[folk music]
- What is now called Mountain Brook Lodge and Cottages
is one of the last remaining tourist courts
in the country.
What is now the driveway of Mountain Brook Lodge
and Cottages, Mountain Brook Road, was originally,
in 1930, the two lane highway 23.
- Over time, the tourist court developed,
which were usually separate buildings, cabins.
Cottages; that was the term
for the more substantial buildings.
- The Clark family put a restaurant, Esso gas pump,
water wheel that you see in the old pictures
that was on the creek, but, in the 1950s,
DOT straightened the road.
They took the switchbacks outta the road.
At the time, it put this property into dormancy.
It took a roadside attraction and took it off road.
That is what ultimately saved it
and is why we believe it is one of the last remaining
tourist courts, because what was the highway
is now the driveway, and the property goes back
into deeper into the mountains to create a true
secluded mountain getaway.
[folk music]
I'm a architect and construction engineer,
many years in private practice in Eastern North Carolina,
then 10 years with the state, and I was staying here.
It's Fido-friendly.
I had my dogs with me.
I decided it was an extraordinary opportunity,
so I purchased the property.
I reopened it as Mountain Brook Lodge and Cottages.
My philosophy in running the cottages is exactly what
my philosophy is as an architect.
It's customer service.
It's figure out what people want and need,
and then give them a little bit more.
- We were actually here the very weekend that Randi
purchased and closed on the sale of Mountain Brook,
and she has been as good as gold.
We try to come every year in the Spring,
and we love to come again in the Fall,
other times at our leisure.
- The very first trip was either 1987 or 1988,
and we noticed just how quiet it was and how isolated,
and it was truly romantic.
- You know, this is a traditional mountain vacation,
has been and continues to be, with the covered porches,
the cool breezes coming up the mountains,
and an absolutely delightful aesthetic,
but times did change, and times changed all along.
The property has been able to evolve with the times.
This is the 1937 farmhouse.
It was built by the Clark family to use
as their private home.
That was a change of philosophy for me.
When I came, I felt the property needed a commons,
needed a center.
The cottages are in a little village setting,
and I felt it was important to have a center.
The farmhouse is now a commons for all the guests.
We added television and wi-fi so that the guests
in the historic village would have a place to come.
There is football in the Fall here.
We are family and Fido-friendly in everywhere,
and we don't just allow dogs, as you can see.
We are Fido-friendly, and we are ready for Fido.
We provide couch covers, see.
We've got necessary pails out on the porch,
old towels for the wet feet.
This particular cottage, a two bedroom cottage,
really sums up what Mountain Brook Lodge and Cottages offer;
wood burning furnaces, deliver the firewood to your door,
a cottage for families, cottages that are all Fido-friendly,
and pretty much a fabulous mountain vacation.
[folk music]
- You can find Mountain Brook Lodge and Cottages
at 208 Mountain Brook Road in Sylva.
For more information, give them a call at 828-586-4329,
or go online to mountainbrook.com.