Six geodesic domes with hot tubs, record players and heated bathhouse floors are about to open for business in rural Prince Edward County, where Richmond residents Kevin and Laura Wilson are putting the finishing touches on Camp Yellow Cardinal. The 25-acre glamping site near Farmville is set to welcome its first campers on December 31, and it already has roughly 120 reservations on the books before a single guest has checked in.
From Richmond Restaurants to Rural Retreat
According to Richmond BizSense, Camp Yellow Cardinal sits off the southern side of C.C. Road, west of Meherrin and about 20 minutes south of Farmville. The Wilsons say they landed on the idea after moving into real estate work and wanting to help people from urban areas find some solace in rural Virginia. Kevin Wilson is a familiar name in Richmond's restaurant scene, having co-owned StickyToGoGo — the carry-out, delivery and catering spinoff of Fan sushi spot Sticky Rice — from 2006 to 2017, and later co-owning Cellar Door, a Peruvian-inspired restaurant at 1600 Monument Avenue, from 2010 to 2012.
Prince Edward County's Board of Supervisors granted the Wilsons a special-use permit in March 2025 to establish the commercial campground, according to Prince Edward County Board of Supervisors meeting minutes. Supervisors also required quiet hours at the campground from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m., and Wilson agreed. During the earlier Planning Commission review, Wilson described a proposed maximum of 12 campsites, though the first phase that's now nearing completion includes six, per Prince Edward County Planning Commission meeting minutes.
Inside the Domes
Each campsite centers on a 19-foot-diameter retro-futurist dome sitting atop a 25-by-25-foot wood deck, outfitted with a king-size bed and a table for two guests, the BizSense report notes. The domes come with insulation, heat and air conditioning, plus a kitchenette stocked with coffee and tea, a fire pit, hot tub, propane grill and a record player. Wilson described the record player as a fun analog way to encourage guests to put their phones away, the outlet reports. The domes are spaced 75 to 125 feet apart to offer some seclusion, and the property also includes a gravel parking lot, communal pavilion, small camp store, bathhouse, walking paths and utilities — with bathhouse vanities and bathing amenities assigned by dome and featuring heated concrete floors and a tile walk-in shower.
What a Night Will Cost
Rates will shift with the seasons. The average daily rate to rent a dome runs $265 to $285 from December through April, climbs to around $350 during peak season, and can top $400 on key weekends such as Memorial Day weekend, per the same account. As of the report, the parking lot, driveway, dome decks and bathhouses were already finished, with the domes and hot tubs on site and being installed.
The financial picture has shifted since the project was first announced. An earlier BizSense report pegged the total cost to open, including purchasing the property and construction, at around $500,000, with the Wilsons expecting to open after the first construction phase sometime in July or August. Project costs have since come in at around $750,000, with the couple financing around 80% of it through an SBA loan — a process Kevin Wilson said delayed the opening. “Everything was secured, it was just the amount of back and forth that took forever, frankly,” he said, according to the outlet.
Early Demand From Across the Region
Reservations opened in recent weeks, and the response was immediate: more than 75 bookings came in within the first five days, and the total has since grown to around 120. Wilson said the first bookings came from Richmond, Chesterfield, Fairfax, Charlottesville and Newport News, as well as from Maryland and Pennsylvania. The Wilsons, who documented the campground's buildout on social media, plan to keep living in Richmond while Kevin Wilson serves as the property's full-time owner-manager; the couple also intends to hire a few local employees for cleaning and turnover service.
Camp Yellow Cardinal is also launching into a broader Virginia trend of outdoor hospitality projects chasing travelers hungry for something beyond a standard hotel room. Modern Campground notes that glamping businesses more broadly are tapping into demand for unique, experience-driven accommodations. Nearby, the Fleming Preserve — a 2,600-acre hunting and event venue along the Appomattox River — recently began taking its own reservations, the same BizSense report notes, suggesting Prince Edward County's rural acreage is drawing fresh interest from operators betting on Virginians' appetite for a weekend away from the city.
