By Alix Adams. Photo by Sloan Poe.
Welcome to “You Should Move To…”, in which we travel the country scoping out beautiful, under-the-radar old house towns where big charm can be had for little cost. Have a city, town or neighborhood to recommend? Send it along to [email protected]!
Black Mountain, North Carolina is the kind of town that has real personality. Warm and welcoming, she’s a community of artists and artisans and all types who have sought out the landscape seeking entertainment or inspiration. The creativity surging around here is palpable and deep-rooted. She’s home to the former Black Mountain College, pretty much a modern art legend production factory in the 1940s and 50s. This town has seen talent. Merce Cunningham, Robert Rauschenberg, Cy Twombly, Willem de Kooning and more learned and taught at the progressive liberal arts school.
Plus, there are old houses galore to found in this Blue Ridge Babe!
State Street. Photo by berlyjen.
When the Old City Hall risked destruction in 1993, the community organized, found a way to save it, raised over a million dollars for renovations and turned the facility into Black Mountain Center for the Arts, which opened a few years later. Talk about putting your money where your mouth is, y’all. Black Mountain on top of things.
What’s a cute town without a cute old train depot? by Charles Smith.
I love this painting of the beautiful Cherry Street by Jeff Pittman, which is available for purchase HERE!.
Scenic Lake Eden hosts Lake Eden Arts Festival, or L.E.A.F., a gathering filled with music, art, yogis, healers, craftsmen and from what I hear, the kind of healing retreat from normal life that leaves you feeling GOOD. This is the place you visit for a weekend and have to take back all of the excuses you came up with to rationalize why your town doesn’t have an awesome annual arts festival (or let’s be honest, a decent local coffee shop) because there is no good excuse, utopias exist after all and you’ve been. You can’t unsee it.
Robert E. Lee Hall, 1911-1912. Photo by HowardMorland.
The Thomas Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church. Photo by Bill Fitzpatrick.
First home to Cherokee Indians and officially incorporated in 1893, Black Mountain has three separate historic districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Covering residential neighborhoods filled with Colonial Revivals and Queen Annes (Dougherty Heights) to the Black Mountain College District, there is a diverse architectural landscape spread out over the rolling hills.
21 Florida Avenue is for sale for $494,600. For more information, visit Keller Williams.
1108 Montreat Road is for sale for $319,999. For more information, visit Keller Williams.
There’s as an eclectic mix of homes to choose from here and B&Bs are all over the place, so if you’ve ever had that ‘move down south and buy a B&B’ dream, then Black Mountain, everybody. The Black Mountain Inn is one that I was seriously going to recommend for a stay but it’s also on sale, so I mean just buy the thing, right? It’s been open and housing customers since 1830, serving also as a stellar summer retreat for Hewingway, Steinbeck, Einstein and more during the Black Mountain College days. Move down south and buy a FAMOUS B&B.
The Black Mountain Inn is for sale for $695,950. For more information, visit Preferred Properties.
Looking for a project? Here’s a fixer-upper with a double-decker porch for just $99,000. Dream homes on sale for under $200,000 can have you thinking unrealistic move thoughts in a heartbeat, huh?
251 Flat Creek Rd is for sale for $99,000. For more information, visit Keller Williams – Asheville.
15 Pearl Street is for sale for $199,900. For more information, visit Sarver Realty Group, LLC.
Picture summer camp with no rules, better food and cute accommodations. Pack your bags and head to Black Mountain!
57 Gold Anchor Lane is for sale for $319,000. For more information, visit Greybeard Realty.
AUTHOR ALIX ADAMS
Alix hails from Charleston, South Carolina. She earned degrees in Historic Preservation and Art History from the College of Charleston and continues to be captivated by the city’s old-world values and architecture as they brush up against the new. She lives in an 1890 Charleston Single with her Sheltie Oliver and prefers to make the commute to work on her shiny red bike.
