The Club

The Fearrington Swim & Croquet Club is a tax-exempt recreational Club, and therefore is restricted by the IRS from competing with for-profit entities offering similar services. If the Club were to offer a “drop in” or month-to-month membership rates, we would be in direct competition with local facilities and could lose our tax-exemption. This would mean significantly higher membership rates for our members. 

Your Board of Directors is also 100% volunteer. To change Club structure would require software upgrades and hiring full-time, seasonal help to manage a more complex Club structure. Again, this increases costs significantly to our Members. 

Many of our residents ask if the Fearrington Swim & Croquet Club might provide more flexible membership options such as drop-in memberships or month-to-month memberships for our Fearrington Village and Galloway Ridge residents. While we would love to entertain this option for our residents, it is not possible due to the structure of our organization.

The capital costs of maintaining the grounds, pools, and facilities remain fairly steady throughout the year.  Our Board plans for the off-season as well as the “on season” based on our membership and Club dues. A "drop in rate" is not as reliable a stream of income and would not allow the Club to maintain the facilities. We have all been to facilities where the membership is more transient, and  often it is evident that maintenance of the facility is not as nice as it is in our Club.  The Club has been in operation for 25 years under the current income model which is proven and reliable.

Interestingly, some facilities which offer similar services are supplementally supported by the County governments where they are located; we are not. Some facilities may be instrumentalities of the County where they can raise money via a bond offering; we are not. Some facilities may be supported by wealthy not-for-profit corporations with large endowments; we are not. 

Our pool “season” is approximately 4.5 months/18 weeks long. For a membership fee of approximately $300, this means each member pays $16 per week or $2.40 per day. 

The Board of Directors works hard to ensure that the Club is thoughtfully maintained for our members to enjoy year-round. 

We understand that many of you travel during the summer season and may be away for 2-3 weeks or more. We hope that each and every one of you sees (and experiences) the value and enjoyment of our beautiful facility.