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Mellow out at MelhanaGeorgia plantation is now a welcoming retreatBy Angela Wibking
History aside, however, present pleasures mean a lot -- especially since rooms at Melhana range from $150-$450 a night, including breakfast. That’s where the present owners Charlie and Fran Lewis come in. The couple saw the property’s potential for a luxury retreat back in the early 1990s when they purchased the nearby Owl’s Nest guest house and about 10 acres that were once part of the vast original Melrose and Sinkola Plantations. The bulk of these plantations had been in the Hanna family for generations until 1986 when Hanna heirs parted with 31 acres and the main house to a local plastic surgeon, who in turn sold these to the Lewises in 1994. They renamed the property in honor of Howard Melville “Mel” Hanna, the wealthy businessman and Standard Oil executive from Ohio who acquired the original cotton plantation as a winter home back in 1896. The Lewises then began an extensive, authentic restoration of the grounds and buildings.
As lovely as its grounds are and as comfortable and attractive as the rooms are, it is at mealtime that modern-day Melhana truly shines. Among the excellent appetizers are the crab cake on sliced fried eggplant with marinara sauce ($8.95), the seafood ravioli in light alfredo sauce ($6.95), and the fried green tomatoes with grilled gulf shrimp and Vidalia onion tomato relish ($8.95). Recommended entrees include baked grouper with jumbo lump crabmeat ($25.95), vegetable paella ($18.50), and chicken breast stuffed with goat cheese and spinach ($22.95). While the buttermilk and pecan pies are rich and satisfying, the crème brulee is the superstar of the dessert menu. Melhana also caters to weddings and corporate meetings and a typical entrée for a special group gathering might be beef tenderloin in pastry and baked grouper. Melhana offers a number of special packages, including a Millennium Package, Dec. 30, 1999-Jan. 2, 2000. This includes accommodations for 3 nights, welcome reception, breakfast/lunch/dinner for two each day, New Year’s Brunch, New Year’s Gala (with midnight breakfast), valet parking, champagne, full access to regular amenities and activities, plus special planned events like skeet shooting instruction and competition. Prices start at $3,200 per couple, tax and gratuities not included. For more information on Melhana Plantation, call (888)920-3030 or visit their web site at http://www.melhana.com Photos by Angela Wibking |
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Melhana Plantation, which opened in the fall of 1998 in southeast
Georgia, is one of the newest in the South’s growing number of luxury country
resorts. But while Melhana resembles properties like the Inn at Blackberry Farm
in east Tennessee in pricing and amenities, this Georgia peach of a resort has a
fascinating past that adds considerably to her allure. Beginning life as a
cotton plantation before the Civil War, the property eventually became a
playground of the rich and famous in 1880s when wealthy Northern industrialists
bought up huge tracts of land and created luxurious winter homes here. Well-known
politicians, entertainment personalities and foreign dignitaries still visit private
homes in the area, though their hosts are so discreet one seldom hears of these
visits. It’s common knowledge, though, that Ted Turner and Jane Fonda own
property in the area. 
Arising early
while morning mists still wrap Melhana in a soft gray blanket, the plantation’s
past feels present. Horses graze quietly among the moss-draped oaks and peacocks
wander across the velvety green lawn in front of The Pink House, as the main
house is called. One half-expects to see fields of cotton, the crop that made
Melhana’s fortune before the Civil War, stretching into the distance. And it
wouldn’t be impossible while walking to flush a covey of quail, the sport bird
that so appealed to the wealthy Northerners who wiled away their winters here. 
Inside the ivy-covered pool
house, sunlight flowing through the glass roof begins to warm the waters where,
it’s whispered hereabouts, Joan Crawford once took a dip. Outside, shafts of
sunlight pierce the mist, illuminating the Showboat, Melhana’s own theater where
the first private screening of “Gone with the Wind” was held for area investors
in 1939. These and other glimpses of Melhana’s past, as much as Melhana’s
present pleasures, account for her appeal.
Today Melhana guests are
accommodated in 9 rooms that have been artfully created in buildings that once served
as the dairy barn and the plantation creamery or in the 11 guestrooms at The
Pink House, the antebellum main house that was the Hanna family residence. More
accommodations are being created in the plantation’s former carriage house and
in several cottages that were once servants’ quarters. Accommodations are
appointed with king-size beds dressed with imported linens. Rooms in the former
dairy barn sport an equestrian theme, while rooms in the Pink House reflect an
elegant traditional style. Baths include oversized showers and Jacuzzi tubs.
While there are no mini-bars, 24-hour room service is offered. 
Like the property’s careful
restoration and interior design elements, the pace at Melhana reflects an
earlier era when vacationing meant relaxing in comfort rather than racing from
one activity to the next. Many guests simply enjoy sipping a drink on the wide back
porch and watching hummingbirds flit among the flowers. Or one might choose to
stroll about the formal gardens that surround The Pink House, borrow a book
from the library and read in the sun-filled Hogan Room or enjoy a pre-dinner
cocktail while listening to music in the elegant Hanna Room. Of course, there
is plenty to keep the more active-minded guest occupied at Melhana, as well. On-property
recreation includes swimming in the indoor pool, tennis on two clay courts, horseback
riding and croquet. The plantation’s former garages now hold meeting rooms for
small gatherings and an exercise room filled with fitness equipment for guests’
use. Golf on the country’s second oldest course at the nearby Glen Arven
Country Club and antique shopping in the little town of Thomasville are other
popular options. History and architecture buffs will love the tours of the
grand Pebble Hill Plantation (once part of the Hanna family holdings and now
open to the public) and the architecturally unique Lapham-Patterson House (not
a right angle anywhere in the house), all within a few minutes of Melhana.