Keswick Hall outside Charlottesville , Va . |
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a country club until the early 1990s when it was acquired by Bernard Ashley , the husband of tastemaker Laura Ashley , and converted into a small boutique hotel that retained its estate home feel . That was the intent : The entire hotel was designed to feel like a luxurious home , a characteristic it still gives off today . |
In 2017 , it was acquired by husband-and-wife Robert and Molly Hardie , who set out on an ambitious multimilliondollar renovation to establish what is now a true gem of the south boasting a Jean-Georges Vongerichten restaurant and a Pete Dye-designed golf course . Getting there wasn ’ t easy , but it was a labor of love for the |
Hardies , who beyond Keswick Hall also own The Hermitage Hotel in Nashville , under their H7 Holdings investment company . For Molly Hardie , a pediatrician by trade , who was brought up in a family business focused on real estate , the hotel bug came on the design side , working on renovation projects . She had a hand in the |
renovation and redesign of the guestrooms and Lemaire restaurant at one of Virginia ’ s most well-known and regarded hotels , The Jefferson , in Richmond , which was owned by her family at the time .
A LABOR OF LOVE In 2012 , her family purchased Keswick Hall from Orient-
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