t VOL. 84-NO. 24 THE TRANSYLVANIA TIMES BREVARD. N. C.. THURSDAY. JUNE 17. 197!
(SEC. THREE)
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STATELY ARCHITECTURE, ROLLING
LAWNS — “A gracious, rambling place with the
eye-pleasing architecture of a Swiss chalet; with
85 airy, high-ceilinged rooms; with glassed ve
randas and a broad terrace overlooking rolling
lawns . . . Terrace in background has a magnifi
cent view of Lake Fairfield at the base of tower
ing Bald Rock Mountain. (Time? Staff Photo)
Aristocratic Past....
....Exciting Future
By - Cal Carpenter
It was envisioned as a summer pleasure
place fpr the “carriage trade,” a place for a
select group of Southern society families who
knew how to live elegantly and who could af
ford Id indulge their tastes.
It began in those halcyon days of the last
century called the Gay Nineties, when the old
Toxaway Company, with the Jennings family
in partial control, acquired 12,000 acres of land
in the most beautiful part of the Southern High
lands—nearly 20 square miles of the lower but
still rugged mountains and verdant valleys at
the'feet of the Great Smokies.
They built a hotel—a gracious, rambling
place with the eye-pleasing architecture of a
Swiss chalet; with 85 airy, high-ceilinged
rooms; with glassed verandas and a broad
terrace overlooking rolling lawns and a deep,
blue mountain lake.
It was called the Fairfield Inn, and it
greiw, in a few short years, to become a mecca
for summer living; the transplanted social
capital of the eastern mid-south.
It knew the clip cf dainty hooves as the
spanking equippages of the great and near
•rea* Southern society drew up before its
hospitable entrance. It was, probably, one of
the last gems of antebellum Southern living,
isolated here in a jewel-like setting in the
mountains of Western North Carolina.
CHANGING TIMES
Years moved on; times changed. The
great oaks on the lawns grew larger, and the
sturdy Inn took on a patina of well-preserved
old age as the last of the gay nineties and the
first four decades of the twentieth century
slipped by.
But the beauty of the setting never
changed. Lake Fairfield remained serene,
blue and untroubled, sheltered in its deep
valley, almost overhung by the granite cliffs
of Bald Rock Mountain. And the beauty of
the climate never changed: the 3,200 feet of
elevation, the surrounding higher mountains
mid abundant rainfall kept the summers de
lightfully coed, the winters sheltered; made
Springs and Falls green-gold visions of moun
tain beauty.
Not so the affairs of men. There were
changes. The Jennings family retained their
interests until the mid nineteen-forties. At that
time the property was sold to Tatum Wofford.
Another 10 years, and the property was sold
again, this time to Mr. and Mrs. Eugene
Howerdd.
CONTINUED TO GROW
_ But during there years, the feme and
facilities cf this “Corner cn the Comfort
(Times
DEEP, BLUE MOUNTAIN LAKE — View
from the north lawn at Sapphire Valley Inn. Lake
Fairfield is in the center and looming mountains
overlook the lake. Lake elevation is about 3,200
ft.; surrounding mountains reach nearly 5,000 ft.
The famous resort has been called, “a Corner on
the Comfort Market.” (Times Staff Photo)
Market,” as it has been called, continued to
grow.
A golf course was carved out of virgin
timber land by Engineer C. D. S. Clarkson, to a
design by the famous architect, George W.
Cobb. Cottages were carefully located near the
Inn. connected by sylvan roads.
In 1966, by this time renamed “Sapphire
Valley” by Mr. Howerdd after the gem stones
found in the stream beds and along the hiking
trails on the property, the resort went into
year-around operation. And to provide a win
ter attraction, a ski facility was added with a
double chair lift, ski lodge, pro shop, and
3,400 feet of slopes for all levels of skiers.
Also during these latter years, homesites
were sold in areas overlooking the 80-acre Lake
Fairfield and adjoining the golf course. Many
beautiful and unusual homes were built, summer
and year-around, all landscaped into the natural
terrain; all on parts of the original 12,000
acres.
But these homes, the 7,000-yard cham
pionship golf course, the lake, the ski slopes,
stables, the Inn and cottages, used only a
small part of the original land. Thousands of
acres of the uniquely beautiful setting were
still unused.
TO PROTECT ENVIRONMENT
The beginning of full use of the land at
Sapphire Valley started this month when the
Inn, lake, golf course, ski club and 6.000 acres
bf the surrounding land were purchased by
Realtec, Inc., a Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, corpo
ration. Realtec is a subsidiary of Certain-teed
Products Corporation, Valley Forge, Pa., one of
the world’s largest producers of building ma
terials.
The new corporation is renovating the
Inn-—modernizing but not changing it; will
continue operation of all the resort facilities;
and. in addition, will build some 400 condo
minium apartments where many more people
will be able to live and enjoy the beauty and
gracious living that has long been the privi
lege of only a few.
“But we do not intend to change the
character of the Inn nor of Sapphire Valley,”
stresses Colonel Merrit G. “Jerry” Gamer, re
tired Air Force officer and Director of Corporate
Affairs for Realtec; who, as senior representa
tive for Realtec here, is in charge of putting the
Inn and its multitudinous activities under a per
manent, year-around management.
“We shall keep all the ‘Corner on the
Comfort Market' activities — actually we’ll
add several more. But we’ll not dispense with
one bit of the old-time elegance and leisurely
comfort for which the Inn is famous.
We’ll build the condominiums with the least
amount of disruption possible, they will not be
crowded together—each will have a view; the
roads will be carefully laid out so as to blend
with the terrain and woods; all power and
utility lines will be underground; we shall go to
every length to protect the ecology and the
beauty of the environment.
“Our primary intention, foremost in ovory
construction activity, will bo to leavn undis
turbed tho boauty of this wonderful property.
Our primary intention in ovary activity af
forded our guests and residents will ha to
maintain the gracious pace and elegant serv
ices that have made Sapphire Valley so well
known in the past,*' he says.
Included in the building program, accord
ing to Colonel Garner, is a new, 40 by 80 foot,
heated swimming pool near the Inn (there is al
ready a pool at the Golf Club) ; two new tennis
courts nearer the Inn (there’s now two courts at
the Golf Club) ; and several more shuffleboards.
These, and many other renovations, improve
ments and added conveniences are in the plans
according to Colonel Garner.
EVERYTHING FOR GUESTS, RESIDENTS
Says Mrs. Kathryn “Kathy” Garner,
Jerry Garner’s attractive wife who is here
with her husband and assisting with the man
agement of the Inn: “We don’t want to act
like outsiders who’ve come to change things.
We want to keep the charm and elegance of
the old Fairfield Inn.”
Mrs. Garner, who will have a lot to say
about guest entertainment, will work closely
with the Inn’s Social Director and its Hostess
and Dining Room Manager, Mrs. Sarah Mc
Namee.
“In addition to many golf and skiing ac
tivities at the Golf and Ski Clubs, we’ll have
Table Tennis, Archery (with a top-flight in
structor) ; Badminton, Horseshoe Pitching,
Basketball, Shuffleboard, Croquet, Bicycling,
Tennis, Swimming, Fishing Excursions, Gem
Hunting, Scenic Tours (to places of interest in
Western North Carolina); Horseback Riding,
Outdoor Cookouts, and Side Tours for special
events,” says Mrs. Garner.
“Oh, yes, and art displays, craft displays,
book reviews, music recitals, bridge tourna
ments . . .” she adds.
In a word, everything guests and residents
might like or want will be a part of the hospi
tality at Sapphire Valley.
HAS TO BE SEEN
Samphire Valley, with its historic past
and exciting future, is a subject difficult to
cover in a newspaper feature.
It can be simply described as a year-around
Country Club, Golf Club, Ski Club, and Inn,
which will soon be a Condominium develop
ment also. Its location can be given as just off
U. S. Highway 64, some 28 miles west of Bre
vard and two miles east of Cashiers and the
intersection of U. S. 64 and State Highway
107.
But there’s much more to it than that. It
is a very special place of natural beauty that is
unexcelled—beauty of such perfection as to
seem almost unreal. You have to see it to be
lieve it.
“Beauty is* just k word until you’ve seen
Sapphire Valley,” it says on one of the Inn’s
colorful brochures. That says it pretty well.
Perhaps it was said even better by a
young visitor last week as he stood on the Inn
terrace and looked over the blue waters of
Lake Fairfield at the looming height of Bald
Rock Mountain:
“Man I” he exclaimed seriously. “Is that
mountain real?”
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