[ON LOCATION] LAUREL HERMAN
Groups will find exceptional beauty in this destination, which offers bucolic scenery with 50-plus wineries, over 30 craft breweries, farm-to-table cuisine and many historic and stellar meeting venues with teambuilding opportunities. Loudoun County, which has been trademarked DC’s Wine Country, is dotted with quaint historic towns and is within an hour’s drive to Washington, DC and 20-45 minutes to Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD).
“We are the best of all worlds; convenience with our proximity to Washington Dulles International Airport and the Washington DC Metro, which has three stops in Loudoun, yet surrounded by a stunning rural landscape that includes horses, farms, wineries and breweries,” says Visit Loudoun’s Director of Sales Ann Hayes. “This perfect setting encourages team bonding, innovative ideas, entrepreneurial spirit, wellness, productivity and fun. Our meeting’s concierge ensures your attendees will enjoy a memorable experience.”
In Leesburg and located less than 15 minutes from IAD, the AAA four-diamond Lansdowne Resort is a perfect place for groups to headquarter and have easy access to all the county has to offer. Set on over 500 acres, the 296-guestroom and -suite property features two 18-hole golf courses and a 9-hole course plus a driving range, spa and fitness center, three pools and 55,000 sf of indoor meeting space. The conference wing is comprised of three distinctive ballrooms, an amphitheater and a variety of breakout rooms. Groups can enjoy the terraces off the ballroom and other areas of the resort that overlook peaceful views. Says Nick Caracciolo, Marketing Manager, “Our property is divided into three areas for groups to experience: learning (conference wing recently renovated in 2019 and with dedicated concierge desk), living (accommodations and dining) and leisure (Spa Minerale, fitness center, pickle ball courts, golf, tennis club and pools). We’re a wellness destination, and a lot of our groups are coming to us for this reason as we can tailor the wellness experience to their needs. And planners will find our catalogue of teambuilding expansive including segments for wellness and culinary teambuilding.
“For example, we offer a wellness teambuilding guided nature walk on the Heritage Trail along the Potomac River. When it comes to culinary teambuilding our groups love the ‘guac off,’ where each team is given the ingredients to create guacamole and we have our chef be the judge,” explains Caracciolo.
The October One Vineyard tasting room in downtown Leesburg can host groups of 12-14 for a wine tasting. We loved the modern but warm decor and delighted in the Sparkling Viognier 2023 and 2021 Cabernet Franc. Owner Loree Rupy explains that their grapes are grown nearby in Bluemont, and they offer five varietals. Also in downtown Leesburg, groups will find a “coffee corridor” with at least 10 craft coffee shops and in the evening a number of venues for live entertainment. Nearby is the 500-acre and scenic Stone Tower Winery, where there are three separate buildings planners can use, all with indoor and outdoor spaces, with views of the vineyards. For example, the Vineyard View Ballroom can seat 250; the Harvest Barn accommodates up to 200 for mix and mingle; and at the new modern Sparkling House, built for corporate and incentive groups, you can plan for 250 to 300 for seated dinners and 500 for cocktails with a building buyout. Stone Tower produces sparkling white, rose and red wines. Our favorite was the Sauvignon Blanc. They also provide a variety of culinary experiences created onsite.
Bluemont Station Brewery & Winery’s owner David Weinschel explains their success is due to the quality of the food as his background is in corporate catering for 40 years and all the food they serve is prepared on premises. The winery/brewery is on 50 acres and features a historic manor house from 1787 as one of the venues as well as a modern tap & taste room facility built in 2005. During our visit we enjoyed six different beers and a Bluemont Station Cabernet Franc 2022 Estate Reserve along with a scrumptious Amalfi flat bread and other tasty pub fare made from scratch such as goat cheese fritters in a raspberry sauce, Bavarian pretzels with Gruyere cheese and home-smoked pork sandwiches. The venue can host groups up to 1,500 using outdoor spaces.
At King Street Oyster Bar in downtown Leesburg, groups can dine on fresh local oysters, crab soup, lobster salad and so much more. Clyde’s Willow Creek Farm is a string of historic buildings from the 1800s that features spaces for groups, including up to 1,000 for an entire restaurant buyout. Smaller groups can reserve the Chandler Barn, which can seat 130 guests for dinner or a cocktail reception for 250. The farm is also home to a new outdoor heated pavilion for 120 seated or 170 reception-style. There is a diverse menu to choose from, but we must call out their hand-made corn tortillas with short rib and a jumbo lump crab cake that was mostly crab and devilishly good.
Another dining/group opportunity with meeting space and in a historic building is Magnolias at the Mill in Purcellville, just 20 minutes from Leesburg and the Lansdowne Resort. The food is stellar and as their focus is fresh produce from the local farms and a menu that changes seasonally, groups will receive that “farm to fork” experience. We want to rave about their fried green tomatoes, creative brick oven pizza “Kennet square,” with mushrooms, Gruyere, arugula, crispy bacon and truffle vinaigrette, and well-done craft cocktails. The building, a former grain mill built in 1905, was restored in 2004 keeping the look and feel of the old mill but as a modern facility. The main room can seat 70 with the outdoor patio for 65. There is also a loft area that can seat 65. The Conche is available where groups can have a teambuilding experience with chocolate-making classes and/or cocktail-making classes for up to 40. Dinner can follow and we recommend their red beet/citrus salad and the campanelle pasta with red wine-braised short rib, wild mushroom cream sauce and Parmesan cheese. Chocoholics will appreciate their chocolate-infused cocktails, entries and desserts. A buyout of the restaurant can seat 95 for dinner or 150 for a reception.
A visit to the 1,000-acre Morven Park with a historic mansion owned by former Virginia governor Westmoreland Davis and wife Margarite, gives groups the ability to tour the mansion, now a museum, and have cocktails or dinner on the patio for 300 in front of the Greek Revival-style mansion overlooking the serene estate. And if groups come in the fall during the international horse trials at the Morven Park International Equestrian Center located in the park, the colors will be brilliant, and groups can watch the horses run the course with tail gate space or VIP tent pass. There are other events during the year at the center including spring horse trials and groups can take advantage of the plentiful hiking and biking trails.
For executive retreats up to 16, there is Stony Point Business Center, set in a private rustic house in Western Loudoun. Owners Tiffany Hundley and Rick Carroll take care of all the details specific to each corporate executive group’s needs. The venue provides everything a group will need, including premium AV, high-speed Internet, tech support, coordinated farm-to-table meals and transportation services for a turnkey experience. There is a beautiful pool area for relaxation and cocktails. Tiffany can also provide consultations for strategy sessions and even handle nearby accommodation coordination. Says Hundley, “Our goal is to foster an environment that gives our clients inspiration for focus and creativity.”
visitloudoun.org/meetings; lansdowneresort.com/meetings; octoberonevineyard.com; stonetowerwinery.com; kingstreetoysterbar.com; clydes.com; magnoliasmill.com; the-conche.com; morvenpark.org; stonypointbc.com