At last our search is over!
After looking at 25 houses in the Asheville area, reaching our wit’s end, and going back & forth to North Carolina more times we can remember, we finally found our place in a little village called Gerton – population 183.
For us, it has just about everything we were seeking: a country setting but not far from Asheville (about a 20 minute drive), an abundance of trees, some gardening opportunities and a lovely neighborhood that seems to be friendly with homes that are close enough to get to know your neighbors but also with a sense of space and privacy. Our lot is on the end so it is especially well-secluded.
The house itself
is kind of a ranch/bungalow mix with wood floors, an unfinished basement area (Chad’s future studio), a great stone fireplace, and a very nice open feel to it. It also has a wonderful, large kitchen with many cabinets and lots of counter space. The setting couldn’t be better, with this community surrounded by forest at the base of Little Bearwallow Mountain. Our subdivision is called Chestnut Hills and it rests just past the Eastern Continental Divide on Highway 74A, which used to be the main route between Charlotte and Asheville. Since we’re on the south side of the pass, the road winds considerably as it climbs from the town of Fairview to just over the Divide, where Gerton lies.
When it comes to action, Gerton isn’t exactly a hot spot — basically we have a post office, a fire department, and a little market called Nita’s. Our closest dining out / other night life opportunities are in Fairview. When it comes to outdoor activities, however, this area (known as Hickory Nut Gorge) has an abundance of offerings: hiking trails, camping, canoeing, mountain biking, waterfalls, caves and more. Attractions nearby include Lake Lure, Bat Cave (the largest bat cave in the world!), Chimney Rock State Park, Florence Nature Preserves, Little Mount Pisgah, Rumbling Bald, and over 4000 acres of conservation land. No Wal-Marts here!
We’re looking forward to our new life, and we welcome our friends and family to visit us in the mountains (heh, call first)! And if you like quaint moter lodges you should check out the Mountain Meadows Motel – it’s two minutes from our house and features a lake, volleyball, basketball, hot tub, fishing, swimming and nice, clean rooms with windows you can actually open.
All pictures on this page will open in new windows with larger versions if you click on them…hopefully we’ll continually update our house pictures as we take more.