This Luxe New England Sporting Club is a Shooting Sports Paradise

In the heart of Rhode Island, the smallest state in the Union, serial entrepreneur, car collector, and conservationist Paul Mihailides has created what everyone said would never work: a 10,000-acre private club dedicated to the outdoor lifestyle, with a focus on shooting sports.

The Preserve Sporting Club & Residences in Richmond, about 30 minutes west of Newport, is a year-round enclave with an incredible array of offerings: skeet shooting, upland fowling, a shooting range, tactical weapons training, fly-fishing ponds, an equestrian center, an 18-hole -Golf course, an off-road driving course, safari tents, a 50,000-square-foot sporting goods store with a fine gun room, a five-star luxury lodge, a world-class restaurant by famed chef David Burke, a spa, swimming pool, tennis courts, helipad, zipline and an impressive Portfolio of luxury properties, among other amenities.

A Rhode Island native, Mihailides has spent 40 years building a diverse portfolio of properties around the world while also building and scaling several other businesses, including FAMARS, a high-end knife and gun manufacturer founded in Italy in 1967 Founded.

A dedicated conservationist, lifelong outdoor lifestyle enthusiast, and automotive, wine and cigar lover, he has managed to combine all of his passions and a successful real estate venture into one estate with the $1 billion The Preserve.

Featuring the entry point to one of the growing number of luxurious, privately located residences Mihailides has built on Preserve lots, with full membership privileges from golf to hunting, reportedly costing around $500,000 forbesit’s still cheaper than many of the private clubs across the country that pride themselves on their exclusivity while offering half the activities.

Not surprisingly, it’s attracted a slew of high-profile members, homeowners, and regular visitors, including the billionaire CEO of one of the world’s largest banks (New York City is just 30 minutes away by private jet); and numerous sports legends.

“When I first presented my plan, they thought I was crazy,” laughs Mihailides. “I said I would build a 100-mile trail system, an 18-hole executive golf course, a clay court, highland hunting fields, horse stables, tennis courts, a pool, a sporting goods store, a spa and a main lodge…. Then, as it started to catch on, I went from crazy to visionary. And now we are very happy that it was a success.”

When he started, “the property was very small, only 100 acres. Now we have over 3,800 acres. The property is four miles by six miles. It’s essentially 24 square miles, which means we own about half a percent of Rhode Island. It’s quite spectacular.”

Bird hunting in the highlands, which takes place from October to March, is a major draw. Mihailides breeders raise about 15,000 pheasants annually, which are released at various times for staged hunts. “The property is so large that the areas where hunting is permitted are miles from the rest of the facilities,” he notes.

Eight lush fields of sorghum are tended as hunting grounds, with English style hunting curtains, and there is also a lodge with a hunting porch offering shelter from the elements in the colder months. The hunting here is considered some of the best in the country; Get to know Mihailides and you will soon realize that the key to his success is never settling for second best.

“If you look at The Preserve, every element is really top notch,” he says. “That’s why I don’t want to compare myself to places like Palmetto Bluff [in South Carolina]Magee homestead [in Wyoming] or the ranch at Rock Creek [in Montana]. These are all beautiful places I have visited and they all offer a very nice experience. Maybe if you want to learn how to shoot a gun, maybe a .22, or if you want to shoot sport clays, you might have two or three traps and a place to shoot clays there.

“But there are 41 sound stations and top-notch, professional-level, military and competitive facilities for every type of firearm. We have the longest automated indoor shooting range in the world with no caliber limitation.”

Also, “I have four ex-Navy SEALS who work for me, ex-Delta Bravo Force commanders, Green Berets, 40-year-old NRA instructors, ex-Olympians, and we train people here from all over the world. We have 17 municipal contracts. So there’s just nothing quite like it.”

The Sporting Shoppe is another eye-catcher. “We have the largest inventory in the country,” says Mihailides, “worth more than $30 million, with several million in the armory alone. If you’re a gun enthusiast, we probably have every type of pistol known to man along with a variety of beautifully handcrafted rifles and shotguns.

He notes that The Preserve “is touted by [legendary gunmakers] Beretta and Holland & Holland as the best upland bird sports grounds in America, without exception. Not the second, not the third, not the fourth. The best.”

Mihailides has owned Bentley since the early 1980s, so it makes perfect sense that he recently partnered with the British luxury brand. The Preserve is now the premier venue for the Bentley Outdoor Experience; To convince Bentley that they were the right partner to work with, Mihailides built a world-class 2.2-mile off-road course for a Bentley event – at a cost of over $2 million. When they saw the result, Bentley decided to make it permanent.

Now members and guests can test drive models such as the Bentley Flying Spur and Continental GT Speed, which are part of a rotating fleet of eight vehicles now based at The Preserve, while four-wheel drive Bentaygas are available for use on the off-road course are available, where challenges include waterfalls, steep climbs and even steeper descents, and other obstacles that the uber-luxurious SUV overcomes with ease. And a $4,000-a-night Bentley-themed suite is planned for Hilltop Lodge soon, for those wanting full immersion.

After a day on the clay court course, the off-road course, the fly fishing pond, or all three, there’s no need to leave the property for a world-class meal. The Preserve’s signature dining experience is the Double Barrel Kitchen, which features the largest wine cellar in Rhode Island.

“We have over $1 million worth of wine,” notes Mihailides, who has a penchant for Napa Cabernets of various vintages with big names, with the most expensive bottle costing $18,000. The restaurant is staffed by chefs and sommeliers hired through The Preserve’s new partnership with internationally acclaimed chef David Burke.

The Preserve also shares reciprocity with the Ocean House at nearby Watch Hill, which is frequently ranked as the best luxury hotel in New England. Preserve guests can also take advantage of the Ocean House’s beautiful beach club.

The nearby 140-acre Equestrian Center at The Preserve, which will soon be linked to the rest of the property through another land acquisition, is home to more than 30 horses ranging from small ponies to $14 million to Mihailides’ personal mount, Great Bear.

“He’s a 19-handed Percheron, really majestic,” he tells us. “If you think about one of the fight movies or those Excalibur Movies, they’re going to have huge horses like this” – Percherons were originally bred as war horses. “We actually have three of these, massive Percherons, all 19 hands,” making them the tallest horses in the world. “So if you want to ride something really awesome, we can do that, or a sleigh ride if that’s more your speed.”

On the fishing front, The Preserve’s picturesque ponds are stocked with various species of trout, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass and soon landlocked salmon. Next, he has plans for a state-of-the-art life extension medical center, a fully stocked general store, combat rifle department, tree houses, and an additional 100 luxurious rooms and suites for overnight stays to further expand the impressive 24-suite Hilltop Lodge building, into which Mihailides more than 1 million dollars invested per key.

One of the property’s most popular features is the Hobbit Houses, for which Mihailides has partnered with Maker’s Mark to offer a tasting menu of bourbon pairings at the unique locations.

“There’s a five-course pairing with five different styles of Maker’s Mark, from Maker’s 46 to Maker’s Cask Strength to our own Maker’s Mark Preserve Reserve, drawn from casks I personally selected down in Kentucky,” he tells us.

If cigars and scotch are more your thing, there’s also a trio of safari tents on the property, outfitted with antler chandeliers and leather lounge chairs, where you can indulge in your smoke of choice, along with Drams Laphroaig single malt , another of these -a friendly partnership that brought Mihailides to the table. His enthusiasm is contagious and he personally oversees and obviously enjoys every element of the property, interacting with members and guests like old friends.

One thing becomes immediately clear; Spending a day at The Preserve isn’t really doable. It would take several days to live up to this and partake in all the activities and amenities on offer. But a few months would be even better. Hence the amazing success of Mihailides’ residential property offerings, from tiny cottages to 6,000+ square foot luxury mansions.

“We’re fortunate to have some of the highest selling prices per square foot in the country, with recent sales exceeding $3,000 per square foot,” he enthuses, an infectious grin lighting up his face. “Right here in little old Richmond, Rhode Island. On average per foot, that’s more than Beverly Hills.”

This article originally appeared in the March/April 2023 issue of Maxim.