Author documents Keswick Hall's history

An emotion often associated with a search for the proverbial needle in the haystack is the fear that one already has overlooked it and moved on.

Patricia Castelli became familiar with this nagging dread — as well as the soaring elation that erupts when the needle is finally found. In her case, the elusive item was the date the Keswick Country Club’s golf course opened.

The date was just one of a number of mysteries she managed to solve while doing research for her new coffee-table book, “The Story of Keswick Hall.” She will be talking about the book and signing copies during a reception from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Sept. 21, at Keswick Hall.

“I found a book that was published in 2006 that said the golf course opened in 1939,” said Castelli, who serves as resident historian and learning and development specialist for the 48-room luxury hotel and country club east of Charlottesville. “A lot of the literature we have about the hotel says the course opened in 1939, but that didn’t make any sense. It was a private home in 1939.

“I had to find the newspaper article that said when it opened. So I sat in the downtown library going through microfilm of The Daily Progress, page by page, day by day, year by year.”

The torturous ordeal finally bore fruit when Castelli scrolled to page 10 of the June 14, 1949, edition of the Progress. In a two-paragraph item was the promised land — “Keswick Golf Course Will Open Tomorrow.”

The daunting search stands as a testament to Castelli’s self-imposed edict to “get it right.” In her mind, the magnificent estate, which has known great gaiety as well as despair and decay, deserved nothing less.

“To me, this story is all about people, and that’s why there’s so many stories about what it was like for real people here,” Castelli said. “And it was the people who kept me going through the tough times.

“I can’t tell you how many people said to me, ‘I’m so glad you’re writing this book. I’m so glad someone is finally documenting the history of this property, because there is so much there.’ ”

The new book is more than a historic account about a place. It also is a story of fascinating owners, unsolved mysteries and near death.

The story begins in the early 19th century, when the tract of land that now makes up the 600-acre estate was first carved out. Its modern history begins in 1912, when Robert Blakely Crawford III and his wife, Lizzie Florence Olney Crawford, built Villa Crawford as their home.

Today, Villa Crawford is the exquisite center jewel in a much expanded crown. It is where one can sense the touch of the past and feel the radiant glow of its joyful renaissance.

Its crystal chandeliers, high ceilings, old fireplaces and pleasant creak of the stairs suggests its gilded past. Countless guests have taken this all in and wondered aloud about the building’s history.

“When guests would ask me about the history of the property, I wouldn’t know what to tell them,” said Castelli, who has worked at Keswick Hall for nearly six years. “One day Bob Reid, who was a tennis pro here during the 1960s, was here having lunch. I asked him if he would mind sitting down with me one day and sharing what he remembered.

“We did that in the summer of 2008. He was so very kind. He brought newspaper clippings [and] photographs and answered all the questions he could.”

Other people familiar with elements of Keswick’s past also began sharing tidbits of information with Castelli. In 2009 she made the decision to tackle a book about the rise, fall and resurrection of Keswick Hall.

The current rise was instituted by Sir Bernard Ashley, who brought Villa Crawford and the surrounding grounds back from the brink of oblivion during the early 1990s. Orient-Express purchased the property from him in 1999 and has continued to elevate its international reputation.

Although Castelli received approval to do the book from the hotel’s general manager, Matthias Smith, it was her own independent project.

“I felt that if the hotel had said, ‘Here, do this,’ it would have had the hotel’s stamp on it,” Castelli said. “They would have had to approve every last page.

“Of course, they looked through the part about Orient-Express, which was totally understandable. But for the rest of it, the general manager didn’t see it until it came back from the printer.

“So it’s not a glorified brochure. It’s sad in places, incredibly alive in other places —and that’s what real life is.”

In a recent email Smith conveyed how proud he and the staff are of Castelli’s accomplishment.

“Patricia’s initiative and passion for sharing the story of Keswick is inspiring, as is the painstaking detail she took to ensure that a thorough and comprehensive story is presented,” Smith wrote.

“From the day Patricia came to us with the idea of sharing the story of Keswick, there has clearly been an increased interest and pride, both internally and throughout the community, in our origins as a private residence, a club and now hotel.”

Local author Avery Chenoweth said he was unable to put Castelli’s book down. He said once it was in his hands, he was “mesmerized” by its fascinating story.

“I enjoyed the mystery, the ruin, rebuilding and all the families that came and went,” Chenoweth said. “Patricia absolutely humanized Keswick for me.

“What she did was put people back in the rooms. She let me hear their voices and their conversations. She let me see what they ate for dinner and let me imagine a world that has disappeared.

“When I first saw Keswick back in the late 1980s, it was a ruin, with broken-out windows. It was Charlottesville’s pre-eminent haunted house. Now it’s simply gorgeous.”

Castelli said the first piece of information she uncovered about Mr. and Mrs. Crawford was an unsubstantiated love story of how they met. But her hope for a “beautiful love story” didn’t materialize.

“I discovered that, in 1917, Bob Crawford conveyed the property to Mrs. Crawford,” Castelli said. “Then I found out that in 1918 he left, and the following year she divorced him.

“In October 1919, he was found dead in his hotel room in Baltimore. My friend Rebecca Nordin was doing research with me at the downtown library when I made that discovery.

“I looked at her and said, ‘I was so hoping for a good love story.’ She said, ‘Not me. I was hoping for a murder.’ ”

Month after month, Castelli unraveled the estate’s history lead by lead, strand by strand. She said one of the best moments occurred while visiting with John Gaines on the front porch of his Charlottesville home.

“John was telling me about his father, who had been a chef at Keswick in the 1940s and ’50s,” Castelli said. “Then he said, ‘Oh, wait, I have one more thing for you.’

“He went back into his house and came out with the menus that his father had produced back when he was the Keswick chef. During the reception on Sept. 21, I’m going to try to have the hors d’oeuvre reflect the menu.”

The book is replete with photographs from the early years of Villa Crawford to the present. We see one-time owner Knox Turnbull, who had a dream of making the Keswick Club of Virginia the finest in all the land.

Turnbull was a major figure in the history of Keswick, but it was Ashley who ultimately became its savior. As its quintessential caretaker, when it came time to pass the property on to new hands in the late 1990s, Ashley chose carefully.

In the book, Dean Andrews, a vice president of Orient-Express at the time and the person who negotiated the deal with Ashley, recalls a telling moment during the talks.

“He [Ashley] turned to me and said, ‘You know why I’m going to sell it to you?’ ” Andrews is quoted as saying. “ ‘It is much more than the money — it’s most important to me that the hotel be handed over to the right individuals.’

“He didn’t want a trophy buyer. He truly believed Orient-Express could deliver a future for the property.”

And it has. Recently, Keswick Hall was named the “top small resort in mainland USA” by Conde Nast Traveler. Its guest book has been signed by people such as Anthony Hopkins, Fay Wray, Mick Jagger, and Lady Margaret Thatcher.

But far and away it has been everyday people who have filled the guest ledgers with remarks like, “Fancy and Fun,” “Enchanting” and “Out of this world.”

Now the guests have a book they can return home with — one that tells the story of a splendid place that has been well loved.

“One of the nicest responses I’ve gotten related to the book was from Dean Williams, who is a club member here,” Castelli said. “He said that people who write histories like this are like people who plant trees.

“They do it for future generations to be able to look back and understand. I appreciate his comment so much.”

“The Story of Keswick Hall” is available at Keswick Hall, Albemarle-Charlottesville Historical Society, New Dominion Bookshop, the Virginia Shop, Vino Veritas and Amazon. It retails for about $40.

A reception and book signing will be held from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Sept. 21, at Keswick Hall. Those who would like to share their own stories of Keswick can do so at www.storyofkeswick.com.