Visit The Preserve Sporting Club & Resort in Rhode Island

In the mid-1980s, developer Paul Mihailides purchased 3,500 acres of undeveloped land in Richmond, Rhode Island. The property featured a few small wood houses and an early 20th-century barn, but was largely pristine forest, pastureland, 10 miles of the Pawtuxet Wood River and 13 ponds.

Beginning in 2016, construction transformed the land into a year-round private lifestyle community called The Preserve Sporting Club & Resort. Development included a golf course and clubhouse, private single-family homes, townhouses, a four-story apartment building, the all-suite Hilltop Lodge hotel, and a collection of wood-and-glass “tiny” houses used by owners or rented to visitors.

While vacation rentals are available, full access to many of the sporting facilities requires club membership. The Preserve’s athletic offerings now include two manicured grass tennis courts, two clay tennis courts, two pickleball courts, an 18-hole executive golf course, and an equestrian center housing 18 horses in a restored early 20th-century barn. The property also features what is reported as the longest automated indoor rifle and pistol shooting range in the country.

The on-site Sporting Shoppe and shooting range occupy roughly 50,000 square feet, with an additional 25,000 square feet of retail space planned. The Sporting Shoppe stocks firearms, fishing gear and apparel and equipment for a wide range of outdoor sports. Other activities include outdoor sporting clays, seasonal pheasant shooting, volleyball, croquet, basketball, biking trails, a 1,765-foot zip line, a clay bocce court and fly-fishing ponds. Meeting and event facilities accommodate up to 350 guests indoors and 1,000 in outdoor tented areas, and construction of a new event barn for weddings, galas and conferences is in its final stages.

Most sporting locations are within walking distance, and the appropriate equipment is staged at each venue. For golf, fly-fishing and equestrian activities, guests are chauffeured in Bentley SUVs that carry golf clubs, fishing gear, hunting rifles or picnic baskets for countryside lunches.

Dining options include Double Barrel Steak, The Preserve’s signature restaurant and bar, which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner daily and offers outdoor seating on its porch. For a distinctive culinary experience, the Maker’s Mark Hobbit Houses—small stone cottages tucked in the woods—host private four-course meals featuring artisanal cheeses and charcuterie, roasted pheasant, watermelon burrata salad, ginger salmon and Maker’s Mark braised short ribs, plus sides and dessert. Each course is paired with selections from the Maker’s Mark bourbon collection; the experience is available for two or for groups up to eight.

Another popular offering is the Safari Tent Scotch and Cigar Tasting Experience, where guests relax inside or outside luxury tents while sampling curated scotches and cigars accompanied by charcuterie and other culinary selections.

Fitness and wellness amenities are centered at OH! Spa, located at Hilltop Lodge. Hilltop Lodge is an 18-suite hotel; suites include a large living area, full kitchen, guestroom and many with private porches. OH! Spa, adjacent to the infinity pool, provides a range of massages and body treatments performed by experienced therapists. Guests can dine poolside at the H2O Café or indoors at the Lily Pad Café. All dining venues are open to the public, while many sporting facilities require either club membership or an overnight reservation.

In winter, indoor facilities remain available while outdoor offerings shift to cross-country skiing, ice fishing, horse-drawn carriage rides along snowy trails and staff-supported outdoor fire pits for barbecues.

The resort’s meadows are grazed year-round by about 30 American Blackbelly rams, adding to the pastoral character of the grounds between the horse barn and the resort entrance.

Richmond, Rhode Island, established in 1747, lies about 35 miles south of Providence.