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We are Diana and Traylor Renfro, originally from Opelika, Alabama, where we grew up in the same church and the same schools. After
finishing college, we moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, where I (Diana) worked as a Registered Dietitian and Traylor taught
Economics at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC). Traylor soon changed to a career in Human Resources and I turned
to artistic endeavors, primarily writing. We both always loved gardening and growing vegetables, flowers, and landscape plants. Our
two daughters, raised in Charlotte, learned to love good food and beautiful gardens.
We found these 45 acres late in 1999, on a pilgrimage out of the city into the country in the highlands of Ashe County. It was love
at first sight. Responding to an ad in the Second Hand News on a drizzly November day, we walked the fence line trying to comprehend
just how much land could be included in 45 acres. There was a large bowl of a meadow with a boggy bottom full of springs that drained
into a winding branch. To one side, there were bare hardwoods with an under story of Rhododendrons and Mountain Laurel. A couple of
hills were too steep and rocky to walk. Other areas were filled with brambles or "freeze-dried" wild-flowers. Spreading
over a bluff in the sun, surrounded by barbed wire and locust fencing, was a wide flat hayfield, and, at the bottom, another flat
field grew healthy green rye. The old farmhouse, unusable due to a fallen tree which exposed the interior to the elements, would
have to come down, but there were two large barns and half a dozen other outbuildings. Everything needed attention. No one had lived
on the property for fifteen years.
Some couldn't believe we wanted the land, in such a remote location and needing so much work. Others asked, "How on earth did
you find this place?" We just knew from the beginning that it was meant to be ours. It was calling to us, showing us its great
potential, and we couldn't wait to get started.
Today, it's the same place with amenities. We've turned the weedy bog into a pond with a small "boathouse" and a
pier for fishing. The old hayfield is an experimental vineyard with a variety of wine grapes. We have a new farmhouse on a hill with
a wide porch overlooking a valley, and on another hill, a guests' cottage with a crow's nest to enhance the view. On one steep bank, we have
a flock of goats and on another, grazing sheep. The gardens, in summer, include some of our favorite herbs, vegetables and flowers.
The landscape is filled with growing evergreens and native shrubs.
We believe we are stewards of the land and that sharing it with others is an obligation. Why don't you plan a visit with us some
time in the future and enjoy the country as we do.
Diana
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Peak season:
May, June, July, August and October
$195 per night
2-night minimum
Holiday weekends, 3-night minimum
Check our weather at www.raysweather.com
See our Contact Page for directions.
The Nuthouse Cottage at
A Point of View Retreat
151 Young Road
Grassy Creek, NC 28631
(336) 384-4963
info@nuthousecottage.com
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