Weaverville Featherbed & Breakfast

In all the years that we have traveled in Western North Carolina, I have never seen a home in the Asheville area that has a better view of the mountains than the Weaverville Featherbed & Breakfast. The communities of Asheville and Weaverville are on a large plateau surrounded by mountains. The average elevation on the plateau is 2,700 feet. Since the Weaverville Featherbed & Breakfast is located high on a ridge at about 3,000 feet, the house sits above everything else. As a result, on a clear day you can see to the North Carolina/Tennessee border to the northwest. Look to the southwest and you will see Mount Pisgah (5,721 feet) on the Buncome/Haywood County line, more than 30 miles away. Innkeepers Sharon Ballas and Shelley Burtt (a mother/daughter team) will tell you that what they bought was the view, and that the 100-year-old house was thrown in for free. From the hard work they have to put into the house after years of neglect, "free" might not be the right word! The house was built near the end of the nineteenth century as a homestead sitting on a 300-acre farm. In the early 1920s, the house was purchased by the Methodist Missionary Alliance Church, re-named the Bethel Home, and turned into a sanitarium. In the twenties, tuberculosis was a major illness and many believed that the clean air of the mountains would help to cure them. During this time, Asheville and the surrounding communities of Black Mountain and Weaverville became internationally known for their sanitariums. Dr. Casto, a prominent physician, ran the Bethel Home for more than 20 years. After the Bethel Home stopped operating, gaps exist in the history of the house. Sharon knows that for a time it was operated as a boarding house, and at one point was completely abandoned. Finally a real estate developer purchased the home, moved it higher up on the ridge, and then lost interest in renovating it as his family home. Over the next four years, this 100-year-old Queen Anne sat vacant, was vandalized and its future looked grim. But there are still heroes. Sharon and her daughter, both realtors, were looking for a major life change. South Florida no longer held the promise it once held for them, so they began a quest to find the right location for a bed and breakfast. It required only one look at the view from the porch to know they had found their dream, and that the grand old Queen Anne still had life and laughter in her. After the contract crews finished with the "behind the scenes" wiring, plumbing, roofing and general repair, the race was on as Sharon and Shelley painted, decorated, and furnished the 6,000-square-foot home. Nearly 80 windows had to be fixed, scraped, and painted, as did the entire outside of the house. They finally opened one room in Spring 1994. Over the course of the summer, they finished the last of the repairs and opened an additional 5 rooms to guests. From the deep featherbeds to the hearty mountain-style country breakfast, the Weaverville Featherbed & Breakfast is waiting be a part of your memories of a visit to the mountains. Located only a few miles from Asheville, all of the attractions of the mountains are an easy drive away. However, the feeling of Weaverville is what attracts so many: it still has the atmosphere of small town living. It's safe to walk on the streets at night, people stop and say hello, business people in the shops and restaurants are honestly happy to see you, and guests leave only after making reservations to return.