History of Sapphire Valley

[vc_row][vc_column][rt_timeline_style radiant_timeline_style=”two”][rt_timeline_style_item radiant_timeline_title=”Sapphire Valley Development Corp.” radiant_timeline_date_year=”1970’s”]Certainteed, a company that produces building materials purchased this valley from Mr. Howerrd and began Sapphire Valley Development Corp.[/rt_timeline_style_item][rt_timeline_style_item radiant_timeline_title=”Certainteed Development” radiant_timeline_date_year=”1970-1975″]During this period, Certainteed developed

  • The Woods
  • Holly Forest units I-V
  • Country Place I, II, II (Later know as Hilltop)
  • Built the pool at Fairfield Inn site (now filled in)

[/rt_timeline_style_item][rt_timeline_style_item radiant_timeline_title=”Realtec, Inc. Purchase” radiant_timeline_date_year=”1975″]Realtec, Inc., bought the properly and continued with Sapphire Valley Development Corp.[/rt_timeline_style_item][rt_timeline_style_item radiant_timeline_title=”Holly Forest Golf Course Development” radiant_timeline_date_year=”1975-1980″]Realtec began the construction of the Holly Forest Golf Course. The Country Club of Sapphire Valley burned in ’75 and Realtec rebuilt the club.[/rt_timeline_style_item][rt_timeline_style_item radiant_timeline_title=”Fairfield Communities, Inc. Purchase” radiant_timeline_date_year=”1980″]Fairfield Communities, Inc., purchased the property and proceeded with increased development of the valley.[/rt_timeline_style_item][rt_timeline_style_item radiant_timeline_title=”Fairfield Development” radiant_timeline_date_year=”1980-1995″]During this period, tremendous advances were made as Fairfield developed-

  • Riverchase was added within The Woods
  • Holly Forest was increased to 15 divisions
  • Emerald Cove, Emerald Crest, Emerald Ridge
  • Country Club Villas
  • River Run I and II
  • Chestnut Ridge
  • Country Club Estates
  • Deer Run
  • Whisper Lake
  • Eagles Ridge

Also during this period, Fairfield began the timeshare development with:

  • Foxhunt
  • Fairway Forest
  • Mountain Laurel Villas

Also tracts of land were sold for development by others including:

  • Sapphire High
  • Mountain High
  • Stone Creek Crossing
  • Brookstone Cottages
  • Bald Rock

Now, moving to the amenities area-which is our main topic today,

  • Fairfield finished the Holly Forest Golf Course which opened in the summer of 1982.
  • Sold the Country Club of Sapphire Valley in 1983 to the members.
  • Built the recreation building and the sales/administration building
  • Tore down the old Fairfield Inn in 1986 and sold the property in early 1990’s
  • Sold the remainder of buildings and the Holly Forest Golf Course.

[/rt_timeline_style_item][rt_timeline_style_item radiant_timeline_title=”Transition to Owner Control” radiant_timeline_date_year=”1990″]The Fairfield Sapphire Valley Master Association became active to works with Fairfield and others to protect our owner’s rights and provide a transition to owner control.[/rt_timeline_style_item][rt_timeline_style_item radiant_timeline_title=”Deeded Amenities” radiant_timeline_date_year=”1993″]Various amenities were deeded to the Master Association including:

  • Tennis Center
  • Ski Slope and Facilities
  • Recreation Building and Pools
  • Jogging Track
  • Roads
  • Green Areas
  • Lakes, etc.

[/rt_timeline_style_item][rt_timeline_style_item radiant_timeline_title=”Revitalizing Sapphire Valley” radiant_timeline_date_year=”1996 – Present”]

  • The Master Association and property owners began task of revitalizing the valley.
  • Fairfield became active again with a sales and member services program, and gave some land for the project.
  • This brings us up to this very significant day in the history of Sapphire Valley where we all are taking a giant leap into a new era in the Valley!

[/rt_timeline_style_item][/rt_timeline_style][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/4″][vc_column_text]The history of Fairfield Inn dates back, on a calendar, to 1896, but an attempt to record only what has happened to a physical property during the years could be nothing but incomplete, if not a disservice.

That is because Fairfield Inn has become as much a part of and is as incomparable from Sapphire Valley itself as the stone that brings brilliance and value like a fine piece of jewelry.

Thus, in considering the history of Fairfield Inn, one must first explore the rich past of the green-mantled and soul-pleasing place God and time created and man named Sapphire Valley.

And where does that past begin? With creation? With the Indians? With the first white settlers, or with the more recent inhabitants of this lush valley cradled in the arms of the Blue Ridge Mountain of Western North Carolina?

In answer, any history begins, logically enough, as far back in time as man’s memory will reach and his journals will chronicle.

This, then, is a compilation of some of those memories and written observances still available today. The information is by no means complete. And there probably will be some question as to its total accuracy.

But the sum effect is a colorful picture of Sapphire Valley and Fairfield Inn that provides the basis for understanding man’s attraction to this beautiful spot.

Scotty Dearolf, the now-retired resident’ naturalist at Sapphire Valley, once explained the first strokes of brush on canvas in this fashion:

“These mountains are among the oldest on Earth—much older than the Alps, Andes or Rockies.”

“Almost every geological accident that can happen has happened to them. They were born under a vast inland sea. The sea dried up and they were hills of granite. Then over the millions of years, the soft material around them was washed away and they remained.”

This perhaps is an oversimplification of the monumental upheavals and subsidence that brought these gigantic wrinkles of age to the face of the Earth. But, the explanation is accurate, even though it often seems these towering peaks and fertile valleys must have been here in their present form since the day time began.

Possibly this is because man, the supreme egotist, is inclined to disregard everything that took place before his appearance on this sphere hurtling through celestial space.

Geologists don’t always agree on the southernmost limit of glaciers on the North American continent during the several “Ice Ages” that afflicted the Earth over eons of time.

Some say that what now is America’s heartland, the great basin at the upper reaches of what now is the Mississippi Valley, marked the deepest penetration of the crushing layers of ice.

Others say the ice pushed much farther south, to over what now are known as the Southern Appalachians.

Dearolf, although not a trained geologist, has spent a lifetime studying all aspects of natural history, including the earth and its trials and tribulations of the years.

He belongs to the latter school of thought on the Ice Ages.

The Southern Appalachians, he said, “are one of the centers of the world from the standpoint of vegetation. There are more than 1,300 species of flowering plants here, and 131 of these are trees. Nowhere in the world are there so many different trees. In all of Europe, there are only about 86. “

“The last glacier left this vegetation here. This ice sheet was more than one mile think in places. It pushed everything before it down from what now is Canada and brought Canadian trees here—even Canadian birds. “

“There are birds here that migrate vertically. They spend the winter in the valleys and in summer just fly up to the tree tops on the peaks.”

The lush vegetation of the region, whether it was glacier-spawned or not, plays an important port in the history of Sapphire Valley, as we shall see later on.

Equally important were the tremendous heat and unbelievable pressures generated when the granite mountains were thrust to the surface from the molten magma below the Earth’s crust.

They created the gemstones for which North Carolina as a whole and the western part of the state in particular is famous. More than 300 varieties of mineral have been found in North Carolina, more than in any other state, and among the gems found in the mountains are some of the most valuable in the world.

One of the principal places in which rich deposits of corundum, source of valuable gemstones, are found is Sapphire Valley.

The mountain region also has produced gold and, in fact, was the nation’s leading gold-producing area until precious metal was discovered in California in 1849. The federal government once had a mint in nearby Walhalla, SC.

The rain that falls in abundance over much of Western North Carolina is according to Dearolf, responsible for the many exposed rock cliffs seen throughout the region.

The cliffs, Dearolf has explained, all face approximately southwest and mark the front edge of the Blue Ridge Escarpment. Because of the direction of movement of the continental ice caps as they advanced and receded, the southwestern portions of the peaks received comparatively little glacial debris.

Over the centuries, winds from the Gulf of Mexico have carried their moisture to the mountains and dropped it when they arrived. The rains have washed away the thin layer of soil from the southwestern side of the peaks and have exposed the rocky faces.

Bald Rock Mountain, across the lake from Fairfield Inn, is an example of this phenomenon. Whiteside Mountain, between Cashiers and Highlands, is a striking instance.

The first human inhabitants of this heavily-forested, well-wetted and cliff-punctuated land of minerals and beauty undoubtedly were Indians and undoubtedly were forbearers of the Cherokees, who reportedly called the valley the “land of the midday sun” because of the mountains surrounding it.

There is little background on Indian life in this area, but it seems reasonable to assume they used it extensively. There was an abundance of game, the streams were filled with fish, the valley floor was relatively level and fertile, and there was a wealth of wood for fuel and shelter.

Evidence that Indians were here has been found. Arrowheads, broken bits of pottery and other artifacts have been uncovered on a small mound overlooking the stream running down from Chimneytop Mountain. The mound is located on what now is Sapphire Valley Golf Course.

But there is no indication whether the Indians had a permanent village in Sapphire Valley or merely used the area for seasonal hunting, fishing or farming camps.

There is no evidence, either, of just who were the first white people to visit the valley. An expedition led by Hernando de Soto, the Spanish explorer, passed through the vicinity, but whether the conquistador’s route took him through Sapphire County is not known.

During the middle 1800s, a small community developed in the area. Known as the Georgetown Community, it reportedly was located near the site of the present Camp Merrie Wood. Fairfield Lake was not, of course, in existence at that time and the small stream that now feeds the lake before joining the Horse-pasture River was known as Georgetown Creek.

Richard W. Jennings Jr. of Asheville, whose family once was part of a group that owned thousands of acres of Western North Carolina property, revealed that Georgetown essentially was a gold-mining community.

“If you take the trouble to walk at the foot of the cliffs on Bald Rock Mountain, you probably can still see evidence of the sluices that were used to divert water from the little stream that comes down from above Camp Merrie Wood. They used the water in their mining operations. I’ve seen the sluices, just remnants of an earthen ditch, but they’re hard to see anymore. “

After the California gold discovery made mining for the light yield of ore found here unprofitable, and after the War Between the States left the South prostrate economically, Sapphire Valley apparently reverted to what it had been: A sparsely populated, very primitive part of the world where existence was typical of the American pioneer life.

During the latter part of the 19th Century, what had once seemed to be a limitless supply of forests in Western Pennsylvania began to become exhausted. The Alleghenies was being depleted by axe and saw and the more farsighted of those in the timber industry there began to look for new horizons.

Some looked toward the Midwest, toward Michigan and Wisconsin and Minnesota, while others looked toward the Southern Appalachians, where hundreds of square miles of glaciers-spawned woodlands still were in a virgin state. One group of 10 looked specifically at Western North Carolina, at what now are Jackson and Transylvania Counties, where it purchased literally thousands of acres of wilderness.

The Jennings family was included among that group of investors, which formed the Toxaway Company.

“They probably had no idea just how much land they owned, probably never even saw it all, “said Jennings, who still owns property adjacent to the present Sapphire Valley project. “I don’t know how they bought it, but it probably was a parcel here and a parcel there. No telling how unbelievably cheap it was.”

While those associated with the Toxaway Company came to North Carolina primarily to seek forest products, they saw here much more than mountains, trees and sparkling streams.

“They saw great natural beauty and embarked upon a program to capitalize on that beauty and create a new resort area for not just Southern America, but Eastern American as well, “Jennings revealed.

The Toxaway Company built a railroad from Hendersonville to Toxaway, about midway between Rosman and Sapphire Valley. The railroad transported logs to sawmill and lumber to shipping points, but it also opened the way to a booming resort business in this area of North Carolina.

Large hotels and lakes were built at three locations on the company’s property. First, according to Jennings, was the Toxaway Hotel at Toxaway. Then came the Sapphire Hotel and lake south of the present US Highway 64 on land that straddles the Jackson-Transylvania line.

Next came Fairfield Inn, which some say was the Toxaway Company’s crowning achievement. Three stories with 57 high-ceilinged guest rooms, a breezy veranda, excellent food and service, a relaxing atmosphere, all contained in an architectural achievement reminiscent of a Swiss alpine lodge, Fairfield Inn was a tribute to persistence and skill.

Persistence because that’s what it took for the Toxaway Company to haul building materials and equipment by wagon 10 miles over roads that were muddy and bumpy at best, and skill because the Inn stands today as an outstanding example of the work of the artisans of that day.

Jennings recalls its completion year as 1898. One source says it was in 1897. Yet other records show the rambling structure opened its doors in 1896. No matter which date is accurate, Fairfield Inn has withstood the ravages of time much better than could be expected of a building constructed in more modern period.

The Toxaway Company operated all three hotels, plus a hunting lodge at the crest of Mount Toxaway, as summertime resorts for a number of years and they became well known throughout the South and East. In March 1908, the travel writer for Field and Stream magazine had this to say about the properties:

“Western North Carolina boasts the beautiful Sapphire Country, now coming into the fame which it has long deserved; also the Toxaway Estate, on which is local the lake and mountain of the same name and the well-kept, thoroughly-modern Toxaway Inn. The Sapphire Inn, at Sapphire, NC is also part of this system, as well as the lodge on Mount Toxaway, which is 5,000 feet above sea level. Here are combined the very unusual attractions—for a Southern resort—of boating on the most beautiful waters, mountain climbing, all varieties of outdoor sport, and the best type of resort hotels accustomed to the most critical patronage.”

The author of that article failed, unfortunately, to mention Fairfield Inn. The exclusion obviously was a gross oversight. However, accompanying the article was a photograph of a boatman on Fairfield Lake with Bald Rock Mountain in the background. The scene could be easily duplicated today.

Hard times hit the Toxaway Company sometime after the 1908 article appeared. The Sapphire Hotel burned and much of the land surrounding it, including Sapphire Lake, now is owned by the estate of J.T. Lupton, who was a wealthy businessman from Chattanooga, TN. The actual site of the Sapphire Hotel recently was acquired by Intermont Properties, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Realtec Incorporated of Greenville, SC.

Realtec also owns Sapphire Valley Development Corp., which controls 5,700 acres of original Toxaway Company property around Fairfield Inn.

During heavy rains in 1916, the earthen dam gave way at Lake Toxaway, causing untold damage downstream that resulted in a series of legal actions against the company. Shortly afterward, the Toxaway Company went bankrupt and Edward Jennings, Richard Jennings’ grandfather, bought out his associate stockholders.

Soon afterward, however, Jennings died. “His enormously complicated will, plus some 70 lawsuits as a result of the Toxaway dam break, kept that particular piece of property and its administration in a general turmoil, always a losing proposition, “explained his grandson.

The Toxaway Hotel was closed and finally was razed in 1948. The dam was rebuilt a number of years ago and Lake Toxaway exists again today, the center of a real estate development by the present owners of the property surrounding it.

The lodge on Mount Toxaway finally fell into such a state of disrepair through lack of use that it was cleared away. The site today is occupied by a fire watch tower operated by the North Carolina Forest Service.

Thus Fairfield Inn, the only Toxaway Company property not mentioned in the 1908 Field and Stream article, is the only remnant of that firm still standing and still in operation. Fate? Or coincidence? Who is to say?

Except for the years during World War II, Fairfield Inn has been in operation ever since it was built. Initially exclusively a summer resort, it became the area’s first year-around facility in 1966 when ski slopes were cleared on a ridge about a mile southwest of the Inn.

The Jennings family maintained ownership of nearly all of the former Toxaway Company lands until just after World War II. Operation of Fairfield Inn was not a particularly profitable phase of the operation, but neither was it a source of pressure and headaches. The Twenties and Thirties were quiet times in the mountain. Natives knew and appreciated what was here, but only a few “outsiders” were aware of the beauty, the tranquility, the climate they had to offer.

Those with this knowledge generally were members of families that vacationed and summered in Western North Carolina for years, almost always returning to the same place year after year. Highlands had its regulars. So did High Hampton at nearby Cashiers. And so did Fairfield Inn.

“By and large, they came and spent a month,” Jennings recalled. “They came year after year. They had the same rooms. They knew everybody that worked there. They knew the other guests because they knew them from last year. Things got into full swing when school was out and pretty much ended when Labor Day came and the children went back to school.”

Jennings and his brother, Mike, who now lives in Columbus, GA, operated Fairfield Inn during the summer of 1946. By that time, their father, Richard W. Jennings, Sr., had died and the estate elected to sell most of its land holdings “somewhat over our prostrate bodies,” Richard Jr. said.

Most of the Jackson County portion of the vast property was purchased by Tatum Wofford, a Miami hotel man who recognized the now-popular attraction of summer in the mountains and winter on tropical shores. Wofford made some improvements to the Inn, installing a sprinkler system throughout the interior, adding fire escapes to the exterior and placing more modern equipment in the kitchen.

But the most notable change was in the title. Fairfield Inn officially was changed to the Tatum Sky Club, a name that apparently never really caught on with area residents and long-time guests. Fairfield Inn or just plain “Fairfield” persisted despite efforts to publicize the new title into accepted familiarity.

Details are sketchy on the success, or lack of it, during the period 1947-54, the seasons in which Wofford and his successors operated the Sky Club.

But early in 1954 there appeared on the scene a man who, with his wife and son, was to breathe new life into the old Inn and the surrounding area and provide the impetus for what can be seen today.

Eugene M. Howerdd, Sr., an officer in the Georgia-Pacific Company, owned a home in Highlands and had become addicted to the beauty of the mountains of Western North Carolina. An avid golfer, Howerdd could see a time in the not-too-distant future when existed golf courses in the area would be jammed with players and that residential home sites would be at a premium.

Acting upon this insight, Howerdd began to look around for land suitable for golf course contraction. After an extensive search had turned up nothing completely satisfactory, he happened to be driving east on US 64 one afternoon. Looking south just after he had passed the entrance to the Tatum Sky Club, he noted a broad expanse of what almost perfect for what he had in mind. The 2,000 acres that includes what now is Sapphire Valley Golf Club was purchased in early 1955.

Then, realizing there would be no adequate accommodations nearby, he began negotiations with the Wofford interests for purchase of the Inn and land holdings in the area. That deal was consummated late in 1955.

Meanwhile, the golf course already was being cleared under the direction of famed golf course architect George W. Cobb, whose earlier achievements had made a lasting impression on Howerdd. “I had a dickens of a time finding Cobb to see if he would take this course. Tried everywhere, but couldn’t find him. Oddly enough, I finally located him right here in Cashiers, where he was talking to William McKee about some improvements on the High Hampton course, “Howerdd recalled recently.

The course was built in record time. All 18 holes were opened for play in 1956, only a year after most of the valley was an almost impenetrable jungle of laurel rhododendron and other native plants and trees.

Given an almost free hand in design, Cobb built into the Sapphire Valley Golf Club something that is rarely noticed, but always appreciated, something that helps make the course one of the most beautiful in the mountains. That something is a scenic vista from each teeing area except one. That one is the 17th tee, which to most golfers is a striking sight with a sloping fairway, woods to the right and the green mountain distance.

But the view did not come up to Cobb’s standards. “I apologize for the 17th tee” he told Howerdd, “but if you stand on the 17th green and look back, that’s something worth seeing.” Indeed it is. The sight of bright green fairway, brighter green of the putting surface, the dark green of the foliage, all nestled at the start of towering Chimneytop Mountain, is a breathtaking sight.

After the Inn was acquired, Mrs. Howerdd went to work with a remodeling, refurbishing program that really put a new dress on somewhat faded old property. Local stone artisans were employed to present much of the façade that is seen today. The entrance was improved with a grassed, walled-in circular drive. A Patio was created adjoining the veranda at the rear of the building, offering guests and visitors even more latitude in enjoying the view of Fairfield Lake and Bald Rock Mountain.

The pale green color given the Inn then and perpetuated today was not applied chance. It was entirely by choice. It precisely matches the color of the moss that grows on the north side of the stately white pines that dot the lawn sloping down the lake. The Howerdd’s collected samples of the moss and took them to a paint manufacturing firm in South Carolina that developed the duplicate shade.

The Howerdd’s installed an elevator, bought much new lobby, dining room and guest room furnishings and equipment. Gene Howerdd Jr. designed and supervised construction of a lounge.

The name of the facility was changed to Sapphire Valley Inn, at the suggestion Mrs. Howerdd, to conform with the title already given the golf club. The name seemed to be much more palatable and soon was accepted by almost everyone.

Even so, there was a time when another name was under serious consideration. “We are going to call it Dobson Mountain Village after the mountain that’s directly across the lake from the Inn,” Howerdd said. “The name has a pleasant ring to it we even had a song written about Dobson Mountain Village. I had some signs painted placed out on the highway. Someone stole every last one of them and after that sort of dropped the idea.”

Under the Howerdd’s, Sapphire Valley Inn began to rise as one of “the places to go” in the North Carolina mountains. Friends from throughout the Southeast and particularly Georgia and Florida, where the Howerdd’s had lived in Augusta and Palm Beach, began to patronize the area with increasing regularity. Many purchased home sites on the golf course and on the mountain overlooking Fairfield Lake, whose name had not been changed, from the southwest. These developments now are known as Golf Club Estates and Round Hill. The Howerdd’s themselves built a beautiful chalet name on Round Hill.

The resort had become a full-time operation during the winter of 1966-67 Ski slopes were developed on a sloping ridge off the golf course road near the Western extremity of the property. The first ski facility in the area, it quickly became very popular and with the presence of snow-making equipment to take care of things even Mother Nature did not cooperate, opened the door to a new form of outdoor recreation for many Southerners. Gene Howerdd Jr. and his wife, Marty, managed properties on a full-time basis.

Thus, by the spring of 1971, Sapphire Valley was a going proposition, well known as both a summer and winter resort and well liked by all who visited here.

That’s when Realtec Incorporated appeared on the Sapphire Valley scene. Realtec Incorporated is one of the youngest and best-known development firms in the nation.

After an extensive search for suitable tracts of land on which to put its innovative development concepts into practice, Realtec settled on one of the most beautiful parcels of land in the mountains of Western North Carolina. In mid-May of 1971, company announced acquisition of 5, 700 acres at Sapphire Valley.

The purchase from the Howerdd’s at Sapphire Valley included the Inn and golf course and land on both sides of US 64 stretching as far east as Mount Toxaway. It was, and is, a magnificent parcel and remains today essentially as it was when acquired by the Toxaway Company some 80 years ago.

Initial construction by Realtec at Sapphire Valley was in condominium apartments in two phases, the “Hilltop” above the Inn and “The Woods,” south of US 64 about one mile east of the Inn. Response to the manner in which Sapphire Valley Development Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Realtec, has gone about its work has been gratifying beyond expectations. Construction of the condominiums, which fit the land instead of vice versa, has not been able to keep up with demand.

Last fall, Sapphire Valley Development Corp, opened up choice lots around Hogback Lake, several miles east of the Inn, for sale and this project, too, has been received with tremendous response from a buying public that has been greatly impressed with such things as underground utilities, advanced waste treatment, paved roads and erosion control, in addition to choice pieces of property.

Sapphire Valley Inn, until recently, has been the focal point for almost all of the activities at Sapphire Valley. Due to this greatly accelerated use, the venerable building has been sorely tested at times, but has been able to weather every storm, every crisis.

But the increased employment of the gracious old lady led to increased wear and tear and prompted what amounts to a brand-new wardrobe. At a cost of more than $200,000, almost the entire first floor of the building has been remodeled, refitted and renovated. The program, carried out under the direction of famed interior designer Lest Belmuth of Dallas and Los Angeles, has only recently been completed and today the Inn is showing off her new dress.

Mode and manner of attire is not all she is showing off. She bears a new name paradoxically, is one of the oldest in the mountains: Fairfield Inn. The decision to go back to the original title for the structure was made in the interest of propriety, desire by Realtec to place everything on the property in its proper perspective.

So, the Fairfield Inn lives again. It first opened its doors when Victoria sat on the throne of England. Today Fairfield Inn reigns as the “queen” of all the resorts in the beautiful, historic and stories mountains of Western North Carolina.

Footnote: The information contained in this summary of the history of Sapphire Valley and Fairfield Inn was compiled from a number of sources. While every effort has been made to be thorough in the attempt, there are obvious gaps that need to be filled. Anyone with information that would help make this account more complete are asked to contact James Ryan at Sapphire Valley. The information received and cooperation given will be greatly appreciated.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][/vc_column][/vc_row]