Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 19, 1995 TAG: 9505190066
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHARLOTTE CRYSTAL THE DAILY PROGRESS
DATELINE: KESWICK, VA. LENGTH: Medium
If you're looking for a home site far from the madding crowd, Keswick Estate might be for you.
Indeed, if the thought of spending more than half a million dollars on a house and lot doesn't faze you, it could be a match made in heaven. Or at least in Great Britain, home of Sir Bernard Ashley, the British millionaire who masterminded the tony real estate development in Albemarle County.
``People are not just buying a home at Keswick, they're buying a lifestyle,'' said Linda Broadbent, the estate's sales representative.
Last summer, Keswick Corp. completed the sale of 41 lots in the first phase of its residential development, located about six miles east of Charlottesville. Now Ashley's company is offering 25 lots - from 2 to 4 acres - at prices ranging from $140,000 to $210,000. Ashley thinks it will take about two years to sell all the home sites, which are along the southern edge of the 640-acre property.
``It takes a long time,'' Ashley said, on a recent visit to the area. ``I don't believe in higgledy-piggledy development, and that certainly takes time.''
Houses built on the lots will have Colonial-style exteriors, either brick or wood, and modern American interiors with large kitchens, Ashley said. Prices for the homes, including lots, are expected to range between $500,000 and $800,000.
``Not very high priced,'' Ashley said.
Who will buy the pricey lots in Keswick remains unclear, but what is clear is the work and money Ashley has poured into the property since he bought it five years ago. Ashley, who co-founded the fabric company-turned-retailer Laura Ashley Ltd. with his late wife, bought the Keswick Club in bankruptcy court for $5.5 million in September 1990. Since then, he has invested more than $35 million in the three businesses operating on the property.
``Profit projections are not on line as they should be,'' Ashley admitted. ``We are breaking even, just. But we should be coming into profits in a year's time. It's a very enjoyable business now.''
Over the past five years, Ashley has renovated Keswick Hall, a hotel, and built sports facilities for the Keswick Club. He developed roads, sewage and water systems, and cleared away the brush for the homes. Keswick Estate refers to all three businesses - Keswick Hall Inc.; Keswick Club, a limited partnership; and Keswick Corp. - that Ashley operates through Ashley House Inc., an American company he controls based in Keswick.
Along with Keswick Estate, Ashley House owns and operates two other hotel properties: The Inn at Perry Cabin in St. Michaels, Md.; and Llangoed Hall, in Wales.
Keswick Club, which opened in August 1992, is a private golf and leisure club boasting an 18-hole course designed by Arnold Palmer, tennis, spa, beauty salon and fitness facilities. Individual and family memberships for the club range in price from $7,000 to $30,000 and have attracted nearly 300 members, including people across Virginia and throughout the United States, said Pete Bradshaw, director of real estate development.
The club offers three tennis courts and an indoor-outdoor pool. Plans include a 25-meter outdoor pool and another three tennis courts, plus a significant expansion of the fitness facilities.
The anchor of the estate is Keswick Hall, a 48-room, 8,000-square-foot country-house style hotel, with rooms decorated individually in Laura Ashley fabrics and wallpaper. The cost of an overnight stay at the hotel ranges from $195 to $645 a night.
Ashley said the hotel's business is 30 to 40 percent corporate. He said overall occupancy has tripled within the past six months, averaging 70 to 75 percent in season - from April through November.
The Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport has provided a tremendous boost to the hotel's business by enabling top corporate executives to fly into the area in private jets, Ashley said.
For the third, and probably final, phase of residential construction, Ashley envisions about 85 Colonial houses on 120 acres of the estate's woodlands. The company has received approval from Albemarle County officials for 75 houses and has applied for permission to build another 10.
by CNB