Balsam Mountain Inn

Last updated
Balsam Mountain Inn
Balsam-mountain-inn-nc1.jpg
USA North Carolina location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location68 Seven Springs Drive, Balsam, North Carolina
Coordinates 35°25′31″N83°5′14″W / 35.42528°N 83.08722°W / 35.42528; -83.08722
Area26 acres (11 ha)
Built1905 (1905)-1908
Architectural styleColonial Revival
NRHP reference No. 82003475 [1]
Added to NRHPJuly 15, 1982

The Balsam Mountain Inn is a historic three-story wooden Neo-Classical and Victorian hotel located at 68 Seven Springs Drive in Balsam, North Carolina, United States. It is among the oldest remaining resorts in the North Carolina mountains and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in July 1982. [2]

Contents

The 46,000-square foot inn includes a two-story gallery-style 100-foot-long front deck, 50 dormer windows, and a dining room and library on the first floor. [3] [2] [4]

History

Construction of the inn began in 1905 and was completed in 1908. It was built by brothers-in-law Walter Christy and Joseph Kenney, both from Athens, Georgia. [5] The hotel was planned as a two-story structure, but once framing was completed, a grander appearance was desired and a third floor was built with a mansard roof. [6] It was modeled after the Saratoga Inn in New York. [2]

The inn opened with 125 guest bedrooms and communal bathrooms. [6] Its original name was Balsam Mountain Springs Hotel, as the property's seven springs provided water for the establishment. Fountains inside the building allowed guests to fill up bottles with cold mineral water thought to have healing properties. Due to the elevation (3,750 feet), fires were kindled in the hotel's fireplaces on summer nights and mornings. [7] The inn retained its original name until at least 1963. [8] It began as a railroad resort hotel, one of many in the area when four passenger trains stopped in Balsam each day. [5] Now, the Balsam Mountain Inn is the last one standing in Balsam. [9] The inn's hallways were designed 10 feet wide to accommodate the large trunks railroad passengers carried with them. [5] [10] A stay cost $5 per day and included all meals. [3] The inn advertised that the Balsam railroad station was the highest east of the Rocky Mountains. [11] The resort offered tennis, golf, horseback riding, hiking, fishing, mountain climbing, and dancing. [12]

A visitor was shot outside the inn in 1928 and died in a second-floor room, contributing to ghost stories about the property. [13] [14] During the Great Depression in the mid-1930s, the inn was foreclosed on and auctioned off at the steps of the Jackson County Courthouse. Prominent Sylva resident Ephriam Stillwell purchased it and owned it for several decades. [5] Over time the inn developed the nickname “Grand Old Lady.” The last passenger train passed through Balsam on July 4, 1948, and the inn fell into disrepair. [7] [13] The hotel was closed by the health department in 1988. [4]

1932 postcard Postcard depicting Balsam Mountain Springs Hotel; Balsam, NC - PhC 205 4 002.jpg
1932 postcard

The inn was bought from the Stillwell family in 1990 by Merrily Teasley, an experienced innkeeper from Tennessee who stumbled across the hotel while hiking and borrowed money to make the purchase. [15] She restored the property, adding heating (the inn had never been open year-round before), paring the amount of guest rooms by half to 53, and providing private bathrooms for guests. [6] [13] She reopened the first two floors in July 1991. [13] The dining porch addition she built won the Gertrude S. Carraway Award of Merit from Preservation North Carolina in 1995. [16] The third floor reopened to guests in 1996. [13] The historic preservation was certified by the U.S. Department of Interior. [17] The owners lived in a residence on the second floor. [6] While the inn was built with modern conveniences such as hot and cold water and electric light, modern owners intentionally kept phones, TVs, and radios out of rooms to encourage guests to make friends. [2]

Marzena B. Wyszynska bought the inn in December 2017 and renamed it the Grand Old Lady Hotel shortly before it closed in 2020 and was put up for sale. [13] [18] As of 2024, the inn has reopened and is operated and owned by Lorraine and Rodney Conard. [5] The property continues to use spring water [6] and has reverted to its former name, the Balsam Mountain Inn. [5] The Conards previously restored the historic Boone-Withers House in Waynesville. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dillsboro, North Carolina</span> Town in North Carolina, United States

Dillsboro is a town in Jackson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 213 at the 2020 census down from 232 at the 2010 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sylva, North Carolina</span> Town in North Carolina, United States

Sylva is an incorporated town located in central Jackson County, in the Plott Balsam Mountains of Western North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 2,588. It is the county seat, taking over the role from nearby Webster in 1913.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hot Springs, North Carolina</span> Town in North Carolina, United States

Hot Springs is a town in Madison County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 520 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Asheville metropolitan statistical area. It is situated on the Appalachian Trail and French Broad River near the North Carolina-Tennessee border. Hot Springs is best known for its hiking trails, natural springs, and mountain town atmosphere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Washington Hotel</span> Hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire

The Omni Mount Washington Resort is a historic luxury resort hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, United States, near Mount Washington. It was designed by Charles Alling Gifford. In 1944, it hosted the Bretton Woods Conference, which established the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. It is a member of Historic Hotels of America, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chattanooga Choo-Choo Hotel</span>

The Chattanooga Choo-Choo in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is a former railroad station once owned and operated by the Southern Railway. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the station operated as a hotel from 1973 to 2023, and was a member of Historic Hotels of America, part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The two-floor hotel building, once called The MacArthur building, was renovated and renamed in 2023 to The Hotel Chalet by Trestle Studio, a Chicago-based development group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belleview-Biltmore Hotel</span> United States historic place

The Belleview-Biltmore Resort and Spa was a historic resort hotel located at 25 Belleview Boulevard in the town of Belleair, Florida, United States. The 350,000 square feet (33,000 m2) hotel structure was the last remaining grand historic hotel of its period in Florida that existed as a resort, and the only Henry Plant hotel still in operation when it closed in 2009. The building was noted for its architectural features, with its green sloped roof and white wood-sided exterior, and handcrafted woodwork and Tiffany glass inside. Constructed of native Florida heart pine wood, it was the second-largest occupied wooden structure in the United States after 1938; only the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego was larger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Baden Springs Hotel</span> United States historic place

The West Baden Springs Hotel, formerly the West Baden Inn, is part of the French Lick Resort and is a national historic landmark hotel in West Baden Springs, Orange County, Indiana. It has a 200-foot (61 m) dome over its atrium. Prior to the completion of the Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1955, the dome was the largest free-spanning dome in the United States. From 1902 to 1913 it was the largest dome in the world. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, the hotel became a National Historic Landmark in 1987. It is a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark and one of the hotels in the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Historic Hotels of America program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Omni Grove Park Inn</span> United States historic place

The Omni Grove Park is a historic resort hotel on the western-facing slope of Sunset Mountain within the Blue Ridge Mountains, in Asheville, North Carolina. The hotel has been visited by various Presidents of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheridan Inn</span> United States historic place

The Sheridan Inn is a historic hotel in Sheridan, Wyoming. Designed by the architect Thomas R. Kimball of Omaha, Nebraska in 1893, it was constructed by the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad as part of its development program in Wyoming associated with extension of the railway. Equipped with the first bathtubs and electric lights in that part of Wyoming, the inn was considered the "finest hotel" between Chicago and San Francisco. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Toxaway</span> Lake of the United States of America

Lake Toxaway is the largest privately held lake in North Carolina. The lake, developed by the Lake Toxaway Company, is man-made and covers 640 acres (2.6 km2) 60 feet (18 m), and the shoreline is 14 miles (23 km). Water sources for the lake include multiple free-flowing mountain streams with the Toxaway River being the main source. The lake flows out onto Toxaway Falls and then continues down the Toxaway River. The main road through the Lake Toxaway area is U.S. Highway 64, a typical winding mountain road with tight turns. Lake Toxaway history encompasses two distinct time periods. The first era which began in 1890 ended with the collapse of the earthen dam in 1916. In 1960 the second era began when the Lake Toxaway Company purchased the land and rebuilt the lake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High Hampton Inn Historic District</span> Historic district in North Carolina, United States

The High Hampton Inn Historic District is a historic estate, resort, and national historic district nestled in the mountains of western North Carolina, in the Cashiers Valley in Jackson County, North Carolina. Originally the summer home of the prosperous Hampton family of South Carolina, the property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Dearborn Inn</span> United States historic place

The Dearborn Inn, A Marriott Hotel is a historic hotel in the suburban city of Dearborn, Michigan in Metro Detroit. It opened in 1931 and closed in February 2023 for renovations. It was conceived by Henry Ford, who saw a need for food and accommodations for visitors flying into the nearby Ford Airport, making it one of the first airport hotels. It is located at 20301 Oakwood Boulevard near The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation and the world headquarters building of Ford Motor Company. Albert Kahn designed the Dearborn Inn in the Georgian architectural style. The Dearborn Inn is owned by Ford Motor Land Development Corporation and managed by Marriott International.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mountain View House</span> United States historic place

The Mountain View Grand Resort & Spa – formerly called the Mountain View House – is an historic grand hotel at 101 Mountain View Road in Whitefield, New Hampshire, United States, with claims to dating back to 1865.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green Park Inn</span> United States historic place

The Green Park Inn is a historic hotel located on the Eastern Continental Divide in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. The hotel was built in the 1880s and operated continuously until May 24, 2009, reopening after change of ownership and renovation on October 29, 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ulster House Hotel</span> United States historic place

The Ulster House Hotel, formerly the Wellington Hotel, is located on Main Street in Pine Hill, New York, United States. It is a large wooden Italianate-style building dating to the late 19th century, currently vacant and undergoing renovations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Jarrett House</span> United States historic place

The Jarrett House is a historic hotel and restaurant located near the intersection of US Highways 23 and 441 in Dillsboro, Jackson County, North Carolina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willets, North Carolina</span> Unincorporated community in North Carolina, United States

Willets is an unincorporated community in Jackson County, North Carolina, United States. Willets is located along U.S. Route 74, west of Balsam and east of Sylva. It is home to the Balsam-Willets-Ochre Hill fire department, a church, and many homes. It was a thriving unincorporated town along the Murphy Branch of the Western North Carolina Railroad, but seriously declined during the Great Depression in the 1930s, consolidations of the schools in the Scott Creek Township in 1951, and the widening/straightening of US 23 in the early 1950s and early 1970s. Today it is a tiny bedroom community for the larger population centers of Waynesville and Sylva.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glendale Springs Inn</span> United States historic place

Glendale Springs Inn is a historic hotel building located at Glendale Springs, Ashe County, North Carolina. It was built in 1895, and expanded in 1902. A wing was added in 1905. It is a two-story, "T"-plan, frame structure with a steeply pitched intersecting gable roofs and sheathed in plain white weatherboard. It features a wraparound porch and second story balconies. It housed a vacation resort and inn for guests visiting the mineral waters at Glendale Springs. From 1935 to 1938, the inn housed the Works Progress Administration headquarters during construction of the nearby Blue Ridge Parkway. The building was renovated in 1975 with a Family Style Restaurant, underwent subsequent renovations in 1995, and now houses a bed and breakfast inn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boone-Withers House</span> Historic house in North Carolina, United States

Boone-Withers House is a historic home located at Waynesville, Haywood County, North Carolina. It was built about 1883, and is a 2+1⁄2-story, Late Victorian style frame dwelling. It has a large, two-story gabled wing and three smaller, two-story bays. It features a one-story, hip roofed wraparound porch and two tall chimneys.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Historic Hotels of America</span> National Trust for Historic Preservation program

Historic Hotels of America is a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation that was founded in 1989 with 32 charter members; the program accepts nominations and identifies hotels in the United States that have maintained their authenticity, sense of place, and architectural integrity.

References

  1. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Morrison, Clarke (2008-03-30). "The charm of a rustic hotel". Asheville Citizen-Times . p. 120. Retrieved 2024-10-16.
  3. 1 2 3 Buchanan, Jim (2023-10-04). "Conards step up to breathe new life into iconic Balsam Inn". The Sylva Herald and Ruralite . Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  4. 1 2 Jackson, L.A. (1998-05-10). "The Balsam Mountain Inn is peak of relaxation". The News & Observer . pp. 1H–9H. Retrieved 2024-10-16.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Balsam Inn History". The Balsam Mountain Inn. Retrieved 2024-10-14.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Ransom, Kathy. "Visiting Balsam Mountain Inn". Delightsome Life. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  7. 1 2 Conway, Bob (1956-08-19). "High Balsam Good Place for Resting". Asheville Citizen-Times . p. 41. Retrieved 2024-10-16.
  8. ↑ "Balsam Mountain Springs Hotel". The Atlanta Journal. 1963-04-28. p. 107. Retrieved 2024-10-16.
  9. ↑ Douglas Swaim; Jim Sumner & Maggie Whitesides (December 1981). "Balsam Mountain Inn" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places - Nomination and Inventory. North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved 2015-01-01.
  10. ↑ Fields, Linda Felts (1991-07-28). "A new wind in the Balsams". Knoxville News-Sentinel . pp. E1-9. Retrieved 2024-10-16.
  11. ↑ "Balsam Mountain Springs Hotel Offers Everything You Need for a Perfect Vacation". Winston-Salem Journal . 1934-08-26. p. 18. Retrieved 2024-10-16.
  12. ↑ "Balsam Mountain Springs Resort ad". Winston-Salem Journal . 1931-08-02. p. 28. Retrieved 2024-10-16.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "The Haunted Balsam Mountain Inn". Haunted Rooms America. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  14. ↑ Ellison, George (2014-10-08). "Balsam was once bustling railroad community". Smoky Mountain News . Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  15. ↑ "Balsam Mountain Inn changes ownership". The Sylva Herald and Ruralite . 2017-12-20. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  16. ↑ "Preservation North Carolina". Archived from the original on 2011-11-08. Retrieved 2011-10-15.
  17. ↑ Mercer, Marcia; Mercer, Gordon. "Tracking a Legend: Balsam Mountain Inn and Lost Mineral Springs". The Mountaineer. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  18. ↑ "Raleigh hotelier purchases Balsam Mountain Inn". Smokey Mountain News. Scott McLeod. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.