MARSHALL – A July 2021 News-Record and Citizen Times article outlined the news of the Capitola Mill’s planned transition to a high-end residential living complex, which began hosting residents in late 2021.
At that time, the project’s developer Pete Whitlock said he planned to eventually offer 11 offices and three “flex spaces,” as well as a weight room, spa, massage center, swim spa and jacuzzi on site at the building.
Now, more than a year later, those spaces have been filled, and The News-Record stopped in to visit with Whitlock and some of the new business owners and occupants.
One of the businesses located in a “flex space” on the first floor is The Spa at Capitola Mill, which offers facials, massages, foot soak and reflexology, a Himalayan salt room and the Boiler House Saunas.
The 38,500-square-foot building opened in 1905 as a textile mill.
For Whitlock, the renovation process was a long one, as he bought the property from the county on Aug. 18, 2005.
Whitlock, who also was involved with the development of Old Marshall Jail, submitted the Capitola Mill building to be recognized by the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places. In 2012, NPS recognized the mill in the register.
His wife Helen, who owns the spa, was instrumental in that transformation, too. As such, Helen Whitlock was intentional about incorporating some of the building’s history into the spa’s services.
The spa offers two massages that pay homage to the building’s storied history – a “spinner massage,” with a choice of techniques between Thai, accupressure and/or reiki, as well as a “doffer massage,” with a choice of techniques between Swedish, deep tissue or prenatal.
According to Helen Whitlock, the spa has nine employees, including five massage therapists and Blakely Chittick, the reception manager.
The Whitlocks spent more than 23 years commuting back and forth from Atlanta to Marshall. With the spa being operational now, the couple said they haven’t been back to their Atlanta home in more than two months.
Helen Whitlock worked for years as an engineer before transitioning into management consulting in 1991.
“I did it for a big company for four years, and then Pete said, ‘Why don’t you just do it for yourself?’ so I did,” Helen Whitlock said. “I had my own company for 22 years and just went project to project around Atlanta, and that worked really well.”
The spa held its official opening Jan. 4.
“I’ve always worked in factories and foundries,” Helen Whitlock said. “(In Atlanta), I commuted 17 miles to work. It would take an hour in the morning and an hour and a half at night.
“I want somewhere pretty to work. I’m almost 60, so I just want something nice, peaceful and happy.”
Helen Whitlock said there has been a learning curve in her transition from the engineering consulting world to the life of owning a spa.
“I know nothing about this,” she said. “I had to learn as I go, and I’ve had to rebuy and send back. It just takes a while to learn all of it.”
The Whitlocks said they made a conscious effort to showcase local artists in the spa and throughout the building, as Marshall artists such as Francesco Lombardo, Rob Amberg, Susan McChesney and Lauren Rutten’s works adorn the walls of the complex.
Whitlock has partnered with De La Terre Skincare for its skincare products. The Spa offers individual sessions, as well as monthly memberships to the Himalayan Salt Room and Boiler House Saunas.
Visit The Spa at Capitola Mill’s website at www.spacapitolamill.com.
Other tenants
Marshall Acupuncture & Herb Clinic and Muscle Whisperer Clinical Massage Therapy are two of the businesses renting out space in the building.
The space has attracted a wide variety of characters, each of them contributing their own flavor of creativity to the Marshall studios.
The News-Record spoke with Tori Roff while on a break from wearing 3D glasses to do design work on playground projects in Minnesota and Texas. Roff works remotely as an industrial designer for Landscape Structures Inc.
Roff said working remotely from his Capitola Mill studio allows him to be more productive than if he were on site.
“(On Feb. 7), I was in a virtual room with our compliance guy in virtual reality, walking through the space together – circling things, drawing in the space. I thought, ‘This is way better than if we were in a conference room,” Roff said.
Ken Frohriep works as an S&P 500 day trader. He also conducts a day trading podcast from his Capitola Mill space.
“I went to film and art school, and my plan was to work in film and television, which I did do,” Frohriep said. “But even when I was working in that was when I started getting into trading stocks. I studied post-production film editing, and in the early 2000s when entire computer labs were switching over to Apple products, I looked at that and thought, ‘We can’t be the only school that’s doing that. What is the stock trading at?’
“I kind of started putting things together and putting what little money I had into Apple stock. Then, next thing you know, I was watching all that growth in the early 2000s.”
A number of artists, including painters Lainard Bush and Jan Swanson use the space for art studios.
Swanson has been painting for 25 years.
“My father was a little crazy and he sold furniture. He used to have a furniture store on Merrimon Avenue years ago. It was called Morrison’s, with this other guy named Graham Morrison,” Swanson said. “I didn’t realize where all this furniture stuff (in my art) was coming from, and I went, ‘You stupid head, your father sold furniture and fabric, and all that kind of stuff.’ I just look around and see.”
Swanson started her career in Clemson’s Public Relations Department, which led her to Bowman Gray School of Medicine in Winston-Salem and then the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga. Later, she would move to Columbia, South Carolina.
But she always knew she wanted to come back home, which she did in May 2022.
“I love the mountains,” she said. “It’s sort of my dream to get in this building and to have this studio. I always loved Marshall when I was growing up in Asheville. I don’t know – it’s just cool. There’s something about it.”