The house is a fine example of the architectural style called "California Craftsman." The Vanlandingham family had an estate westward, up in the great Smokey Mountains at Linville. Many of the garden plants and trees are actually better suited to the mountains. The stone for the house was brought in from Linville.
click on any image to see an enlargement.
Originally built for the family of a wealthy cotton broker and his Atlanta bred wife (she was heir to a hotel fortune), the home and gardens have served as a conference center and B&B since the late 1980s. It has several gardens and a huge, beautiful pond. Weddings and receptions are held here as regular business. Anyway, lovely as the house is (and I recommend the B&B) it struck me as the sort of place the amoral banker Bucky Tharrington would have lived in.
I strolled the gardens while Joy was in a meeting. Later, at lunch, I took photos of her in the old wood swing hung from an ancient magnolia tree in one of the bridal gardens. The old stables are large enough they have been converted to 4 rooms, with their own patio and meeting area. Joy and I stayed in one of the stable rooms for $100/night. Breakfast was wonderful and served in a large beautifully appointed dining room.
View of the pond from one of the bridal gardens.
Below, the garden house, large enough for a 12 person conference; the back is a large greenhouse for the garden staff; behind the the green house is the herb garden for the kitchen.
Below, a view of part of the pond with the side view of the garden green house.
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