Bryce Update

(Bryce Resort reported some Virginia ‘powder’ snow this week.)

Editor’s Note: Socotra LLC is not delving into real estate, nor speculation. We accidentally helped sell the property next door to world famous Refuge Farm, but that is another unrelated event in the ones we string together to make our lives. This came from alert reader Van Dyke, who used to have an interest in the area before fleeing to the Sunshine State, and is provided purely for your information.

– Vic

“Yo! Things are good down here in The Villages in Florida! I remember the days of the hunt for useful places near DC. The sports were pretty good at Bryce Resort. They even had Grass Skiing in the Summer months. The resort restaurant & bar was fair.”

(US Post Office, Orkney Springs, VA)

But, when you’re there, you’re pretty much at the backside of beyond. Of interest to note is that by following the curve to the left, you used to enter the ancient resort village of Orkney Springs. Though probably no longer there, it used to be one of the Summer escapes for the well-to-do of Washington. Also, it served as the Summer home for the Washington Symphony Orchestra. The village pretty much consisted a “large” two story clapboard hotel and adjoining cottages, and precious little else. For history buffs, I highly recommend a cruise down US 11 from Strasburg, through Woodstock, Edinburg, Mt. Jackson, and down to New Market.

(Strasburg Inn, Strasburg, VA)

Great little towns with tons of history and charm. I recommend the Strasburg Inn for lunch but, almost any of these little towns along the road have good food to be found, and usually a quaint little museum to cover local history – generally Jackson’s Valley Campaign.

Cheers,

Van Dyke

Sent from my iPad

> On Feb 4, 2021, at 15:21, jayare303@aol.com wrote:
>
> 
> Van Dyke,
>
> I would have been interested twelve or thirteen years ago when DC still was where I could make money. Then, I was in love with an equestrian lady- still am, sad to say- so my options were in a niche market. I was so enamored with Culpeper that my former subcontracting officer bought the place next door. Good neighbor and can do pricing on the fly.
>
> Thanks for the context- I am glad I never ventured into time share. But the skiing and golfing would have been appealing.
>
> Vic
>
>
> —–Original Message—–
> From: John Sinrud
> To: jayare303@aol.com
> Sent: Thu, Feb 4, 2021 3:00 pm
> Subject: Re: Bryce Resort is Calling You?
>
> JR, for several years we owned a timeshare at Bryce. I don’t recall what fairway we were on but I do recall that we were just south of the end of the landing strip at the resort. We had Labor Day weekend most years (calendar dependent). The golf was good and the kids loved it. However, trading it for other vacation spots became a nightmare so we finally unloaded it.
>
> Cheers,
>
> John
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
>> On Feb 4, 2021, at 13:52, jayare303@aol.com wrote:
>>
>> 
>> 01 February 2021
>>
>> Bryce Resort Is Calling You?
>>
>> I ventured off into a description of how we happened to set up a residence in the lush country of Virginia’s Piedmont. It was accidental, like everything else in my adult life. In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, I had been professionally exposed to an interesting set of locations. Some of them were hardened against those sorts of malicious events, had protective clothing, reservoirs and great communications. Some can be acknowledged now, and some remain covered under the charming sobriquet “Undisclosed Locations.” That would be my first choice for a place of Refuge, but the planning checklist for survivable pretty places stayed with me as the real estate melt-down occurred in 2008.
>>
>> That was about the time I was in the market for horse properties, and upwind distance from Washington near enough to continue to do business there led me to the place we now call Refuge Farm. I had been looking for several months, and some of the places in Virginia had some very attractive venues with the same features I had been looking for.
>>
>> I needn’t add that the Farm was a great place to be able to stay near DC without being in it, and we haven’t needed to wear a mask there for nearly a year, food is available from local farmers, and the people are nice. I have observed before that this has been a wonderful place to spend a national emergency. Inadvertent planning can be a good thing.
>>
>> I am set, but am watching the crazy stuff happening in real estate down here. People are fleeing crowded living in cities for more reasonable places in the country. I am relieved not to be doing it, but a pal chimed in about another one of those Things That Changed. The panoply of things to worry about are different but share echoes of earlier searches. I have been talking to pals smarter than I am about what is on our horizon. As you know, we have ceased to worry about debt as a nation. There is a Modern Monetary theory that supports the idea that the government can print as much as it needs. We know that is ridiculous, but since there is a theory to support it, we are printing like crazy.
>>
>> Being cursed with a 401K plan, I watch the stock market closer than I used to. I hear some smart people tell me that we will see things go pretty well. For a few months, anyway. Timing is dependent on how many trillions we print up for a variety of policy follies, but a hit is coming that will impact those of us who are now on fixed incomes and would prefer not to lose what we have to the inexorable forces of folly. Marlow summed it up nicely the other day. He went through the litany of options. Cash out of the market. Look at gold and silver and other things of real and prospective value. High on that list is real estate, and that is focused on the same sort of issues that are raised by other times with uncertain futures.
>>
>> Fred wrote me this the other day after he saw my ruminations about the farm and our unusual times:
>>
>> Vic,
>>
>> We own a 1/3 acre in Bryce Resort, VA. That’s out near a place we used to go for government work. The majority of the residents there are elder American Patriots. Wonderful community. We originally purchased it when our twin daughters were thinking of attending James Madison University (2010); but they changed their minds. I’ve often thought about different structures we could build there; but never did anything with it. We are now living in Jupiter FL and the value of building something there as a get-away-from-it-all has considerably diminished. Interested (or know anyone interested) before we place it on the market? The majority of the lots available there have severe slopes, which make it rather expensive to build on; but ours is relatively flat ( ~ 10 degree slope) with entrances to the lot from two separate streets.
>>
>> I knew the area pretty well for other reasons, all of them good. My thought was about an earth sheltered structure for security in uncertain times, and a return to the ski slopes. Here is what the locals say about it:
>>
>> “Located in the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains, two hours west of D.C., Bryce is a member-owned, four season sports and recreation resort dedicated to serving its members, guests, and visitors. Known for being family-friendly, the resort features the Snowsports School and a mountain bike park with beginner, intermediate and expert trails and lift access. In addition, the expansive property boasts a PGA rated 18-hole, par 71 golf course in an Alpine setting, and Lake Laura, a 45-acre spring-fed lake with beaches, a picnic area, snack bar, and opportunities to canoe, paddleboat and paddleboard. Bryce also offers several dining options ranging from casual meals to fine dining.”
>>
>>
>> You can see from the pictures that the country is pretty, and it has all the things I was looking for (except skiis for the horses). The Shenandoah Valley is a special place. So rich and verdant that two big armies fought over it’s bounty. History, safety, seclusion, a hedge against inflation. And still close enough to Washington to do whatever it is that we do there.
>>
>> My pal says he is going to put it on the market soon, but wanted to know if anyone was looking for the kind of things we were. Let me know- I will hook you up if you have an interest.
>>
>> – Vic
>>
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