Date Night – Henderson Village

Langston House Restaurant

On a recent Saturday night, my husband and I found ourselves alone.  That rarely happens – even with almost grown children.  But lo and behold, daughter had gone to church camp, and little brother was visiting big brother in Atlanta.  So we decided to give ourselves a date night.  We drove a while on the interstate, wandered down a country road for a few miles, and arrived at Henderson Village.

reception center and guest check in

Henderson Village is a country resort in the heart of Georgia.  It was begun by an investor from Germany, Berhard Schneider, who remembered watching movies as a child with American soldiers in his aunt’s hotel in his homeland at the end of World War II.  One particular movie pictured white columned Southern mansions, and that image was what fueled his dream of recreating a place in the South like the one in the movie he so vividly remembered.

Hodge House

He bought 3500 acres, purchased and moved 19th century homes and several old tenant houses onto the property, and set about restoring them and turning the property into a resort.  The houses are now bed and breakfast accommodations, and the rooms are furnished with a mixture of antiques and modern amenities. The interior design for the resort was done by Amelia Handegan of Charleston .  I love her work.

Holland House

Wynne House

Wynne House

Wynne House

All of the above rooms are in the restored 19th century homes.  My personal preference, though is the tenant cottages that have been modernized without losing their rustic atmosphere.  The interiors remind me so much of my grandparents’ home in Alabama that I used to visit as a child.

Tenant Cottages 4 & 5

We have stayed in cottage 5.  Have a look at the bathroom and the sitting area.  It’s one of the larger cottages.

Tenant Cottage 5

Tenant Cottage 5 

You  have a choice of enjoying their wonderful breakfasts in your room or in the restaurant. (We opted for in the room when we stayed here.)

Tenant cottage 9 & 10

Tenant cottage 9 bedroom

Tenant cottage 9 bathroom

Tenant cottage 10 bedroom

Tenant cottage 10 bathroom

Although I love red, my favorite ones are cottages 7 and 8 that are decorated in blue buffalo checks and florals.  Cottages 9 and 10 (the ones with red fabric) do not have the authentic wood ceilings, but 7 and 8 do. That makes such a big difference in the appearance of the room to me.

Tenant cottage 7

Tenant cottage 8

The grounds at Henderson Village are beautifully done with fountains….

and gardens…

and a pool.

Their restaurant, Langston House, has been wonderfully restored too.

Langston House front porch

Langston House Restaurant

There are 3 original-to-the-house rooms used for dining, a bar, and an enclosed porch addition.

The room above is one of the restored original rooms.  Just look at those floors!  We were seated out on the new porch addition and had this view from our table.

I love their beautiful silver service for coffee.

My husband had their pan seared chicken breast.  (You can see the menu here.)  He said that it was good.

I had the grilled black angus New York strip steak.  It was topped with a red onion marmalade that was fantastic, and it also came with a wild mushroom gravy so delicious I could have licked my plate. (Don’t worry; I didn’t.)

I really wanted their chocolate ganache cake for dessert, but because I could only finish half of the steak, dessert was out of the question.  If you should happen to eat there, do save room for it.  I promise you it is to die for! (especially if you are a chocoholic like me.)

It was a fun evening…strolling around the charming grounds of the resort, photographing their wonderful old buildings, and enjoying an excellent dinner.

buckheadgarealestate.com

But there is one somewhat sad part to me.  Henderson Village is for sale because “the developer wants to pursue other projects.”  Knowing this, it was kind of easy for me to spot things that show they are making cuts in expenditures….no live plants hanging in the porch dining room, 2 of the 4 dining rooms closed off to the public, no birds in the aviary.  All of these are just little things, and they in no way impacted the quality of our meal nor the service we received.  It is just sad to me that it did not have its highest level of “little extras” that it once had – when there was a horse drawn carriage out in front of the restaurant awaiting you for a ride around the farm after your meal.

buckheadgarealestate.com

So if you happen to have $36 million just lying around waiting to be invested, you now know where you can spend it.   You would have your own bed and breakfast resort, a restaurant, owner’s quarters, a large hunting preserve, 3000 acres in planted farmland, and much much more.  The real estate listing can be found here along with a nice little slide show.

buckheadgarealestate.com

That was our date night.  Where do you go for yours?