casa Palmero at Pebble Beach, and he approached this building with the same mindset he has when he’s working on a resort project. What an owner wants in a vacation home isn’t so different from what a guest wants in a resort, after all—and what the user wants is critical to good design. “I spend a lot of time thinking about how people are going to use a space and how the space is going to affect them,” TAG says. “That’s the whole point of my work—to make somebody really calm as a guest, to use the space, experience it, love it, want to come back. That’s what makes it successful.” He designed The Tree House to be equally comfortable for a couple’s romantic getaway
or a retreat for a large family. There’s a main building with a large, open kitchen, wraparound porch, and two master suites, each with its own bathroom. “So if I’m there with another couple, I don’t have to feel guilty that our bedroom is nicer,” he says. Then there’s a smaller bunkhouse, connected to the main building by an elevated walkway, with two bedrooms and a screened-in sleeping porch for up to four people. “I see a gang of teenage cousins out there together staying up all night,” TAG says. The second house, designed by Formwork Architects, is called The Cliff House for its stunning view of the river 900 feet below. The modern home is covered in sheets of reclaimed lumber—100-year-old siding from an old blue jean factory in Georgia—with reclaimed pine flooring inside. It’s designed to take advantage of passive solar gain, meaning the structure collects and stores heat from the sun in the winter but rejects that heat in the summer.
The Tree retreats, Plus the house’s House is nestled in views of the gorge comfortable the woods are unparalleled, and for romantic of Fayette getaways County. its design takes full or family advantage of that. The master suite has large glass doors that open onto a porch with a stunning view, and the kitchen and dining area are elevated a few feet above the living area to allow for the best view of the gorge at all times.
Nature’s Playground Carl, a serial entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and West Virginia native who now lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, got involved with Wild Rock in 2007. He was working with a real estate company that specializes in second homes, and a piece of land on the New River Gorge came to their attention. Carl was naturally intrigued: The property surrounded wvliving.com 69
her itage | Spaces
Adventures on the Gorge, one of the area’s premier white water rafting and adventure resorts. “So there was a ready-made amenity there in the form of restaurants and outdoor activities,” he says. “There’s even a great pool.” Then there was the property’s close proximity to Fayetteville, one of West Virginia’s hippest small towns. “Fayetteville is the gem of the south,” Carl says. And finally, the biggest draw of all—the view. The property borders the gorge itself, and 20 homesites have a direct view of the New River Gorge Bridge. But Wild Rock isn’t hogging all that prime real estate for itself. “One of the founding principles of Wild Rock is to be open to the community and accessible to the community,” Carl says. Many of Wild Rock’s amenities are open to the wider public during daylight hours. Those amenities include everything from a bocce ball court to a 10-mile hiking trail that winds through the property and borders the New River Gorge. The real magic of Wild Rock might be that it is not your average vacation community. Instead of tennis courts there are hiking trails. Instead of golf courses there’s rock climbing. “If you contrast this to someone who has a home in a golf course community, when you go there you can golf and play tennis, maybe go to the pool, but then what else is there?” Carl says. “Here you can hike and climb, boat, raft, and ride a biplane. This is a place for people who like adventure.” 70 wvl • spring 2015
Join US
Extravaganza FoR THe 4TH annUaL
ON
March 12, 2016
WVU erickson alumni Center
Featuring keynote speaker
Sam Saboura from TLC’s Something Borrowed, Something New WV Weddings magazine cordially invites you to the state’s premier wedding event. Experience informative and inspiring sessions, an expo highlighting the state’s fi nest wedding vendors, a décor showcase, a delectable brunch with inspiring speakers, and great discounts and giveaways.
Attendee registration available online starting December 2015 ATT ENTION VENDORS
If you are interested in participating in the Extravaganza as a vendor, please visit mywvwedding.com/ extravaganza for details and to register. Vendor registration available online starting November 2015. Sponsorships available - contact Christa Hamra at christa@newsouthmediainc.com
Lemon
Love
Show some appreciation for this unsung hero of culinary art.
JaCK oF aLL TRadeS, the lemon can
do anything—brighten a savory dish or balance a sweet treat, amp up flavor or tenderize meat. Used a capella, lemons can be overbearing, but that doesn’t mean this evergreen fruit is content to play second fiddle. Let your citrus shine in everything from lemon-infused coff ee cake to lip-smacking liqueur.
written by Mikenna Pierotti photographed by Carla Witt Ford
her itage | Food
hearty goodness
Avgolemono Chicken Soup with R ice
This simple soup is easy to make from leftover rice and roasted chicken. If you’re lacking in leftovers, you can buy instant rice and a precooked rotisserie chicken. 4 cups chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste 2 cups rice, cooked 2 large egg yolks ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1 pound roasted chicken meat, coarsely shredded ¼ cup fresh dill, chopped Zest of one lemon, washed and scrubbed
1. Cook rice according to package directions. 2. In a large saucepan, season stock with salt and pepper and simmer on medium heat. 3. Transfer one cup of hot stock to a blender. Add ½ cup of rice, egg yolks, and lemon juice. Puree until smooth. 4. Add puree to remaining stock along with chicken and remaining rice and simmer 10 minutes or until thickened, then stir in dill. 5. Serve garnished with a sprig of dill and lemon zest. yield: 4 servings
Food | her itage
Frut ti di Mare
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 2 garlic cloves, minced 2 cups tomatoes, crushed ½ teaspoon hot red pepper flakes 1 pound mussels, scrubbed ¼ cup dry white wine ½ lemon, washed, scrubbed, and sliced 12 large deveined, tail off, precooked shrimp 1 pound calamari, sliced 3 tablespoons parsley, chopped 1 tablespoon basil, chopped 1 package linguine or other noodles Salt and pepper, to taste 1. Cook linguine according to package directions until al dente. 2. While water comes to a boil, heat oil in a large saucepan on medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring often until soft but not brown. Add tomatoes and pepper flakes and bring to a simmer. Turn burner to low and keep warm. 3. Combine mussels, wine, and lemon in a large saucepan. Cover and boil on high heat, 3 to 4 minutes, shaking pan occasionally until all mussels open. Put mussels in a bowl, reserving liquid but discarding any unopened shells. 4. Strain liquid through a fine sieve into tomato sauce. Discard lemon pieces. Remove two thirds of mussels from shells and keep remaining mussels for garnish. 5. Simmer sauce for 2 to 3 minutes until reduced. Add cooked shrimp and calamari rings. Continue to simmer, stirring frequently, until rings are opaque. Add reserved mussels to sauce, stir in parsley and basil, and simmer 2 to 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. 6. Drain pasta thoroughly and return to pan. Add sauce and toss to coat. Serve in deep bowls, topped with a few mussels. Add a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese and spritz of lemon to the finished dishes for extra flavor. yield: 4 servings
a lemon a day Ancient Egyptians may have used lemon water to purge toxins from the body. Today lemon juice is thought to decrease dizziness and nausea, prevent kidney stones, treat scurvy, and lessen cold and flu symptoms. wvliving.com 75
HeR iTage | Food
Limoncello
deli zios o!
Remove from heat and let syrup 2 750 milliliter bottles 100-proof vodka cool completely. Zest of 15 lemons, washed and scrubbed 4 cups sugar 3. Add cooled syrup to vodka mixture 5 cups distilled water and let rest in a cool dark place for another 10 to 40 days. 1. To a large glass jar (1 gallon with lid), add vodka and lemon zest. Cover jar 4. After resting, strain limoncello with a tight lid and let rest for 10 to 40 through a coffee ďŹ lter or cheesecloth days in a cool, dark place. (Hint: The into sterilized bottles and seal longer it rests, the better it will be.) tightly. Store in your freezer until ready to serve. 2. In a large saucepan, combine sugar and water and bring to a gentle boil.
yield: 10 to 12 12-ounce bottles
Citrus Coffee Cake 2 lemons, washed and scrubbed 1 small orange, washed and scrubbed 1 cup plus ⅔ cup granulated sugar 1⅔ cup water 1 stick unsalted butter, softened 1½ cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder ¾ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon baking soda 2 large eggs, room temperature ½ cup low fat buttermilk, room temperature candied citrus topping 1. In a large skillet, combine 1 cup sugar and water. Bring to a simmer over high heat, stirring occasionally. Slice lemons in half, reserve half for juice. Cut remaining lemons and orange into slices. Place slices in syrup and simmer until translucent, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove with tongs and let dry flat on parchment paper. Reserve remaining syrup. cake 2. While citrus dries, preheat oven to 350°. Grease a standard loaf pan with butter or coconut oil and dust with flour. 3. In a small bowl, zest lemons and set aside. Juice remaining lemons, collecting approximately 6 tablespoons of juice, and set aside. 4. In a large bowl, whip butter and remaining ⅔ cup sugar until fluffy. Add eggs and beat well. Add zest and 3 tablespoons juice, beating to combine. 5. Add half of the flour mix, alternating with half of the buttermilk. Blend well, add second half of flour and buttermilk. 6. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake until cake is golden brown or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 45 to 55 minutes. citrus syrup 1. Add remaining 3 tablespoons of juice to remaining syrup. 2. Remove cake from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a parchment covered wire rack. 3. While cake is warm, poke top all over with toothpick to 1 or more inches depth. Pour syrup over cake evenly and let rest 20 minutes to soak. Remove parchment and allow to cool completely before topping with citrus slices. yield: 8 servings
Sweet and Sour Citrus Candy 2 lemons, washed, scrubbed, and sliced paper-thin 1 cup sugar
1. Preheat oven to 200°. 2. Dip lemon slices in sugar, shake off excess. 3. Places slices in a single layer on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. 4. Bake six hours or until hardened. For a sweeter version, prepare lemon slices in simple syrup as in our Citrus Coffee Cake recipe (above) then bake. Can also be made in a dehydrator. wvliving.com 77
her itage | Food
Glazed Lemon Cupcakes 4 large eggs 3 ½-ounce package instant lemon pudding mix 18 ½-ounce package yellow cake mix (without pudding) ¾ cup vegetable oil glaze 4 cups confectioners’ sugar ⅓ cup fresh lemon juice Zest of one washed and scrubbed lemon 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1 to 2 tablespoons of water 78 wvl • spring 2015
1. Preheat oven to 350 º. Grease mini-muffin tins (or standard size if desired) with coconut oil or vegetable oil cooking spray. Combine eggs, cake mix, pudding mix, and oil. Mix until thoroughly blended. 2. Pour batter into tins. Fill each cup about halfway. 3. Bake for 12 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean. 4. Remove cakes from tins and let cool slightly. 5. Meanwhile, sift sugar into a medium-sized
bowl. Add lemon juice, zest, oil, and water. Mix until smooth. 6. While cakes are still warm, dip each in glaze by hand until covered, turning to coat. Place each on a wire rack lined with parchment paper to dry. yield: Five dozen mini cakes or 10 to 12 standard cupcakes
EAT + DRINK + BE LO CA L |
Living in
Moundsville This tiny Northern Panhandle town is riding its history into the future. written by Katie Griffith photographed by Nikki Bowman & Katie Griffith
F
or a small city in the Northern Panhandle, Moundsville boasts a dramatic history. Its wide tree-lined boulevards just 50 years ago were home to a booming industrial center. Before that, early farmsteads and earlier indigenous civilizations called the peaceful landscape along the Ohio River home. Remnants of each period are visible today, from towering Victorian homes rejuvenated with new paint to imposing Gothic structures hinting at a darker past to an orderly shopping district with rows of businesses that seem like they’ve always been there. “The Grave Creek Mound, the West Virginia State Penitentiary, Grand Vue Park, the Palace of Gold, and the Fostoria Glass Museum—it’s amazing the history and the industry that was here at the turn of the century,” says Karen Baker, owner of popular Moundsville restaurant Alexander’s on 7th and member of the Moundsville Economic Development Council. The seat of Marshall County, Moundsville’s population once topped 15,000, though today the population hovers around 9,000. As local legend goes, 19th century residents once had a choice to be the location of the state’s new land-grant university or home of the state penitentiary. They chose the penitentiary and were soon graced with a sandstone fortification sitting on more than a dozen acres in the middle of town, a site of prison riots and executions as well as a spoke of societal life. Through the 1980s Moundsville was also the headquarters of the Fostoria Glass Company, specializing in hand-blown glass, and home to a multitude of iron producers, factories, mills, and coal mines. By the end of the 20th century industry was shuttering its doors, the penitentiary had closed, and Moundsville’s population was on the decline. But that’s changing. Oil and gas jobs are helping to revive a flagging economy and the city is dusting off its colorful past to attract business by way of tourism. “Moundsville was a major hub that had so many businesses and so many people who lived here and thrived,” Karen says. “We’re trying to get the message out that we’re still here, and we’re reinventing ‘thrive.’”
Shopping and Food
The uptown business district that centers on Jefferson Street is full of shops that have spent dozens of years at the same brick buildings, even as big-box stores have decimated the traditional shopping districts of larger towns. Allen’s Bootery has been outfitting locals with shoes for more than 60 years. Frame and Fortunes is owned by a retired carpenter who makes handsome custom frames. Nearby is a fabric and quilt shop called Theresa’s Fabrics, with intricate workmanship reminiscent of days gone by. Walk up and down Jefferson Avenue for more décor, florist, and craft shops, and stop in at any of a number of nearby food shops like Quality Bake Shoppe on Second Street specializing in all things sweet. Moundsville offers plenty to try if you’re craving something a bit more 82 wvl • spring 2015
Sitting on the Ohio River, substantial—from panhandle Moundsville was named staples like DiCarlo’s Pizza just for its iconic Native outside of town to a number of American burial mound, but there’s plenty more to other small town joints. discover around town, For a real treat, Alexander’s from history to shopping on 7th offers a delicious twist to great dining. on old American classics, dished out in the sophistication of the refurbished historic bank building on Seventh Street. There you’ll find Karen in the kitchen, carefully preparing fresh local ingredients for her daily lunch specials Monday through Friday. “People always say, ‘Oh, if you were in Wheeling,’ or ‘If you were in St. Clairsville,’” she says of the restaurant. “But we’re in Moundsville. We’re a small community and we work together to make it the best we can.” Everywhere you look relics of Moundsville decorate businesses and restaurants. At Alexander’s an old West Virginia State Penitentiary skeleton key sits in a sleek black frame made at Frame and Fortunes, along with a local artist’s rendering of the gothic building. “When people come here they say, ‘Oh, what a great little place.’ That’s what my pay is—to hear people say good things about Moundsville and Alexander’s and what a friendly place it is,” Karen says.
wvliving.com 83
History and Arts
Moundsville’s history is of particular interest to many visitors. Lovingly cared for museums and historical experiences under the direction of passionate local leaders sit blocks from one another. One spot that’s hard to miss is the infamous West Virginia State Penitentiary. This gargantuan sandstone Gothic structure built in the 1860s was once the cramped home of 2,000 of West Virginia’s most dangerous inmates. Prisoners at the self-sufficient site farmed their own food and cut their own hair. The penitentiary was an integral part of the community—guides say the warden hosted social events in his quarters and locals would come in for haircuts of their own—until dilapidation and violence forced the facility’s closure in 1995. Now tourists can wander through the abandoned prison halls, rumored to be among the most haunted in the country, with guides who once guarded its gates. Across the street from the penitentiary and also in the middle of town sits the Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex. The 2,000-year-old burial mound built by the Adena people blooms with grass and wildflowers in spring and is believed to be the largest of its kind in the U.S. The museum is also home to the West Virginia Archaeological Research Facility and is open year-round. Nearby sits Johnny Shar’s Big Dipper, half ice cream shop, half carnival museum, and lots of fun for adults and kids alike. Just a block away is the 300-seat Strand Theatre, built in 1920 at the cost of $100,000. The old brick vaudeville theater was recently purchased and restored by the Strand Theatre Preservation Society, and today it stands as the only theater in Moundsville, according to chamber Executive Director David Knuth. After more than $1 million in renovations to restore paintwork, refurbish seating and bathroom facilities, and fix a dilapidated roof, the theater’s schedule is filling up. “We’re not only having stage plays, we’re also showing movies and different types of musical events,” David says. “We have bands that are coming in. We have the grade schools here in Marshall County that are actively coming as well.” Nearby you’ll find two more places dedicated to Moundsville’s industrial past. The stunning Fostoria Glass Museum offers two floors of 20th century glass in every color imaginable, reminding visitors of the large Fostoria Glass complex that once employed thousands of local residents, while the equally fascinating Marx Toy Museum is one of the region’s more unusual offerings. An unassuming building on Second Street, the Marx Toy Museum reputedly houses the largest display of Marx toys in the world, the personal collection of museum curator and local Francis Turner. Walking into the Marx Toy Museum is like walking back in time, as visitors are met by the chrome and checkerboard motifs of mid-century America—Elvis croons from a jukebox and old television commercials extoll the wonders of Marx Toys. Marx manufactured for decades in a factory in nearby Glen Dale, employing thousands of residents from West Virginia and Ohio. Once the largest toy manufacturer in the world, Marx 84 wvl • spring 2015
From the former West Virginia State Penitentiary, where visitors can now tour reputedly
haunted halls, to the more lighthearted Marx Toy Museum dedicated to one of the area’s more robust
manufacturers, there’s a little something for every visitor in and around Moundsville.
A preserved theater, great food, and unbelievable landmarks are just some of what make this area
unique. The Marx Toy Museum is a must-see in Moundsville. Just a quick jaunt out of town sits Grand Vue Park,
an outdoor recreation destination for locals and visitors. Farther out of town sits the stunning Palace of Gold.
shut down production in 1980, but not before amassing a reputation for quality and eccentricity. Best known nationally as the producer of the Big Wheel and many of your childhood playsets, Marx toys also sneak in plenty of references to the Moundsville area and its local toy makers.
Nearby
Life in Moundsville isn’t all history, however. Drive a few miles from the city center for outdoor adventure. Grand Vue Park boasts a zip line canopy tour and 15 miles of recreation trails, plus an aquatic center, par three golf course, disc golf, miniature golf, a playground, ice skating, geocaching, and more. Farther out of town you’ll find America’s Taj Mahal, Prabhupada’s Palace of Gold, in New Vrindaban, unlike anything else in the state— perhaps unlike anything in the country. Sitting about 20 minutes northwest of Moundsville, the Palace of Gold is perched like a fairytale Indian kingdom in the middle of Appalachia, surrounded by rose gardens, serene pools and fountains, and walls of twisting gold and black motifs dotted by intricate stained glass windows. The palace was constructed in wvliving.com 85
Two beautiful homes sit nearby in Glen Dale—the Bonnie Dwaine Bed and Breakfast in a restored
the 1970s as a home for the founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, or the Hare Krishnas. What began as a simple temple abode built by untrained laborers became an ornate place fit for kings. Today thousands of visitors and pilgrims visit the site each year. Back toward Moundsville sits Glen Dale, just north of town and impossible to exclude. Home of the late governor Arch Moore and of celebrated country star Brad Paisley, the Glen Dale area draws visitors of its own and is hard to separate from life in Moundsville. There, high school sports at John Marshall High School are the talk of the region. Another shrine to local history is Glen Dale’s Cockayne Farmstead. Once internationally renowned Merino wool producers, the Cockayne family was active in social and political life in the 1850s, as evidenced by a beautiful wooden farmhouse showcasing early American farm life. The property is full of original family artifacts and was bequeathed to the city following the death of the reclusive Samuel Cockayne, the last of the Cockayne family who lived there in near 19th century conditions. It is undergoing extensive restoration. Just up the street you’ll find accommodations at a local favorite that has been offering the comforts of home to visitors new and old for more than a decade. Bonnie Dwaine Bed and Breakfast offers five guest rooms, each with a private adjoining bathroom, in a resplendent restored Victorian that almost acts as a local museum itself. Owners Bonnie and Sid Grisell are on-site to offer conversation, directions, and amenities, including a memorable spread of breakfast goodies and plenty of coffee in the morning. Sid, whose family has long been in the Moundsville funeral home business, can trace his family’s roots in the area back to 1891. “We’ve got a real history here,” he says. Bonnie grew up on a dairy farm right outside of town and later moved to Pittsburgh, before life and love brought her back. “This is a great little place,” Bonnie says of the area. “Sid calls it a family. Everybody pretty much knows everybody. It’s safe, it’s clean, people take a lot of pride in their homes, and we’re only an hour from Pittsburgh.” 86 wvl • spring 2015
Victorian is a great place to rest your head, while the 19th century Cockayne Farmstead is a wonderful local museum.
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DESIGNING ON THE PRINCIPLES OF THE PAST AND PRESERVING FOR THE FUTURE THE WEISS BUILDING 63 Wharf Street, Suite 300 Morgantown, WV 26501 | 304.296.1010 THE KALEY CENTER 53 14th Street, Suite 607 Wheeling, WV 26003 | 304.233.0048 Visit us at millsgrouponline.com and vimeo.com/millsgroup
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INSIDE
HISTORIC
HOMES We uncover one-of-a-kind stories in houses in every corner of the state. written by
Laura Wilcox Rote photographed by
Elizabeth Roth & Nikki Bowman
RESTORING
Ridgedale
I
t was a cold, rainy day after Thanksgiving when Mike and Carol Shaw first set foot on the property also known as Washington Bottom— Ridgedale—once owned by George William Washington, distant cousin of President George Washington, on a plateau overlooking the South Branch of the Potomac River near Romney. Standing there with their real estate agent, they peered through the door of the 12,000-square-foot, 19th century house with a leaking roof and host of other problems for the first time. “We opened the front door of the house and water was coming all the way down to the floor,” Mike says. “It was in a state of disrepair. It hadn’t been lived in for 15 years or so.” Mike and Carol mulled it over—should they buy the whole 250-plus acres, or could they just buy 50? In 2004 they bought it all and set out to work.
The Shaws are no strangers to fixing up old houses—they’ve been buying them since they married in the ’70s. “But this project was far above anything I had ever done. It took 10 years to get to this point. I could probably never do it again,” Mike says. “I was a young man when I first started working on it.“ Built in 1835, the Greek Revival-style Ridgedale has been owned by only three families—the Washingtons, the Brinkers (who purchased it in 1940), and the Shaws. George W. Washington and his wife moved to the farm in the early 1830s and built a log cabin, living there until the main house was complete. During the Washingtons’ time the farm was teeming with life—with many children as well as cattle, sheep, pigs, and horses. The farm grew corn, hay, soybeans, oats, wheat, and flax. Ridgedale was also used during the early stages of the Civil War as a Confederate base of operations, and cavalries camped in the yard, calling it Camp Washington. The property is also the site of Fort Williams, a fort from the French and Indian War, and an ancient Native American mound. While the house has most of its original heart pine floors, hardware, and even window glass, some remnants from the Washingtons’ time are less expected. After the bricks—fired from clay dug on the farm—were ready to go, the masons penciled in a white lime mixture to emphasize and visually straighten the mortar joints. Mike says this made the house look even more grand. “Guests would sign in the mortar on the front porch and on the sleeping porch out back. It’s all there,” he says. Even the Washington children wrote their names. One hundred and eighty years later, the property is still a sight to behold. Seventy-five windows, 13 fireplaces, eight bedrooms, five baths, five chimneys, three barns, two sleeping porches—the property is in nearly tip-top shape. Its dignity was restored after years of repairs by Mike and a team of contractors working five days a week. The extensive restoration project was partially funded by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History and the U.S. Department of the Interior through the National Park Service. Chimneys were rebuilt, built-in gutters were restored, and months of replastering took place. A new standing seam copper wvliving.com 93
roof was installed. The house was re-wired and re-plumbed. Mike Brinker, son of the Brinkers the Shaws purchased the house from, was the lead contractor on the years-long project. The original heart pine flooring on the first two floors gleams. Pocket doors slide open with ease—one set opening two rooms to make a ballroom. “Things really weren’t changed too much since 1835,” Mike says. The Shaws also worked to match many of the wall colors to their 19th century shades. “We steamed off the old paint down to the original. We found some of the colors, especially in the bedrooms, and my wife repainted them those colors.” The Shaws have plans to re-hang the house’s original shutters—some of them 9 feet tall—and build new ones to match as needed. The originals resurfaced when a neighbor who was gifted them by the Brinkers years ago turned up at Carol’s office. “These shutters had been sitting in his barn for I don’t know how many years. He just gave them to us,” Mike says. As the house nears completion, the couple also looks to fix up the farm’s old bank barn. The property’s original barn burned down on Christmas Day 1907. Its replacement needs a new roof. More than 10 years later, the Shaws look around in disbelief at their good fortune. While the house is occasionally open for tours, it’s no exhibit. It’s home. “We didn’t want to make the house a museum. We wanted to live in it,” Mike says. “This is the greatest place we’ve ever been. It was meant to be lived in.” It took a lot of time, labor, and money, and it’s the most difficult project Mike says he’s ever done, but it’s been worth it. He says the Shaws have no plans to move. “We pinch ourselves when we sit in the house now. Did we really do all of this?”
Rails to Ridgedale Ridgedale is part of an annual tour that invites participants to board the Potomac Eagle train and ride to Ridgedale, where they tour the house and see reenactors. Lunch is included, and the event benefits Romney’s Celebration Park. The event is the first Sunday in June. The weekend starts on Friday with a candlelight program. potomaceagle.info
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THE BRICKS The house was built from bricks fired from clay on the farm. The masons penciled in a white lime mixture to emphasize and visually straighten the mortar joints. “Guests would sign in the mortar on the front porch and on the sleeping porch out back. It’s all there,” he says. Even the Washington children signed. STEP UP The Romney home boasts its beautiful, original staircase. “It’s a work of art,” Mike says. “It’s made of walnut and the treads are heart pine. It goes from the first floor to the third floor.” IN THE KITCHEN The remodeled kitchen is Carol’s favorite room in the house, and Mike credits a lot of that to the work of Mike Brinker, including the cabinetry. Mike Brinker, the son of the family the Shaws purchased the house from, made the cabinet boxes from antique cabinets, glass, and wooden doors Carol found and loved. The kitchen incorporates all old wood and clear number 1 pine. Mike Brinker also installed the walnut countertops, using walnut that had been air dried for years.
PRESERVING
Park Hill
G The 1914 Park Hill Farm was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.
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rowing up, Sam St. Clair remembers staying at a friend’s house one night when he was bet $1 he wouldn’t run and touch the door of the spooky, overgrown house with the big dog nearby. Today he laughs at the memory. “I made the dollar,” he says. It was just the beginning of his time with the big, old house. His family bought the place and moved there about a year later. Sam’s parents—Jim and Doris “Mickey” St. Clair—have always loved old houses. Sam jokes that he and his siblings grew up like “house gypsies,” bouncing from one place to the next before landing at the historic Freeman Estate, also known as Park Hill Farm, completed in 1914. The 11,000-square-foot Craftsman-style house in Huntington now sits on 40plus acres but was once the 250-acre estate of Charles and Zubah Freeman. “Freeman moved here to set up oil and gas. When World War I hit he made a bloody fortune,” Sam says. In 1911 Freeman, who had also been a practicing lawyer, commissioned Verus T. Ritter, a Philadelphia architect who also designed commercial buildings in
Huntington, and his firm to design the house on the hill on McCoy Road overlooking Ritter Park. Outside, the most notable feature is the grand, 80-foot front porch floored with red quarry tile. Tiffany Studios of New York was commissioned to decorate the interior with opulent lighting, chandeliers, clocks, and art. The house had a library, servants’ quarters, butler’s pantry, sunroom, and so much more. According to the National Register of Historic Places application, Mrs. Freeman’s favorite room was the sunroom with its small, glass-paned windows and doors. There she is said to have enjoyed her needlework. The house was ahead of its time—it had a central vacuum system, intercom system, and was fully electric. It had gas-heated clothes drying cabinets and walk-in closets. Sam says the technology was remarkable, and the Freemans were good custodians up until Mrs. Freeman died in 1967 and her daughter died in 1971. Relatives lived in the home until it was purchased by the St. Clairs in 1977, but the house also began to lose some of its worth around that time, as most of the light fixtures were removed and sold at public auction before the St. Clairs were able to buy the property. Today the house maintains its original lights in just a few places—including on the front porch and in the front hall.
The billiards room in the basement has a fireplace with the Freeman coat
of arms. In the dining room, Huntington artist Parker Harlowe imitated
French wallpaper samples to paint a large mural.
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By the time the St. Clair family moved in in the late 1970s, the front porch was caving in, the roof was in disrepair, and only one of the four-and-a-half bathrooms was in working condition, Sam says. The family got to work. Sam recalls going from room to room, stripping the walls, sanding, and painting. “Most of my friends got to go home and watch cartoons. I got to go ‘push mud’ I called it. But it was fun. It was a good way to learn,” he says. The property also includes a 1914 dairy barn—constructed of sandstone, similar to the house—that Mickey added onto and converted into a modern living space. Even in the early 20th century the barn had electric lights, running water, and plastered interior walls. The barn had approximately six cow stalls on the first floor, a hay loft upstairs, and a large manure pit next door. The manure pit was converted into a sitting room and bedrooms were created on the second floor. “This is a woman who’s taken on massive projects. I appreciate that,” Sam says of his mother’s work. “I do the same. You can’t be scared—you have to get in there and do it.” These days, Sam, his wife, Joan, and their children live in the historic Freeman house and carry on the legacy of hard work. They took ownership in 2012, the year the derecho swept through the state, adding to the work he and his wife already planned to do. “We had to come in and redo all the infrastructure,” Sam says. They installed new sewage and water lines, buried the electric, and put in air conditioning. While the farm is still, in part, a farm—the St. Clairs have chickens—Sam dreams of one day returning it to a working farm. He’s even considering getting some long-haired sheep. During the Freemans’ time, the farm was home to chickens, sheep, cattle, and more, as Mr. Freeman continued to breed the animals even as he managed a large number of oil and gas enterprises in the region. Sam and Joan have revamped the gardens, and today the estate feels alive and vibrant. The house has even hosted the likes of celebrities Ryan Seacrest and Jamie Oliver, whose production crew wanted to use the house to film in its elegant, modern kitchen. The house’s décor is beautiful and eclectic throughout, a mix of Mickey’s style and Joan and Sam’s. Mickey ran an interior decorators’ shop for many years and often worked with local artists. She gave Huntington artist Parker Harlowe French wallpaper samples to imitate, culminating in the beautiful mural he painted for the dining room. The colorful room 98 wvl • spring 2015
can also be expanded by opening the double doors into the front hall. In the basement, a billiards room is another favorite and includes original built-ins and a large ceramic fireplace and mantel containing the Freeman coat of arms. The National Register of Historic Places application calls the property one of the last remaining “grand estates” of the pioneer industrial developers who once lived in Huntington. Many of the stately homes left are on small tracts of land, as the original acreage was subdivided and sold for home sites. The Freeman estate is said to be the largest home site remaining in the Huntington area.
A 1914 dairy barn on the property was added onto and made into an apartment. The original barn was also ahead of its time, with electric lights, running water, and plastered walls.
The James Jarrett House at Fair Hill sits just outside Alderson and dates back to 1815.
GREENBRIER COUNTY
Grandeur
T Built in 1881, The Cedars was home to the most influential “ dime” novel writer of her time.
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he Greenbrier Valley area is rich in history to say the least. Dating back to the 1700s, properties throughout the county tell the story of early pioneers, the Civil War, and even high society. Every other year the Greenbrier Historical Society and North House Museum host the Lemonade & Lavender Historic Homes & Garden Tour, inviting the public for a look inside everything from stately homes to remarkably restored cabins. This year’s tour will take place June 12 to 14, 2015. Greenbrier County has an unusually large number of historic homes that have made it across the centuries relatively unscathed, according to Toni Ogden, acting director of the Greenbrier Historical Society. As part of the tour in 2013, locals and tourists alike stepped back into a world of both stagecoaches and farms. “That year we really wanted to get out into the country and show more of what was going on
in other areas not too far from Lewisburg,” Toni says. While the tour changes each time, Toni says it never disappoints. The 2013 weekend tour included the James Jarrett House at Fair Hill, just outside of Alderson; The Cedars in Alderson; Spring Valley Farm in Ronceverte; Edgarton Inn in Ronceverte; the Montgomery Cabin near the unincorporated community of Secondcreek near the Greenbrier County border; and many others. The James Jarrett House near Blue Sulphur Springs dates back to 1815. The three-story farmhouse was built of native sandstone by early pioneer James Jarrett, and the house’s remaining original materials show off early carpentry skills. Jarrett and his three brothers are said to have come to the Greenbrier Valley as early as the 1770s. He reportedly made his first house of logs on Muddy Creek, while beginning to gather stones from all around him to make something more substantial. In Alderson, folks are still talking about The Cedars, which had a ballroom upstairs. “Older people here remember going to balls in that house,” Toni says. “Dignitaries and even a president came through. This
was a place where they could go and nobody would know they were going to be there. They could do the country’s business and have time to talk. That was a big deal.” Built by Alexander McVeigh Miller in 1881, The Cedars also has quite a literary history. Mittie Clark Miller wrote many of her 80-plus “dime” novels here to supplement her husband’s schoolteacher salary. Mrs. Miller left The Cedars in 1920 after catching her husband having an affair. The property was used briefly by the Alderson Baptist Academy and Junior College as a dormitory. In Ronceverte, Spring Valley Farm has always been in the Dickson family and continues to be the site of a significant collection of 18th and 19th century outbuildings, with some of the valley’s best examples of pioneer building, from hand-hewn logs to braced frame barns. In 1837 Richard Dickson built the main farmhouse and used oxen to pull the original 18th century log cabin over to become the dining room. There was no door between the dining room and
kitchen into the main part of the house for many years. Finally, in 1864, a door was cut from the dining room into the main house. Prominent cabinetmaker Conrad Burgess did most of the woodwork for Spring Valley Farm. “He did the mantels in all the rooms except the one in the dining room. It was the original mantel that was there whenever the log part was built in the 1700s,” says Page Dickson, who’s lived there for nearly 30 years. The mantel in the living room is especially unique, with oak leaf carvings in it. “Conrad Burgess said, ‘I think we need to put some interesting motif in this mantel,’ so he went out and brought oak leaves in.” A downstairs wing was added to Spring Valley Farm in 1890, and bathrooms were added around 1914. Back in the 1850s, stagecoaches would stop on their way between the area’s salt springs to change horses and have breakfast at Spring Valley Farm. “Richard Dickson would serve breakfast for anybody who came through for 50 cents gold,” Page says. Also in Ronceverte, Edgarton Inn on Walnut
Prominent cabinetmaker Conrad Burgess did most of the woodwork in the house on Spring Valley Farm. “He did the mantels in all the rooms except the one in the dining room. It was the original mantel that was there when the log part was built in the 1700s,” owner Page Dickson says.
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The next Lemonade & Lavender Historic Homes & Gardens Tour will take place June 12 to 14, 2015.
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Street is a beautiful Queen Anne-style bed-and-breakfast that dates back to 1810, when the initial structure was built by Thomas Edgar, founder of the Ronceverte settlement St. Lawrence Ford. Victorian architecture was added to the building in 1885. The property’s brick drive and manicured lawn with bright flowers and towering, old trees have beckoned sleepy visitors to stay the night since Edgarton opened as a bed-and-breakfast in the 2000s. Today you can stay in one of four rooms, sleeping in a Victorian tower room or enjoying a bay window view. For a real return to rustic, the region’s Montgomery Cabin on the Greenbrier and Monroe counties’ border was reconstructed using logs from two 1700s structures near the community of Secondcreek. Multiple buildings are on this off-the-beaten-path property—the main house, a barn, and a woodshed. greenbrierhistorical.org
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The Wheeling Scottish Rite Cathedral is being restored to its earlier splendor in time for its 2016 centenary. written by Pam Kasey photographed by Carla Witt Ford
n August 4, 1927, Wheeling looked its finest. Charles Lindbergh was stopping through on his every-state Spirit of St. Louis tour. He was a celebrity, of course, having recently made the first nonstop solo transatlantic flight. Nail City feted Lindy with a parade. And when it came time for evening festivities, he held the seat of honor at a banquet in one of the city’s most lavish venues: the Scottish Rite Cathedral. The five-story structure easily received a national hero. Its grand 14th Street facade, animated at its center by the Scottish Rite’s two-headed eagle, drew visitors into an entryway of black and white Italian marble—lots of it. “Steps and columns and carvings of marble—opening up into a room with mosaic tiles on the floor,” says Victor Greco, a principal in Mills Group architects’ Wheeling office, of a space that looks much today as it did in 1927. “And plasterwork—a lot of dentil work and egg and dart beads. The level of craft and the uniqueness 106 wvl • spring 2015
of the various priceless materials amaze you.” Banquet guests would have walked through that space to the second floor, to a soaring, 7,000-square-foot ballroom that accommodated 850 for dinner that night on china made by Wheeling’s Warwick China Company. It was surely an event of local joy and pride. That banquet, and the decades that followed, represented better days for the Scottish Rite Cathedral. As the city’s fortunes fell in the latter part of the century with the decline of coal, glass, and steel, the organization’s membership fell as well. By the early 2000s, some maintenance on the building had been too long deferred. Most alarming was water damage: leaking through the roof as well as downspout blockages that forced water to back up into the walls, damaging ornate plasterwork in rooms throughout. The building was nearing a point of no return. The Scottish Rite, more formally the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, is a fraternal philanthropic organization. It operates throughout
The entryway is fashioned almost entirely from Italian marble, thought to be carrara. Ornate plasterwork and whimsical stained glass give the library a unique character.
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Following plaster restoration, the ladies’ lounge got a fresh coat of paint. A bright Roman setting is one of many handpainted backdrops. Costumes sport rich colors, fabrics, and decoration.
Top: rebecca kiger fotografia
North America, the United Kingdom, and France and dates to 1801, with roots far deeper in history. Any member of a Masonic lodge is free to join. Nine “valleys,” or local bodies, operate in West Virginia, including one in Wheeling. The organization is closely identified with its philanthropic cause of speech and hearing—for the Wheeling valley, that includes donations to the Augusta Levy Learning Center for autistic children and scholarships for students in speech and hearing at Marshall and West Virginia universities. Although it’s not as vigorous as it once was, the Wheeling valley still has about 1,200 members—many local, many retired and dispersed to other locations. Forty or 50 attend a meeting on average. Scottish Rite cathedrals are not cathedrals in the Catholic sense. But the “cathedral” feeling comes through in their architecture and interior design, and that’s true of this 1916 structure designed by noted Wheeling architect Frederick F. Faris. It’s resplendent. It’s gracious. It’s rich and stately. It’s also a contributing structure to the East Wheeling Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places. And it’s the only building built in West Virginia expressly for the Scottish Rite, according to Charles “Chuck” Ryan, personal representative of the Sovereign Grand Inspector General of the Orient of West Virginia and general secretary of the Valley of Wheeling. Chuck is an advocate for the building and a driving force behind its restoration. Frederick Faris designed a place of hospitality for members and community. It had lofty rooms with pianos and broad fireplaces, an wvliving.com 109
The Scottish Rite’s two-headed eagl, once whole (left), is wrapped against further damage
(right). The ballroom is expansive. Charles Lindbergh’s signed portrait is on display.
elegant ladies’ lounge, billiards and duckpin bowling, a sumptuous library. And it bustled. “They used to have functions here every weekend—social functions, big orchestras playing. They served lunch every day, open to the public,” Chuck says. “A lot of people tell me, ‘I remember when I was a kid, we used to come here with my father or grandfather for lunch or dinner.’” The architect placed on the fifth floor an unexpected gem in a building of gems: an auditorium that, with balcony, seated 500, with elaborate plasterwork in an Egyptian theme that echoes the depths of the organization’s history. Master plasterworkers fashioned man-headed lions to flank the stage and regal heads to preside from atop high columns. They painted their work in bold hues and gold leaf for a festive feel. A visitor backstage can immediately see that the auditorium got frequent, appreciative use. Racks and racks of plush costumes stand in the dressing rooms. Props lean against walls or sit at the ready on tables. Switches in the control room for lights and other functions show years of wear. And side by side in the fly space hang 118 skillfully hand-painted canvas backdrops depicting rooms, ruins, and courtyards: atmosphere for every kind of play. The stage was used for ritual plays the organization puts on as part of its membership activities as well as for public events. Chuck says this is one of a small number of Scottish Rite theaters left in the U.S.—“They were lit with gas lights and many burned down”—and that only a very few have such a collection of hand-painted backdrops. Fast-forward 90 years. By the early 2000s, both the exterior and interior of the building suffered extensive and ongoing water damage. Stucco and other features had cracked and split with years of freeze and thaw. The twoheaded eagle was separating at its mortar seams, potentially endangering visitors through the front entrance. But the most severe losses were in the interior plasterwork: Ornate ceiling decorations in the first-floor library had crumbled. Large swaths of molding in the second-floor ladies’ lounge had decayed and a central chunk of ceiling had fallen. The fifth floor had taken the worst of it. “The auditorium was a complete surprise to me,” recalls plaster restorationist Sarel Venter of his first look, in 2012. “You really do not anticipate that they would keep the jewel for the top—and on such a vast scale. But in the worst possible place, right above the stage, you had a bulkhead section of about 200 square feet that had collapsed or was in threat of collapsing. The whole ceiling section had badly flaking paint—it looked like cottage cheese, and pieces of that were continually falling to the floor. And three of the Egyptian heads had been badly damaged by the water coming through.” Sarel was in the building with his restoration company, Adventures in Elegance, as part of a several-year 110 wvl • spring 2015
Slate pool and billiards tables have yet to be refurbished.
rehabilitation effort. The Wheeling Scottish Rite organization assembled enough membership and grant funding to replace the roof, repair the most pressing damage to the building’s exterior, and refashion plaster details in rooms throughout the building. As with any historic restoration, it’s been a painstaking process—for example, in the auditorium. “I could really empathize with the people who had done it originally, how it was done, and I really wanted to put it back the way they meant it to be,” Sarel says. “The damaged Egyptian heads had to be partially rebuilt and repainted to match the existing paint. The height made it more challenging— close to 40 feet. We had to build special scaffolding to be able to reach that safely and that was the most complicated part.” Although it may have been difficult to see a decade ago, this building was well worth preserving. It’s filled with original stained glass, woodwork, light fixtures, textiles, framed art, and other unique treasures. It’s all perfectly preserved, and the careful restoration work has brought it back to an organic whole with itself and the surrounding historic neighborhood. “The building is very deep in Masonic history and Scottish Rite history,” Chuck says. “And it’s a large part of the history of Wheeling.”
Activity at the Scottish Rite Cathedral has been minimal, though reliable, for years. The front entrance today is closed until the eagle can be restored in the spring. Two local Masonic lodges use a side entrance to hold their meetings on the third floor, and the Scottish Rite organization holds its meetings on the fourth floor. The ballroom and auditorium see only occasional activity. But with the restoration, Chuck would like to see the space opened to the public again—for meals, performances, even parties and weddings. He’s spoken with the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra about the possibility of a dinnerensemble series, a possibility the orchestra is open to. “It is a great facility and it’s in that part of Wheeling that I think people are trying to bring back,” says orchestra Executive Director Bruce Wheeler. “It’s not large enough for a full symphony orchestra, but it would be a great performance space for small chamber-type concerts, which is something we’ve been thinking about doing on a regular basis.” In May 2015 the Masonic lodges of West Virginia will observe their 150th anniversary in the Wheeling cathedral. One Wheeling lodge will mark its 200th year in the building in December. And in 2016 the Wheeling Scottish Rite organization will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the building itself. wvliving.com 111
the pa rting shot
Lavender Days photographed by
Carla Witt Ford
The smell of spring is in the air. We captured this bounty of lavender near Fish Hawk Acres in Rock Cave in Upshur County.
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