Travel
The Glamorous Lives of Winston-Salem’s Graylyn Estate
A French court battle, a German World Cup team, skylit chicken coops, and unlimited ice cream are all part of the story of this eclectic estate turned boutique hotel
Earlier this summer, Germany’s men’s national soccer team made the Graylyn Estate in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, its home base during the 2026 World Cup, unfurling long white banners across the facade of the 1930s-built manor house. The team’s stay marked the latest colorful chapter of a property that has served as a psychiatric hospital, a dormitory, and the home of a tobacco tycoon before it became a posh boutique hotel.
Graylyn was destined for an intriguing history. From 1928 to 1932, while Bowman Gray served as president of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, his wife, Nathalie, oversaw construction of their country estate. Unconcerned with each room blending seamlessly into the next, Nathalie—considered a visionary in her time—incorporated the ideas she’d collected throughout her travels. The resulting patchwork includes a medieval-style entry with a carved stone doorway, a Georgian Revival living room, and a Persian card room featuring elaborate wood panels from Istanbul.
And then there’s the library with its rare Louis XIV wall paneling dating to the 1680s, which the Grays purchased while visiting Paris. The French government tried to prevent the panels from leaving the country, but the dispute ultimately reached the French Supreme Court, which ruled in the Grays’ favor.
Nathalie Gray’s attention to detail even extended to her chickens; she had skylights installed in the estate’s poultry houses so the birds would be exposed to natural light. Today, the farm complex known at the Mews is home to guest rooms, including a two-story suite inside the old grain silo, and lodgers also benefit from the sunlight.
Across the modern-day property, every one of the eighty-five rooms and suites is unique, offering treasures such as four-poster beds, Grecian-inspired bathroom tiles, and marble tubs. Outside, guests have access to a seasonal outdoor swimming pool, tennis court, fishing pond, and the gardens and trails of another historic estate, Reynolda, just across the street.
Staying at Graylyn, it’s difficult to imagine a time when it wasn’t a hotel. But in 1946 the Gray family donated the property to the Bowman Gray School of Medicine at Wake Forest University, and it became an academic psychiatric hospital. The Grays’ son, Gordon, purchased the estate back from the medical school in 1972 and donated it to Wake Forest University, after which point it served as a rather luxurious student dormitory. Following a fire that broke out on the manor house’s third floor in 1980, Wake Forest decided to restore and reimagine the estate as a hotel and conference center, and Graylyn has undergone periodic renovations since.
Alexandra Collins, Graylyn’s director of sales and marketing, says the sight of the home still takes her breath away, and she enjoys watching first-time guests experience the same thrill. “I can see the look on their faces when they drive down the driveway and see the manor house for the first time,” she says. “It truly is a sight to behold.”
Nearly a century after Nathalie Gray began piecing together her patchwork dream home, Graylyn remains a place where a little excess is part of the charm. That includes two of the hotel’s tastiest traditions: butterscotch cookies served each afternoon and around-the-clock ice cream, said to be Bowman Gray’s favorite treat.