A man's home might be his castle, but for John D. "Jack" Phillips it is his passion. So deeply does he love his 325-acre estate near Keswick on the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains that he went into a funk after he signed a contract to sell it last spring. "I woke up and realized that was my home," says the 59-year-old CEO of Atlanta-based World Access Inc. "I plan to retire there. I went through the withdrawals like you've never seen."

Phillips immediately started bargaining to get it back. "Two days before it closed, I came up with a compromise that made the buyer happy and got me my farm back. I begged. I pleaded. I was thinking I'd never be able to find another one," says Phillips. The "compromise" cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars, but he doesn't regret changing his mind. "It's an investment of the heart," he says of Airslie, an estate in a setting so beautiful and bucolic that Phillips refers to it as the place "where I go to get in touch with myself."

Many of the state's well-to-do, especially those on this year's list of "The Virginia 100," feel the same way. While some may own Park Avenue penthouses or Caribbean hideaways, many sons and daughters of this state consider their Old Dominion properties sacred ground.

Phillips is no different. A native Virginian who grew up in Hampton, he still has family in the state including a son who graduated last month from the University of Virginia. Further cementing his ties to Virginia, he bought the Airslie estate for $6.1 million back in 1995. Phillips immediately fell in love with its 8,600-square-foot home and all its accoutrements - barns, stables, woods, pastures and four guest cottages. The only reason he agreed to sell it in the first place was that a buyer, who had been eyeing Airslie for years, caught him at a weak moment. Phillips was piqued, because some of his family members don't enjoy coming to the farm as much as he does. To understand why he loves this property so, he invited Virginia Business for a look around.

Situated in the heart of hunt country in expensive Albemarle County, Phillips says Airslie offers him something he can't find in populous Atlanta or even at his beach home in Sea Island, Ga. - a peaceful refuge in a rural setting that harkens back to a slower way of life. "It pulls you back to something you remember - a better time. It's a wonderful tranquilizer," he says.

So wonderful that Phillips flies from Atlanta to Charlottesville in a private plane about once a month. From there, he hops in a car and drives to Airslie about 10 miles away. The entire trip takes little more than an hour, but Phillips says he might as well be entering another world. Left behind are worries and demands that come with leading an international telecommunications company that's in the midst of reorganizing after filing for bankruptcy. It's also waging a multi-million lawsuit against a foreign competitor, one of those complications that Phillips likes to forget when roaming the Virginia countryside in a Suburban he keeps at Airslie.

One of his favorite spots on the farm is a bluff where Phillips can soak up the beauty of Albemarle County. From this vantage point, miles of white fences stretch across green rolling hills. Horses graze peacefully in a nearby field, lulled it seems by a breeze that blows steadily from the Blue Ridge Mountains. They rise majestically, wrapped in that famous blue haze, just beyond State Route 22 . "If you don't feel like that's heaven," Phillips says of the mountains, "you at least know it's got the same zip code."

This pastoral paradise draws not only the rich, but the famous. Other Albemarle homeowners include Hollywood actress Sissy Spacek, novelist John Grisham and rock star Dave Matthews, who recently purchased much of the land that John Kluge, an old colleague of Phillips, donated to U.Va. Phillips says they're attracted by the area's natural beauty, its history - several presidents had homes in Albemarle County including Thomas Jefferson - and the friendly local people. "You can live here quietly and not be bothered."

Jim Bonner, president of The Land Office, a Charlottesville real estate company that lists many estate properties, says the market for second homes is lively. "The appreciation of high-end real estate in Albemarle County has been anywhere from 30 to 50 percent over the last three years." He estimates that Phillips' estate, which now includes adjoining historic Fendowrie with a farm house dating back to 1733, is worth more than $9 million today. Bonner, who represented Phillips when he purchased the property, is well acquainted with Airslie. He says the estate is so striking with its white fencing and stately Doric columns that it was once used by Playboy magazine as a backdrop for a feature on female college students attending U.Va.

While on the farm, Phillips and his family ride all-terrain vehicles over six miles of trails that wind through acres of mature hardwoods. It's not unusual for them to see a fox or a turkey vulture. Several years ago, one of Phillips' sons shot his first turkey on the farm, a 21-pounder that was mounted and now hangs in the son's bedroom at Airslie. Hunting trophies are also evident on the home's second landing floor where another son has draped animal skins from a zebra, a wildebeest and a kudu, shot during big-game hunting safaris to Africa. A small but direct sign, "Do not step on," warns away visitors who might mistake the skins for rugs. Phillips doesn't hunt himself, but likes being around wildlife. "At night the deer come out and eat right up next to my Suburban," he says.

While Airslie is spacious and intricately detailed with 10-foot ceilings and detailed moldings, it's not so big that Phillips' family - a wife and four children - feel lost. The home's design encourages togetherness with second-floor bedroom balconies overlooking a magnificent mahogany-paneled family room. This is where the family gathers on winter evenings in front of a big fireplace. Besides the rich paneling, another distinctive feature of the family room is an aviary. The large glass cage, also detailed in mahogany, is home to three colorful finches.

In the fall when the foliage transforms the countryside into a blazing tapestry of amber, reds and golds, the Phillips gather on the outdoor terrace, located just through the French doors that run nearly the full length of the family room. Again, an outdoor brick fireplace, served by the same flue on the fireplace in the family room, provides the focal point. Designed around tall Linden trees, the terrace offers a great view of gently rolling land and beckons visitors with comfortable wicker furniture. A few steps away is a pool, landscaped with flowers during the summer months.

One of the most stunning rooms at Airslie is what farm manager Will Holt refers to as "the pink room." Technically, he speaks of the living room, located off the home's impressive two-story entrance hall, which projects an air of dignified formality with its marbled flooring, raised panel wood wainscoting and handpainted wallpaper. In contrast, the "pink room" seems much less formal, because of its airiness. Triple-hung windows and French doors across the front facing the mountains bathe the room in light, warming up the sponged pink color on the walls. The colors here are soft, with touches of blue, green and yellow accented in many furnishings, including the fringe on the window treatments and the English plates displayed on the stark white mantle of the fireplace. Two, tall curved arches lead to French doors that open onto a small side terrace, giving the room a graceful sense of proportion.

In fact, if a single word could describe Airslie, it would be graceful. Its design, from the small bar tucked off the hall to a modern kitchen equipped with stainless steel appliances, allows for elegant, but comfortable living. The third floor even includes a workout room with weights and a treadmill. Just outside the room stands a gorgeous grandfather clock - an appealing juxtaposition of the old and the new.
For all the home's beauty, Phillips seems most enchanted when soaking up the rural outdoors. At twilight, he likes to ride up to the bluff with a bottle of Moet Chandon White Star champagne. From there, he can enjoy the sunset and, later, the night stars. "It just gears you down," he says. There's something about Airslie - perhaps the freedom to explore and the space - that reminds Phillips of the way he felt when growing up in Hampton around the Chesapeake Bay. "I lived a Tom Sawyer existence," he reminisces. Even Tom Sawyer would like this place, except for maybe all those white fences.

Return to Virginia Business - June 2002