High life on the fat farm.

• Position: Spa Fitness Centers Inc. - Company profile

High life on the fat farm

Watch out, Palm Springs. A Fayetteville-based company wants to make Westglow Spas in Blowing Rock the destination resort of the fat and not-so-famous.

For a mere $400 per weekend, visitors can gaze at Grandfather Mountain from a remodeled, Greek Revival mansion while shedding unwanted pounds.

Scheduled to open this summer, the $3 million, 16,000-square-foot combination fitness center and resort will offer vegetarian fare, mud baths, seminars on how to lower your cholesterol and cooking lessons with the accent on high fiber and low fat, plus scenic strolls through the mountain laurels. Guests will stay in the mansion or one of 20 cabins being built on the 20-acre site.

"We're mainly stressing a life-style change," says Glynda McPheters, who is developing the resort with her husband, Robert.

Their company, Spa Fitness Centers Inc., got its start in 1975 and has four health clubs - two in Fayetteville, one in Hickory and...