page_title: The Omni Homestead Resort
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: The Omni Homestead Resort / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Lobby of The Omni Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, Virginia in 2016 This is an image of a place or building that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the United States of America. Its reference number is 84003494
context_page_description: The Omni Homestead Resort is a luxury resort in Hot Springs, Virginia, United States, in the middle of the Allegheny Mountains. The area has the largest hot springs in the commonwealth, and the resort is also known for its championship golf courses, which have hosted several national tournaments. The resort also includes an alpine ski resort; founded in 1959, it is the oldest in Virginia. The resort has been designated a National Historic Landmark; it has a history extending more than two and a half centuries. The Omni Homestead Resort is a member of Historic Hotels of America the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
context_section_description: In 1766, Thomas Bullitt built a lodge on the site, which is considered the founding of The Homestead. In 1832, Dr. Thomas Goode (physician) purchased the land from the Bullitt family and expanded the medical therapies, establishing a European style of spa treatment and hydrotherapy. It has hosted vacationers ever since, including twenty-three U.S. presidents.
  The modern resort dates from 1888-1892, when a group of investors headed by J. P. Morgan bought the business and started rebuilding it from the ground up.  The original hotel buildings burned down in 1901 caused by a fire in the bakery. The main Homestead hotel was constructed afterwards, one wing a year, with the main lobby reconstructed in 1902.
  Many American Presidents and influential people were Homestead guests. William Howard Taft spent July and August, 1908 at the Homestead, working and relaxing before the final campaign push, as did outgoing President Theodore Roosevelt, for a short period of time. Other notable guests included cartoonist Carl E. Schultze of Foxy Grandpa fame.
  From December 1941 until June 1942, following the United States' entry into World War II, the Homestead served as a high-end internment camp for 785 Japanese diplomats and their families until they could be exchanged through neutral channels for their American counterparts. The diplomats were later transferred to the Greenbrier Hotel in West Virginia.
  In 1943, during World War II, The Homestead hosting a very important conference of the United Nations in which was implemented the foundation of Food and Agriculture Organization.
  In 1993, The Homestead was purchased by Club Resorts, the same company which owned the Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina.  In 2006, Club Resorts and its parent company ClubCorp, Inc. were acquired by a private-equity group led by KSL Capital Partners, LLC.  KSL Resorts assumed management of The Homestead at this time. KSL sold the resort to Omni Hotels in 2013 and it was renamed The Omni Homestead Resort.
  It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1991.  Associated with The Homestead are the Homestead Dairy Barns, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.
caption: Lobby of the resort in 2016
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