Number of rooms 320 | ||
Town or city Farmington, Pennsylvania | ||
Nemacolin Woodlands Resort is a four seasons resort in Farmington, Fayette County, Pennsylvania. The resort is owned by Maggie Hardy Magerko, president of the 84 Lumber Company, and was founded by her father, Joseph Hardy.
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History
The resort is named after Chief Nemacolin, a native Delaware Indian who in 1740 trailblazed a route through the rugged Laurel Highlands mountains between what is now Cumberland, Maryland and Brownsville, Pennsylvania.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania industrialist Willard Rockwell established a private game reserve on what is now Nemacolin Woodlands and named this property Nemacolin Trails Hunting Reserve in 1968. The Rockwells invited friends and business associates to hunt and fish on the hundreds of acres populated by silver fox, bear, and Russian white-tailed deer. A hunting lodge was constructed along with a golf course and airstrip. Lakes Louise (named after the wife of Mr. Rockwell's youngest son) and Carol (named after the wife of Mr. Rockwell's second son) were also added and Beaver Creek was developed and stocked into a trout fishing stream.
In 1979, the property was sold to Cordelia Scaife May, but was returned three years later to the Rockwell family when Kent Rockwell repurchased the property and opened it to the public. Joseph Hardy III, founder of the 84 Lumber Company, bought Nemacolin at an auction he attended in 1987 in the hopes of purchasing a few acres of woodlands near a lake or stream for his daughter, Maggie, who loved fishing.
As Hardy recounts, "I left the auction without that piece of property for fishing because I bought the main parcel and was out of money." Hardy and his daughter, Maggie, promptly set about transforming the property into its present state – a 2,000 acre (8 km²) world-class resort, rated Four Diamonds by the American Automobile Association (AAA). In 2002, Hardy transferred full ownership of the resort to his daughter, Maggie Hardy Magerko, who still serves as President and Owner.
In 2007, Nemacolin's boutique hotel, Falling Rock, received AAA Five Diamond status. Falling Rock is the only hotel in Western Pennsylvania to receive AAA's highest honor, and has retained five diamond status though 2015. Lautrec, a fine dining experience with European-American flair located inside Nemacolin's Chateau LaFayette hotel, became the first new restaurant in Pennsylvania in 13 years to receive AAA Five Diamond status for 2008. In 2009, Lautrec received a Five Star rating from the Forbes Mobile Travel Guide and has held that distinction through 2015, making Lautrec one of only 27 restaurants in the world to have both Forbes Five-Star and AAA Five-Diamond ratings.
Expansion
Joe Hardy promptly set about developing Nemacolin Woodlands into a world-class resort. In the time since Hardy purchased the resort, major changes have been made to the former hunting club. Now sitting on 2,000 acres (8 km²), the following major additions have been made to the resort:
Golf
Nemacolin Woodlands became host to PGA Tour event the 84 Lumber Classic in 2003. Contested on Nemacolin's Mystic Rock golf course, the event had a successful run at the resort before coming to an end in 2006. The four winners of the 84 Lumber Classic tournaments held on Mystic Rock at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort were:
Shortly after the 2004 84 Lumber Classic, Nemacolin Woodlands Resort broke ground on what golfer Vijay Singh dubbed, "the greatest clubhouse in America" - Falling Rock. In 2007, Falling Rock received the prestigious Five Diamond Award rating from the American Automobile Association (AAA).
On June 18, 2007, Nemacolin Woodlands Resort hosted the Mystic Rock Celebrity Pro-Am, a charity benefit for the CFFC (Community Foundation of Fayette County). Teams of three sponsors were paired with a PGA Tour golfer or celebrity athlete. PGA Tour pros Jason Gore and Pat Perez were in attendance, plus baseball Hall of Famer Bill Mazeroski, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Charlie Batch, and other athletes from the Steelers and Pittsburgh Penguins.