“Don’t let anyone ruin your day. It’s your day. Ruin it yourself.” ~ Unknown
Would you stay in this hotel? This is the Balsman Mountain Inn in Balsam, a small hamlet in western North Carolina. It was built between 1905 and 1908 and offered summer heat relief to folks travelling the railroad from the southern states, such as Florida and along the coast. The depot at Balsam, just below the hotel, was the highest depot east of the Rockies, and as such, it was markedly cooler here than anywhere else navigable by rail. The hotel has no insulation because it wasn’t used in the winter months. This makes it challenging to operate year-round. Not all her keepers were wise to this, so the hotel has suffered some setbacks. Today, her caregivers, a young couple, Rodney and Lorraine Conard, are doing their best to repair her and offer some semblance of service. They’ve got a job ahead of them for sure. If you like glamping, I highly recommend the Balsam Mountian Inn. It is an extraordinary experience, and if you’re an architectural preservationist, there’s no better adventure than the Balsam Mountain Inn. I would totally stay there again.
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