The Estates at Keswick Hall Unveil Exclusive Robert A.M. Stern Architects Designs

Development Offers Traditional Country Estate Homes on Grounds of Keswick Estate 

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (December 1, 2009) – Orient-Express Hotels, LTD, developer of The Estates at Keswick Hall, a country estate community in Charlottesville, Virginia, today announced a new design direction with the addition of five stunning estate home designs by Robert A.M. Stern Architects.  Stern home sizes range from 2,500 to 5,000 square feet and lot prices start at $350,000 for a two acre site.  The designs have been created exclusively for The Estates at Keswick Hall and are available to buyers of home sites with no additional design fee.

One of the world’s most celebrated architects, with deep design roots in Virginia, Stern is considered a “modern traditionalist.”  Dean of the Yale School of Architecture and a noted architectural historian and scholar, Robert A.M. Stern has been a leading American architect for over 40 years exhibiting a particular appreciation and insight into how people actually live.  That sensibility is reflected at Keswick in five designs with differing exterior options that can be highly individualized.  While retaining a consistent and classical style, the site plans feature fresh modern details such as large arched windows and soaring ceilings to optimize natural light elements.  Plans also create a connection to the outdoors through private terraces and formal gardens.

The new home designs are tailored specifically to the 600-acre estate, which boasts gently rolling hills, splendid foliage and open meadows.  Designs focus on creating a timeless estate home with proportions reflecting the lifestyle, environmental and aspirational values of a sophisticated buyer profile. Additional space can be created as needed with extensive basement features.  Home construction costs typically start at approximately $850,000. The developer offers builder-ready lots in a country setting and buyers are free to collaborate with another architect of their choosing upon board approval.

Keswick Estate is a historic gated community with the first two phases of 80 homes sold and built.  The final phase of 40 lots opened in 2009.  The property is located on the grounds of the historic 600-acre Keswick Hall, which includes a five-star Orient-Express Hotel and Arnold Palmer signature 18-hole championship golf course and club.

Homeowners have access to the various year-round amenities of the estate including access to Keswick Hall and its resort amenities such as an infinity-edge swimming pool, award-willing Fosset’s Restaurant and Bar, poolside dining, tea and dining at Villa Crawford and Keswick’s extensive Virginian Library.  Also located within the estate, Keswick Club is one of the country’s preeminent sporting and lifestyle facilities featuring an Arnold Palmer signature, Audubon-certified golf course, a full-service spa, a tennis center with five floodlit clay and hard surface tennis courts, and a state-of-the-art fitness center.  

Nestled in Virginia’s forested countryside in the foothills of the fabled Blue Ridge Mountains, Keswick is just minutes from Charlottesville, historic Monticello, the University of Virginia and the region’s emerging wine country, all while in convenient proximity to Washington D.C. and Richmond, VA.  This region, once deemed “the Eden of The United States” by Thomas Jefferson, is known the world over for its distinct, natural beauty.

"It's a beautiful site, with incredible views across the rolling landscape," said architect Robert A.M. Stern.  "Each house we have designed is different, yet grows out of a tradition of country villas that thread back through Thomas Jefferson to Palladio.   It's like each family can have its own little Monticello." 

To schedule an escorted tour of The Estates at Keswick Hall, contact Rives Bailey with Montague, Miller & Co. at 434.227.4446 / rives@rivesbaily.com or stop by the Preview Center located on site in Charlottesville at 245 Ridge-McIntire Road, Suite 1.  For more information on The Estates at Keswick Hall, please visit www.keswickestates.com.

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About Robert A.M. Stern Architects

Robert A.M. Stern Architects is a 220-person firm of architects, designers and supporting staff headed by world-renowned architect, founder and senior partner Robert A.M. Stern. The firm is devoted to creating distinctive buildings that exist in aesthetic harmony with the structures that surround them, adapting their designs on each project to honor their environments. Over an illustrious thirty-eight-year history, the firm has established an international reputation as a leading voice in the field of design, with extensive experience in residential, commercial, and institutional work. Their portfolio includes a wide variety of projects Europe, Asia, South America, and throughout the United States. www.ramsa.com

About Orient-Express:

Orient-Express, (NYSE: OEH, www.orient-express.com) the name behind an elite collection of travel experiences, first came into being in 1883 as one of the world’s most exciting and indulgent train journeys.  Today those same two evocative words also embrace hotels, cruises and other luxury rail adventures in 25 countries, across five continents.  The Company has offered exceptional luxury travel experiences since 1976, when it first purchased Hotel Cipriani in Venice and then shortly afterwards, recreated the celebrated Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, linking London, Paris and Venice, along with other European cities.  Today, the company owns or part-owns and manages 49 businesses, 39 of which are highly acclaimed hotels, each unique in style, from the Mount Nelson in Cape Town and Rio’s Copacabana Palace, to the Grand Hotel Europe in St. Petersburg and Maroma Resort & Spa on Mexico’s Riviera Maya.  There are two restaurants, including ‘21’ in New York, two river cruise operations and six luxury trains.  

Orient-Express real estate developments draw on over 30 years of experience in the creation of luxury resorts and travel experiences.  The company’s overriding commitment to providing the highest quality of service, products and amenities in its hotels, trains and cruises is also a standard in its real estate developments. In addition to Porto Cupecoy, Orient-Express is currently offering luxury lifestyle residences at The Villas at La Samanna (St. Martin), Keswick Estate (Charlottesville, Virginia) and Napasai (Koh Samui, Thailand). The company owns developable land in Madeira; Riviera Maya, Mexico; and St. Michaels, Maryland.

Media Contact:

Kara Hoffman | The Brandman Agency | 212.683.2442 | kara@brandmanpr.com