You wouldn’t believe it if you weren’t there. But in the blink of four decades, Smith Mountain Lake has grown from a scattering of trailers, cabins and cinderblock homes that began to dot its 500-mile shoreline in 1966 to become an increasingly upscale retreat for affluent weekenders and full-time relocated former executives. It figures. As the lake’s population becomes more and more urbane, the area itself is evolving into a spot brimming with all the amenities of the good life.

Those features grew, in fact, as the trickle of people coming to its 22,000-acre water paradise turned into a stream. Soon smart, dedicated developers and entrepreneurs gave crowds what they wanted.

Food is one example.

I can remember when the best you could expect at the lake was a sandwich or hot dog in the back booth of a Mom ’n Pop country store. One of those places where you wedged yourself past coolers of live worms and racks of fishing lures. And yes, places like that still exist here… along with the old family cemeteries set under giant trees and cordoned off with wrought-iron fences on the back roads – authentic models for the Hollywood version of one-time rural Southern life.

Now maturing as a desirable East Coast destination, the lake shoreline today sports an increasingly large assortment of spectacular homes.

About food: Now the sky’s the limit. Inside the lake region – a gigantic area splicing parts of Bedford, Franklin and Pittsylvania counties - there’s the gamut from haute cuisine to down-home comfort meals.

Some of the Tastiest
For ambience and palate delights, nobody does it better than the folks at The Landing, a Franklin County institution that provides slips for diners arriving by boat at Bernard’s Landing, or the handsome Blackwater Café, redone with a lodge-like flair and offering seafood and steak. At the other extreme – and on the Bedford side – there’s Camper’s Paradise, a Plain Jane place famous for its hearty breakfasts, where I got my first, unforgettable taste of peanut butter pie. Other good spots: the heavy-on-atmosphere Pilot House, notable for beautifully prepared prime rib, and The Sportsman, with new owners who wowed guests at a recent after-hours social with such delicacies as Clams Casino and Oysters Rockefeller.

Two more on the don’t-miss list: The Olde Liberty Station, a 100-year-old former train depot reeking with charm and set 20 minutes away in the City of Bedford. And for unrivaled romance, try The Virginia Dare, a riverboat adventure complete with meals and moonlight.

In a different vein, there’s Chopsticks, a Chinese restaurant at Bridgewater Plaza that fans swear “always exceeds expectations” and the totally unexpected, from-another-age Homestead Creamery where owners have put together an entire assortment of dairy products in the old way, which means things like glass bottles for its milks and a classic old delivery truck. Immaculate and shiny bright, this place was my personal revelation concerning ice cream. I’ve always been a lukewarm ice cream fan, but I had never, in my wildest dreams, sampled anything that came close to the sheer heaven of these flavors. If I lived close enough to get them on-site, I’d eat them every day until I was over the craving. At least that would be my excuse.

More welcome stops around the lake: Diamond Hill General Store, worth a visit for its quaint gift shop, and The Mouse Trap, an eatery that also turns out great gift baskets.

Perfect Setting
If there is a single key to the lake’s explosive growth, it’s the location.

Framed against the majestic Blue Ridge Mountains in the southern part of central Virginia, it offers a dramatically scenic backdrop teamed with one of the East Coast’s largest manmade lakes, a gorgeous water playground without the drastic drops of many locations. Primarily rural in nature, the lake is unique, too, because it brings visitors and residents the serenity and beauty of a quiet community yet is minutes from neighboring metropolitan centers such as Roanoke, Lynchburg, Danville and Martinsville, where visitors and residents can enjoy the fruits of a larger community… from medical and air service to art and history museums, collegiate and professional sports, ballet, theater and touring star performers.

So Many Choices
For both visitors and full-time residents, lake entertainment is limited only by personal taste.

“Smith Mountain Lake is as diverse as the people who come here to visit and vacation,” says Vicki Gardner, executive director of the Smith Mountain Lake Chamber of Commerce/Partnership. “There is no ideal vacation to suit everyone. Some want the shore while others clamber for the mountains. Welcome to Smith Mountain Lake! This spot has nearly everything a vacationer is looking for. When you add a delightful moderate climate, abundance of sporting activities, historical and cultural sites, and all the amenities, Smith Mountain Lake is about as good as it gets all year-round.

“Visitors can easily gravitate toward the comfort of their own lifestyle. Those with children will find plenty of activities in and out of the water with arcades, miniature golf, even hand painting ceramic mementoes of their vacation. Golfers will also be in their element with five beautiful and challenging 18-hole courses, or can select from an endless option list that includes boating, shopping, dining, night-time entertainment, fish ing for the lake’s largemouth bass and stripers or kayaking in a quiet cove.”

Something for Everyone
Despite its gigantic proportions, much of the lake’s heartbeat is focused around Hales Ford Bridge, the lake’s single most recognized milestone, and site of Bridgewater Plaza. Other key spots include the new Westlake Towne Center and local landmarks.

As the population grows, so does the menu of festivals and special events offered throughout the lake’s year-long calendar.

A fun variation on strip malls, the plaza backs up to water views and is constructed to accommodate boat-ins from the lake’s main channels. Some come to browse at shops like The Little Gallery, which Southern Living voted as one of its favorite places, The Veranda women’s dress shop, or Wake & Skate, a youth-oriented board spot. Others seek information about local housing and business opportunities at the visitor center, while still others come to enjoy miniature golf over the water, a stop at the family amusement center or a bit of lunch at The Pizza Hut, Moosie’s or Mango’s Bar & Grill, where you can expect fun times, live music and casual outdoor or indoor dining.

Becoming equally important to visitors and residents alike, Westlake is the commercial hub and latest project of Ron Willard, the native son-developer who brought golf to the lake in his upscale communities, The Waterfront and The Water’s Edge.

Done in an old-timey brick and hunter-green theme, it encompasses a bona fide coffee house, an expanding interior decorating firm, UPS store, Curves fitness facility, Kroger grocery, a 50,000-square-foot shopping facility for jewelry store, Hallmark, spa and other enterprises. More good things this year include a fourplex movie theater (the lake’s first cinema) and a regional lighting and fireplace center.

And while you’re at the lake, don’t overlook these sightseeing spots:

• The Booker T. Washington National Monument, honoring a native son and national figure and featuring a year-round calendar of events such as the Juneteenth Celebration.
• Smith Mountain Lake State Park with dazzling beach, fishing pier, and rental cabins, tent and RV spaces.
• Smith Mountain Dam, the structure that started it all, 227 feet high and 816 feet in length, completed in 1963 by Appalachian Power Company – now American Electric Power – in the gap of Smith Mountain on the Roanoke River for a hydroelectric and storage pump project. Waters from the Roanoke and Blackwater rivers then created today’s residential and recreational lake.
• D-Day Memorial. Just 20 minutes from Bridgewater Plaza on U.S. 460, and an unforgettable homage to heroes of World War II with lifelike statuary, flags of many nations and a re-creation of the actual June 6, 1944 event.

A Great Place to Live

Smith Mountain Lake is so hot, it sizzles. With new communities. High demand. Breathtaking prices. And the beginning of bidding wars.

It’s a market in which everything – lots, condos, townhomes and single-family homes – sells at top dollar. Often thousands over asking price.

The big attraction is a combination of everything good in lake living:

Deep, clean water. Low taxes. Nice climate. Nice people. Four distinct seasons. Great fishing. And a commercial side that’s getting better all the time.

Children are a big part of the fun-lovers who tempt the waters at the 22,000-acre, manmade marvel.

Says Jay White, marketing director for M&J Developers, LLC, whose properties include Mariners Landing: “Smith Mountain Lake is simply a place where people can be alone when they want to be alone or find just about anything they want when they want to have a good time. There are endless opportunities for families to share fellowship and, between historical attractions and sites in Roanoke and Lynchburg, equally endless educational opportunities for families with young children.”

The Best at a Glance

Growing in stature as one of the East Coast’s most desirable recreational areas, most lake communities concentrate on year-round living with all the amenities. Not to be missed are such beautiful neighborhoods as The Waterfront, The Water’s Edge, Contentment Island, The Boardwalk, Mariners Landing, Waverly and Bernard’s Landing.

The problem is, if it’s waterfront, it may be gone in seconds.

And at top dollar. Even the experts are amazed at the unbelievable appreciation.

One appraiser estimates an overall jump in property values of 15 percent annually. Others have witnessed even more.

“In the last 18 months, prime waterfront property – lots and housing – has increased by at least 25 percent,” Willard says. “We’ve seen properties that even exceeded that; for instance, a property that sold for $450,000 two years ago resold for $650,000, and one lot that sold for $580,000 resold in two months for $625,000. We’ve also had bidding wars, with buyers going as much as $70,000 over the asking price.”

Jay White agrees: “A year ago, we sold 3,000-square-foot waterfront homes in Mariners Landing for the low $300,000s. Two were re-listed: one at $439,000 and the other, completely furnished, at $479,000.”

And nobody sees an end to the boom.

Along with the pristine water and magnificent mountains, that’s part of the lake magic.

(For a comprehensive look at Smith Mountain Lake’s new communities, visit our website at www.pinnacleliving.net. You can also find out more by visiting the SMLCC/P site at www.visitsmithmountainlake.com. It provides a wealth of visitor information, including a comprehensive directory that helps locate accommodations from vacation rentals to cozy B&Bs with many sites offering virtual tours of each property.)