TheVirginia Explorer
PROPERTY VALUES
The woman responsible for The Greenbrier’s iconic decor was a
design tour de force. In her heyday, an advice column called “Ask
Dorothy Draper” was carried in 70 newspapers, and the “Draper
touch” ranged from the distinctive blue-and-orange of Howard
Johnson restaurants to the interiors of Packard cars.
“She used to tell her staff, ‘Show me no gravy’—earth tones
were something found under a rock,” says Greenbrier historian
Robert Conte.
Architectural Digest called The Greenbrier her masterpiece, and
the theme of what she called “masses of beautiful colors” is still in
evidence under the direction of her protégé, Carlton Varney.
The main building has 710 rooms and 33 suites. If walls could
talk, you might channel Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of
Monaco in the State Suite, and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor
in the Presidential Suite. The hallways are still wide enough to
accommodate the hoop skirts of the original female guests. And
there are 96 clapboard cottages, all with wood-burning fireplaces,
some dating back 200 years (but happily with many upgrades, like
running water).
SCRUMPTUOUS
SELECTIONS
PIOTR REDLINSKI
THE GREENBRIER
A pesticide-free chef’s garden
produces nearly all the fruits
and vegetables for more
than a dozen restaurants,
lounges and seasonal popups, including the makings
of a classic Southern fried
green tomato sandwich at
Draper’s café. For afternoon
tea, your oatmeal cookies
and coconut macaroons
might be served by Doris
Watson, who’s been doing it
for 50 years.
Savory and sweet delicacies invite
The best place to taunt
resort-goers to indulge their appetites.
your cholesterol is the
on-site steakhouse, Prime
44 West. The owner’s wife, Cathy Justice, has supplied her
cornbread recipe (a state fair winner), and Wagyu beef is
ordered by the ounce, perhaps accompanied by lobster mashed
potatoes (featured on The Food Network’s “The Best Thing I
Ever Ate”) and topped off with sticky toffee pudding.
The newly-added casino is drawing guests and generating a share of excitement.
22
V I R G I N I A G O L F E R | M AY / J U N E 2 0 1 4
Master_VSGA_MayJune14.indd 22
w w w. v s g a . o r g
5/1/14 12:43 PM