Washingtonian September 2007
© Dale Leatherman 2007
For nearly two centuries, Bedford Springs Resort, in the Allegheny foothills near Bedford, Pennsylvania, was a legendary hotel, a grande dame that sheltered and entertained the country’s elite. Seven sitting U.S. presidents stayed here, and President James Buchanan made it his summer White House in the mid-1800s.
Captains of industry such as Henry Ford and John Wanamaker came here to “take the waters” of the spa resort—and to socialize, of course. The spa was popular with debutantes, and high-profile nuptials were conducted in the hotel ballroom. The weddings spawned a quirky tradition--brides etched their initials in the window glass with their diamond rings.
Today, those window panes are on display in the newly opened resort. The survival of these fragile mementos is a bit of a miracle, because the aged hotel closed in the 1980s and was abandoned until new owners with a passion for the place came to its rescue.
Following a three-year, $120 million restoration, the Bedford Springs Resort reopened in July 2007. Today, it looks almost exactly as it did during the mid-1800s, with three tiers of porches stretching along graceful white wings on either side of the Greek Revival-style portico and its soaring Doric columns. Ancient oaks cast their shade upon gardens and expanses of thick grass. A stone path runs along the front of the hotel, its copper street lamps inviting hand-in-hand strolls after dusk. . . .
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