High on a hill on Little River Road in Flat Rock is Saluda Cottages, or “The Wedding Cake House,” as my children named it when they were little. Built in 1836, it was once a simple, two-story home until turn-of-the-century renovations transformed it into a grander home reflecting a French Second Empire-style mansion. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Saluda Cottages sits on more than 20 acres in the heart of Flat Rock.
Read MoreWhen Tish Hilyer first entered the building that would eventually house her new endeavor, she knew immediately that the warm and inviting room with an expansive view of Highland Lake would be perfect as a yoga studio. “They opened the door and I thought ‘This is a yoga space.’ It just felt like a straight-from-the-divine opportunity.”
One year later, Tish and her Wild Lotus Yoga Collective are thriving in their new home in Highland Lake Cove.
Read MoreOn January 31st, Polly Angelakis, Park Superintendent at Carl Sandburg National Historic Site, will retire from the National Park Service after a long and varied career of 38 years. During that time, Polly has worked across these United States - at Salem Maritime NHS, USS Arizona Memorial, Everglades NP, Jean LaFitte NHP, Acadia NP, Shenandoah NP, Assateague Island NS, Olympic NP, Marsh Billings Rockefeller NHP, National Capital Regional Office, George Washington Memorial Parkway, Intermountain Regional Office, and finally here at Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site.
In honor of Polly’s years in Flat Rock, we are republishing an article about her life and work originally posted in 2020.
Read MoreOn a Sunday morning in June of 1815, Scotsman James Brown found himself staring across the countryside of Waterloo, Belgium. A bugler for the Royal Scots Greys, Brown clutched his instrument and prepared to enter battle against the famous French army of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Just a few years later James Brown, witness to perhaps the most iconic battle in European history, immigrated to America. Ultimately ending up in Flat Rock, NC.
Read MoreIn May 2024, Flat Rock Together published a story about the history of one of East Flat Rock’s most iconic structures, the Stepp Walker Building. At the time, there were considerable gaps in the building’s history.
Fortunately, two individuals with personal histories with the building saw our original story and helped fill those gaps. We heard from Elizabeth Pressley Hill whose father operated a grocery store in the building in the 1950s and 1960s and Jim Kirkpatrick whose father acquired and grew a very successful business there in the 1980s. Those stories are recounted here.
Read MoreAt the end of each year, I undertake the impossible task of selecting my five favorite Flat Rock Together stories from the preceding 12 months. It is, of course, a task that is both arbitrary and unfair. Every story is valuable and should be celebrated in its own right. Stories are how we mark time, celebrate relationships, bestow accolades on the protagonists, and give meaning to our existence.
Five favorite stories from 2025 here.
Read MoreIn June of 1906, Thomas Alva Edison visited Henderson County and stayed at the Blue Ridge Inn on the corner of Main Street and Third Avenue West in downtown Hendersonville. The purpose of Edison’s visit, however, was not to enjoy the bucolic pleasures of an emerging mountain resort village. Indeed, Edison had his inventor’s eyes on a community in the southern part of Henderson County known – in no small part because of Edison’s decades-long interest – as Zirconia.
Read MoreNext to Santa’s cookies were four thank-you notes. The handwriting on the notes was difficult to make out, but the sincerity and appreciation were evident in every crayon mark and comical attempt to draw a reindeer. I loved that they still believed.
Next to the notes, cookies, and milk were the old alphabet blocks from my childhood. The kids had worked together - turning each block to find the correct letter - and spelled out “Love You Santa” with the worn painted letters.
Read MoreI began to wonder about the origin of the white squirrels. Where do they live? What is the biological explanation for their bright white coats? How prevalent are they? And how in the world do they survive in a world full of predators while being so incredibly conspicuous wherever they go?
As it turns out, I am not the first to wonder about these vitally important questions. There is even the White Squirrel Institute in our neighboring town of Brevard. Here is what I have learned.
Read MoreE.R. Haire, Jr. was, by his own account, a less than stellar student during his time at NC State University when a professor’s challenge opened a new and very rewarding chapter of his life. It was a pivotal moment that proved to be the genesis of E.R.’s upcoming one-man performance of Truman Capote’s “A Christmas Memory” at St. John in the Wilderness Episcopal Church in Flat Rock.
Read MoreThanksgiving weekend in Flat Rock feels like the perfect time to pause and take stock of the blessings I experience almost daily here in Flat Rock. At a time when it is all too easy to get distracted by the disappointments and troubles that swirl about in the wider world, it is even more important for me to reflect on all that is good in my life.
Today is December 1st. So it seems only fitting that I celebrate the spirit of the season with a list of 31 reasons - one for each day of the month – that I appreciate about living in this beautiful village in the mountains of North Carolina.
Read MoreNext to the ladies’ bathroom is a box for lost items that have been found in The Park and deposited there in the hope of a reunion with the owner. I always stop to examine the box, not because I think I’ve lost something, but because I am curious about the objects therein and their erstwhile owners.
I wonder about the owners of these objects. Will they miss these things? Will they remember where they were left? Will they come back to claim them? Who goes home with just one shoe?
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Left Behind by guest contributor, Judy Hoyer
Read MoreAs a young boy riding his bike past the Hendersonville Airport, Mark Huneycutt dreamed of one day becoming a helicopter pilot. That dream has propelled him to a life of adventure that includes attaining his dream of piloting helicopters in the US Army, becoming renowned as a daring paramotor pilot, and most recently, becoming nationally famous for his on-the-ground reporting of the devastation in western North Carolina as a result of Hurricane Helene.
At age 33, Mark Huneycutt has already experienced several lifetime's worth of adventure.
Read MoreThanksgiving is a time for family, friends, and good food. Fortunately for those of us living in and around Flat Rock, our local restaurants are making plans to make sure our holiday meals are not only festive but delectable as well.
This week we've put together a list of all the ways that our culinary friends are ready to help make Thanksgiving dinner a little easier to prepare and a lot more delicious.
This season, support our local businesses by making them an important part of your Thanksgiving preparations and meals.
Read MoreFor over a hundred years, Western North Carolina has been home to a variety of summer camps. Some have celebrated their centennial and others have closed their gates. Still remaining are about 78 summer camps of all diversities; religiously affiliated, agency-supported, private, non-profit, single-sex, coed, sports, music, and others. Many of those that have closed their doors may be gone from the roster of camps to attend, but they are not forgotten.
Read MoreFlat Rock has a growing reputation for its culinary offerings, but in recent years, there’s been one element missing—a dedicated breakfast spot. Enter Hubbaloo – Starr Teel’s latest culinary venture which opened this month in the bright green building along the iconic Little Rainbow Row.
Read MoreThis article about Cam Boyd was first published in July 2021. It was my good fortune to spend a few hours with Cam and listen to his stories of growing up in Flat Rock. Cam was a direct link to the Flat Rock of the old times and I appreciated his first-hand accounts of the days that seemed an idyllic setting for a young boy to grow up.
Cam was generous with his time and unfailingly kind as I listened to him paint a picture of a fascinating life. I will always be grateful for the chance to meet and know Cam Boyd, even if just for a little while.
Cam passed away on September 24th, 2024 at age 79.
Read MoreIn early 1940, a young Belgian girl named Thérèse “Treska” Gevaert was just 15 years old and enjoying the largely carefree existence of a teenager. But the storm clouds of war were on the horizon and the next four years would upend everything that young girl knew - and set her life on a course of hardships, adventures, and challenges difficult to imagine today.
Her incredible journey – which ultimately took her from her birthplace in Belgium to Flat Rock – would be the defining experience of her life and help shape Treska’s worldview
Read MoreLocal Sandburg historian, John Quinley, publishes a series he calls Letters from a Sandburg Docent. For his September 2024 selection, he sent three letters, each about the Sandburg family dogs they kept in Illinois, Michigan, and North Carolina.
As John notes, "Social history played a significant role in the prose written by Carl Sandburg. You can learn a lot about a family by the dogs they keep. In Sandburg’s case, he even wrote poetry about them."
Read MoreLying within the city limits of Hendersonville, N.C. is Brookland – one of Flat Rock’s earliest summer retreats. According to Buncombe County records, Frederick Rutledge, a rice planter of Hampton Plantation on the South Santee River between Georgetown and Charleston, bought from Samuel McCarson on October 29, 1829, 277 acres in the Flat Rock settlement which later constituted the estate of Brookland.
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