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It wasn’t until the late 1800’s that the 10,000 year old secret of Midway, Utah was discovered. When Swiss immigrant Simon Schneitter settled the Heber Valley with a small party of others, he became intent on cultivating a fruitful farm amidst the shadows of the Wasatch Mountains. It wasn’t the soil that made his fortune however, but the curious looking 55-foot crater that inconveniently sat in the middle of his land.

Within this crater, water had been bubbling up through cracks in the earth’s surface for thousands of years, heated by the intensity of the earth’s interior and made rich with minerals. After Simon discovered the medicinal qualities of the crater’s waters, he invited neighbors to experience the healing qualities of these therapeutic baths, and word began to spread to other communities. Soon, Schneitter was hosting buggy loads of visitors, and in 1886 he opened the area’s first resort, “Schneitter’s Hot Pots.”

With a board-enclosed pool piped full of water, and his wife Fanny’s famous chicken dinners to feed hungry guests, Simon’s small family enterprise became a booming business. A public dining room was eventually added adjacent to the Schneitter family home (today the Virginia House) and in the 1950’s, the resort was purchased by the Whitaker family of California.

After renovations, expansion, and a name change, the Homestead was again purchased in 1986 by the privately-owned Great Inns of the Rockies. Despite the passage of years and the changing of hands, the Homestead retains it familial feel and generous hospitality.