How we came to Brevard NC
by Desmond Duncker
In June (19th ) 2016 My wife (Tisha Allen) and I went to visit her Dad in Danville KY. After visiting him we hitched a ride with her sister Luly to Asheville where we rented a Fiat 500 to do a road trip through the Carolinas. We had not visited North or South Carolina before (not counting Interstate Highways) and wanted to tour the area thinking of possible states we would considering retiring to in a few years.
After staying in Asheville overnight we headed towards Boone, NC where we scheduled an AirBnb to stay overnight (June 22-23). We travelled the Blue Ridge Parkway to Mount Mitchell (highest peak east of the Mississippi) and asked someone to take our picture. We had a conversation with hm and told him our road trip plans. He told us to checkout Brevard NC (which we had never heard of). After leaving Mt. Mitchell we continued to Boone, stayed overnight and the next morning headed back south to Brevard. We got there late on Thursday June 23rd (after 6pm) and most of the town was closing up. We decided to get something to eat and found the Square Root restaurant where we sat on their porch to have dinner.
We researched places to stay and AirBnbs’ in the area while there and discovered that, as the Music center was in full swing, everywhere local was booked. While seated there I was entertaining myself with a very friendly Full sized Poodle that belonged to the women having dinner next to us. We made casual conversation with them as they were locals. We discussed even either continuing south overnight (not an appealing option considering the nearest next large town was 50 miles or curvy un-lit roads in the mountains at night. Or even possible sleeping in the small car overnight.
It was with complete surprise when one of the individuals next to us at the Square Root offered her home for us to stay out of the blue! We of course declined and she insisted considering our dilemma! We discussed it among ourselves and decided to take her up (not know she lived alone on a mountain top in Pisgah!) We followed her car up the mountain to her home and ended up staying with her for 3 days (until June 26th when we continued our road trip onto Greenville)! We went to the Music Center concert where she had a wine and cheese outdoor gathering with friends on the lawn. We had a wonderful time and promised to be back.
A year later we returned (June 13, 2017). This time we flew into Asheville & rented a car to drive to Brevard. Again we stayed with our friend in the Pisgah Forest. We had been in contact with a friend of hers, Paul Wilander of Looking Glass Realty. When we arrived he showed us a few properties. On I think the third property (June 16th ) he showed we walked into 401 Spring Water and Tisha said to me as we walked in; “This is the house!” and My Mom would have loved this house! We returned and drove past it again the next day and as we leaving the house Tisha said “I know we should not be making big decisions based on feelings”. As she said that I saw a large white squirrel over her shoulder. I stopped the car, pointed out the window and said: “there’s your sign!”.
The next day (July 18th ) we returned with Paul and did a larger tour of the house (& took a lot of pictures). On the 19th we went to Paul’s office and, after contacting Raymond, the son of the person who built the development (Blaise Jacques) and being the current President of the Homeowner association and speaking with him about allowing Bella, our Pitbull (the assn rules stated no Pitbulls), we signed the contract and put down a deposit on the home.
When we returned to NJ we sold our 2 bedroom house (for about the same price as we spent on the Brevard house), had a huge garage sale to get rid of most of our furniture and other stuff (Sept 9th & 10th ), and Rented a U-Haul truck & trailer and drove down to our new home, arriving
on Sunday September 24th .
That’s the long version of the story!
Desmond
After staying in Asheville overnight we headed towards Boone, NC where we scheduled an AirBnb to stay overnight (June 22-23). We travelled the Blue Ridge Parkway to Mount Mitchell (highest peak east of the Mississippi) and asked someone to take our picture. We had a conversation with hm and told him our road trip plans. He told us to checkout Brevard NC (which we had never heard of). After leaving Mt. Mitchell we continued to Boone, stayed overnight and the next morning headed back south to Brevard. We got there late on Thursday June 23rd (after 6pm) and most of the town was closing up. We decided to get something to eat and found the Square Root restaurant where we sat on their porch to have dinner.
We researched places to stay and AirBnbs’ in the area while there and discovered that, as the Music center was in full swing, everywhere local was booked. While seated there I was entertaining myself with a very friendly Full sized Poodle that belonged to the women having dinner next to us. We made casual conversation with them as they were locals. We discussed even either continuing south overnight (not an appealing option considering the nearest next large town was 50 miles or curvy un-lit roads in the mountains at night. Or even possible sleeping in the small car overnight.
It was with complete surprise when one of the individuals next to us at the Square Root offered her home for us to stay out of the blue! We of course declined and she insisted considering our dilemma! We discussed it among ourselves and decided to take her up (not know she lived alone on a mountain top in Pisgah!) We followed her car up the mountain to her home and ended up staying with her for 3 days (until June 26th when we continued our road trip onto Greenville)! We went to the Music Center concert where she had a wine and cheese outdoor gathering with friends on the lawn. We had a wonderful time and promised to be back.
A year later we returned (June 13, 2017). This time we flew into Asheville & rented a car to drive to Brevard. Again we stayed with our friend in the Pisgah Forest. We had been in contact with a friend of hers, Paul Wilander of Looking Glass Realty. When we arrived he showed us a few properties. On I think the third property (June 16th ) he showed we walked into 401 Spring Water and Tisha said to me as we walked in; “This is the house!” and My Mom would have loved this house! We returned and drove past it again the next day and as we leaving the house Tisha said “I know we should not be making big decisions based on feelings”. As she said that I saw a large white squirrel over her shoulder. I stopped the car, pointed out the window and said: “there’s your sign!”.
The next day (July 18th ) we returned with Paul and did a larger tour of the house (& took a lot of pictures). On the 19th we went to Paul’s office and, after contacting Raymond, the son of the person who built the development (Blaise Jacques) and being the current President of the Homeowner association and speaking with him about allowing Bella, our Pitbull (the assn rules stated no Pitbulls), we signed the contract and put down a deposit on the home.
When we returned to NJ we sold our 2 bedroom house (for about the same price as we spent on the Brevard house), had a huge garage sale to get rid of most of our furniture and other stuff (Sept 9th & 10th ), and Rented a U-Haul truck & trailer and drove down to our new home, arriving
on Sunday September 24th .
That’s the long version of the story!
Desmond