The Mast Farm dates from the late 1700s, when Joseph Mast traveled from Randolph County, North Carolina to the mountains and is said to have traded his rifle, his dog, and a pair of leggings for 1,000 acres of fertile land in the Watauga River Valley. Between 1810 and 1812, the first house, a two-room log cabin, was built and remains today as the oldest inhabitable log cabin in North Carolina. Now the center of The Mast Farm Inn and Restaurant, the cabin is called the Loom House. There, Josephine “Aunt Josie” Mast created coverlets, rugs, and handbags, some of which are in the Smithsonian today. She wove continually from the 1880s to the early 1930s, using patterns and weaving techniques typical of other nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Appalachian handweavers. Mrs. Woodrow Wilson chose her to weave a giant rug for the “Blue Mountain Room,” President Woodrow Wilson's bedroom at the White House. Money from the sale of her weaving supplemented the family farm's income and brought her local fame and national renown. A family farm since the late 1700s and a country inn since the late 1800s, the property is still engaged in organic farming, operates an award-winning restaurant, is on the National Register of Historic Places, regularly hosts Celtic, bluegrass, and acoustic roots music concerts, and is part of the Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina.

Photo: Duane and Tracy Marsteller

Photo: Duane and Tracy Marsteller

Valle Crucis, North Carolina · USA