Capon Springs & Farms

The Main House, which was originally called the Annex, was constructed in 1887 under the proprietorship of Captain William Sale. Through the tireless efforts of countless guests and employees, the large fire that engulfed and destroyed the Mountain House in 1911, did not spread to the Annex.

Lou Austin bought the property surrounding the spring at Capon Springs in 1932 and proceeded to begin repairing many of the buildings, including the Annex, which he renamed the Main House. Maintenance crews extended the front porches and renovated the interior. Also, a new kitchen was soon constructed for Capon's original cook, Pearle Anderson Kump, whose name appears on many of the Food Shop products today.

Running water was added in the late 1930's, carrying Capon Springs water, from the spring itself, to the guest rooms in the Main House. Today, the dining room, living room, kitchen, and other rooms are located on the first floor of the Main House, while twenty guest rooms, six with half bath (toilet and sink) and fourteen with running water (sink only), are found on the second and third floors, along with men's and women's community bathrooms and showers.

The Webster Cottage is a one story, two room wooden framed cottage, which was built in 1942 on the site of a large wooden barn, that had been used to stable horses during the days of the old Mountain House. It contains two bedrooms and two bathrooms and can hold 4-8 people comfortably. The Webster Cottage is located near the Virginia Cottage and across the road from the lower parking lot for the Main House.

The Virginia Cottage, with its front porch along the Capon Run, is the only guest building to be completely torn down and rebuilt. The original white wooden cottage was built during the old resort days as a part of the stable complex and was used as a Saddle Shop.

Soon after he brought the property, Lou Austin renamed it the Virginia Cottage and by 1936 guests were enjoying it as Capon's first "Honeymoon Cottage". In 1989, when maintenance crews found that the foundation had rotted, it was decided to build a "new" Virginia Cottage. Pete Budnyk designed the building, which paid careful attention to handicap accessibility.

It was built in the same vernacular style as other Capon cottages, with white siding and green shutters, and the traditional front porch fronting the creek. Today's Virginia Cottage has a living room and five bedrooms, each with its own private bath. Together it can accommodate ten to fourteen people comfortably. These nicely furnished rooms have hosted many family reunions and meetings.

On the hill above the swimming pool, near the site of the Hospital from the old resort days, sits the Honeymoon Cottage, built in 1947. Jack and Jean Duffy of Baltimore were the first to stay in the cottage. A sign, placed on the wooden bridge that crosses Capon Run from the pool, was waiting for them when they arrived. It read: "Honeymoon Cottage. PRIVATE. Leave them to Heaven."

Married couples and those celebrating wedding anniversaries get first choice at the Cottage, which has a square pillared porch and rear patio. The large living room has a brick chimney and fireplace. The Cottage has had a Guest Book since its first visitors. Many have taken the time to sign their names and record their thoughts. An addition was built to the right side of the Cottage in 1995, enlarging the bedroom and bath. The Cottage contains one king sized bed and private bath.

The Pavilion is divided into two halves separated by the two-story President's Cottage in the middle. The Pavilion once housed thirty-two soaking baths during the late 1800's and early 1900's, while the Mountain House was still in operation. The baths were said to have been the best in the country as doctors and even diplomats testified to their luxury and health benefits. The old entrance to each bath from the front porch can still be traced in the brick and mortar work on the front walls of the Pavilion.

During the 1920's, the Upper Pavilion was the site of a bottling plant for Capon Springs water, root beer, and ginger ale. The transformation of the Pavilion into guest rooms began in the late 1930's. The interior renovation continued into the 1940's. The Pavilion now has seven guest rooms on the lower wing and eight on the upper. Each room is furnished with both a double bed and single bed.

Originally called the Bath House Cottage, the modern day President's Cottage contained parlors, retiring rooms, and other conveniences during the 19th century. When the upper floor of the building was set aside for the president of the Watson Town Board of Trustees, it became known as the President's Cottage.

Interestingly enough, the only U.S. President known for sure to have stayed at Capon during his time of office, Franklin Pierce in 1854, stayed in what is now the the President's Cottage. Then, in the early 1940's, the Austin family moved their summer residence from the Austin Cottage to the President's Cottage. The downstairs of the President's Cottage was renovated into single rooms for guests.

The upstairs rooms were renovated in the early 1990's and are now available to guests. The upstairs is divided into two sides with a sitting room in between. It features 1 1/2 bedrooms and 1 full bath on each side. It can house six to eight people comfortably. The 1st floor contains five single rooms, three with private bath and two designated as females only with a shared bath down the hall.

The Hampshire Cottage is believed to have been built under the supervision of Captain William Sale. It is not known whether the Hampshire was a house renovated by Sale or one of his new constructions. The Hampshire Cottage is the only one of today's guest cottages that is still known by its Sale-Nelson era name. It was most likely named after the county where Capon is located - the oldest county in West Virginia.

The exterior of today's Hampshire closely resembles the Hampshire of Sale's era. The two-story building has a hipped roof with a wooden cupola and roofed porches. The roofed porches make it ideal for socializing, rain or shine. In 1989, Capon crews added a fire tower to the rear of the building and a bath tower on the left, giving all ten rooms private baths. During the winter of 2001-2002, the Hampshire again underwent exterior and interior renovations.

A bath tower was added to the right side, and an addition was built onto the back, providing space for a living room and linen storage on each floor. Each room received a makeover, including new doors, windows, walls, ceiling, flooring, fixtures, and furnishing. The ten rooms of the Hampshire, each with private bath and easy access to the living room (one on each floor), includes both single rooms and double rooms.

The Fairfax Cottage, initially called the Waddle House, served as a hotel, general's headquarters, and residence for the Waddle family during the 1800's. After proprietor Captain William Sale purchased the land, including the cottage itself, he had the building enlarged and added a third floor. During Sale's era as proprietor, the former Waddle House was known as the Nelson Cottage and later, the Hygeia House, after the Greek goddess of health due to its proximity to the Capon Spring. (This is where the name for the brand new Hygeia Bath House and Spa comes from.)

In the early 1930's, George Zimmerman, the engineer hired by Lou Austin to survey the property he had just purchased, thought that the eastern part of the building was too dilapidated to save, as the foundation had settled. Lou Austin instead decided to fix up the house for guest use, knowing that his maintenance crews would be able to work their magic once again. In the early 1970's second generation Austin managers decided that the Fairfax needed a large-scale makeover.

From 1970-1973, Capon crews worked on the Fairfax. They jacked up the building and installed a concrete block foundation. A fire tower with stair access to each floor was built, moving the main entrance to the rear of the building. Workers altered room partitions, allowing for the addition of two rooms, bringing the total to seventeen. Modern bathrooms and baseboard heat were added. The old linoleum floor coverings gave way to carpet, and louvered doors allowed more light into the building. The seventeen rooms, each with private bath, vary in size and layout and can accommodate two to five people each.

The West Virginia Cottage originally served as a bowling alley, which was built under the supervision of Captain William Sale in the early 1890's. Even after the Mountain House burned down in 1911, the bowling alley continued to be used by the few guests who came to Capon. Second generation member Ted Austin even recalls bowling a few games, in the mid 1930's, on the old alleys with the few cracked wooden balls and pins that remained. Lou Austin and his wife, Virginia, decided to convert the building into a guest residence and named it the West Virginia Cottage.

After some major renovations in the 1930's, minor improvements kept the guest accommodations comfortable. The old linoleum flooring was covered with wall-to-wall carpeting in the early 1970's and the front porch was rebuilt in 1988. Then, during the winter of 1999-2000, the interior of the cottage was almost completely torn down and rebuilt. An addition with bathrooms and closets was constructed along the rear of the building. The renovations allowed each room to be made handicapped-accessible.

The porch was extended along the old billiard room side. Railings, similar to those on other buildings, were added and the roof was extended to cover the full width of the porch! With the new roof, porch sitting at the West Virginia has become even more popular. The Cottage has six bedrooms, each of which can accommodate up to five people, a private bath for each bedroom, and a central living room. Today, it is very popular for family reunions and large group stays.

The Log Cabin was originally the home of a night watchman for the Mountain House, John Ward. The cabin's condition was described as "impossible" by one engineer around the time that Lou Austin purchased the property. However, Capon's founder had other ideas for the building. He had a new roof put on the cabin and initially used it to store old carriages from the days of the Mountain House.

Then in 1981, the cabin was dismantled. Piece by piece, from 1981 and 1984, it was reconstructed by Junior Dunlap's crew. Maintenance manager, Pete Budnyk, who had researched early cabins, supervised the construction. Some of the original logs were still in good enough condition and reused. Others were salvaged from an old barn on Capon's property. The remainder of the logs were hand-hewn from oak trees in the woods behind the cabin, as the pioneers would have done. They were then corner-notched and the spaces between the logs were filled with mortar.

Stones from the crumbling chimneys were used to construct the foundation and to rebuild the "new" cabin's chimney. Pete strived to ensure that the cabin had as much authentic detail as possible, including using a string latch on the front door. Rebuilt as a "museum", the cabin includes furniture recovered from the Mountain House that Pete had spent hours refinishing - a bed and wardrobe, washstand, bureau, and towel rack. Guests were charmed by the cabin during Pete's guided tours, and soon began asking to stay there. In 1989, Capon crews built an unobtrusive bathroom addition on the rear, and added non-historic, but not exactly modern, screen doors. The Log Cabin is now a favorite place for many guests to stay. The Cabin includes one bedroom and one bathroom and can hold a maximum of two people.

The Austin Cottage, originally known as the Gunther Cottage, was constructed during William Sale's era as proprietor at Capon Springs. The exact year that the building was built is unknown, although it is believed to be sometime in the early 1880's. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Austin Cottage was rented to families or groups for a season.

It continued to be used even after the 1911 Mountain House fire. When Lou and Virginia Austin made it their summer home in the 1930's, it became known as the Austin Cottage. In the early 1940's, the Austins and their four children moved their summer residence to the President's Cottage. All eight rooms of the Austin became available for guests.

Today, eight bedrooms are still available for guests to stay in, each with private bath, and together all eight bedrooms can accommodate a total of about twenty people.

The Poe Cottage, previously called the Henry Cottage, the Nisbet Cottage, the Georgia Cottage, the Egerton Cottage, and the Slingluff Cottage, may have been constructed during the era of Captain William Sale, but an exact construction date is unknown. The Poe was one of several cottages rented to families for the season. Often the cottages would take on the family name of those renting it.

Against the engineer's recommendation to tear down the building, Lou and Virginia decided to renovate and rename the cottage. The Austins named the cottage after Mountain House guests. The stone steps that lead to the Poe and the Austin paths were built in the 1960's. In 1932, the Poe contained three rooms.

In the 1960's, an interior renovation made four small rooms. In 1989, the maintenance crews renovated the Poe's interior, eliminating the hallways and enlarging the four guest rooms. Outside entrances to each room and a back ramp were added for easier access. Rooms in this cottage can accommodate four to five persons and each includes a private bath.

Shielded by the trees, the white block 1-1/2 story house built high on the hill above the Har-Tru tennis court is the Brent Cottage. The origin of its name comes partly from Brent Austin, the late son of Porter and Lee Austin. Capon crews constructed the cottage in 1947 for Porter's family.

Through the years, additions were made to the cottage to accommodate their growing family. Now with six bedrooms, four bathrooms, and a living room, the Brent Cottage is used by guests for conferences and family reunions and can hold twelve to fifteen people comfortably.

The brick cottages on the Hill were constructed in the 1960's. They were originally intended "to be year round homes for good friends who want to spend more time at Capon", according to the 1960 Spring Letter from Capon Springs.

However, the plans took a different turn, and cottages became very popular as weekly and monthly rentals during the season. Today, the cottages are rented to guests either for daily or weekly use. Each of the three cottages includes two bedrooms, one living room, two baths, kitchen, screened-in porch, and laundry facilities. Cottage 1 contains an additional bedroom.