#15, “Fernbank” and a Windy Walk to a Graveyard

 February 21, 2022

Fernbank, aka, Moses H. Cone Manor

Fernbank, the lovely abode of the elderly Miss Sadie, and her dearest friend, Luella, is loosely based on the historic Moses H. Cone mansion.  On Monday, my last full day in Blowing Rock, I drove down the Blue Ridge Parkway a short distance to see this nearly 14,000 square-foot mansion.  I had been made aware that the interior was being remodeled, so would not be open for tours, but I wanted to see the outside anyway. 

Side of Flat Top Manor

This massive, 23 room mansion was built in the Colonial Revival style for Moses and Bertha Cone at the turn of the twentieth century.  Called Flat Top Manor, it was built as the couple’s summer retreat.  The estate covers 3,500 acres, and includes manmade Bass Lake, and apple orchard and much more.  Moses Cone had nearly 25 miles of carriage trails made just so guests could ride around and enjoy the outdoors.  A three-story carriage house was built on the property.  The lowest level was a stable for the horses, the middle level for the carriages, and the upper for other storage. 

3-Story Carriage House on Moses H. Cone Estate

It isn't clear if the home was so-called because of the flat top of the house, or because it was built on the only flat piece of ground, but the property does slope down from the house.  All the way to Bass Lake, far below.  In fact, Bertha Cone had Bass Lake created so that they could enjoy it from the second-floor balcony.  I stopped for a small picnic on the shore of the lake prior to driving to the manor house. 

Peaceful Bass Lake on the Moses H. Cone Estate

Due to the lay of the land, one would need a drone to fully capture the beauty and details of this grand home.  I noticed the lack of cultivated landscaping around the home, but perhaps they felt it didn't need further adornment.  

Flat Top Manor

View of the Valley and Bass Lake, from the Spacious first-floor porch

As mentioned, there are twenty-five miles of carriage trails, now for hiking and horseback riding.  I followed one from the house, past the carriage house, and under the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Walking through the short tunnel was dicey,  as it was a puddle over ice.  To keep your feet dry you needed to carefully step on the ice chunks that protruded up above the water surface.  

Under the Blue Ridge Parkway

On the right side of the trail was woods, but beyond the tumbledown barbwire on the left, the land fell away to rolling hills, not unlike the moors of England.  Despite the bleached, winter-weary grasses that cloaked the hills, I found a lonesome sort of beauty there. 

The trail eventually wound through the forest.  It was a steady grade, and the air thin and cool, so I found the mile or so walk up the hill to be plenty of exercise.  Without their leaves I wasn't able to identify many of the trees, but the debris on the ground showed that there were oak, hazelnut, and some other type of nut tree.  Vast wild rhododendrons provided some green amidst the brown. 

Old Carriage Trail on the Cone Estate

Wild Rhododendron

The trail finally entered a large clearing, cut across it, and ended at a small fenced graveyard.  The gate posts were wrapped with a rusty chain, and locked with a padlock, so there was no entrance.  The brochure I had picked up indicated that the cemetery was created when Moses Cone passed away in 1908, not many years after the estate was completed.  His wife, Bertha, and her two sisters are buried here as well. 

Cone Cemetery, Blowing Rock, NC

After Moses died, Bertha's two sisters, Sophie Lindau and Clementine Lindau, stayed with her at the manor in summer and fall, until Bertha passed away in 1947.  Two years later the land and buildings were donated to the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Making my way back down the hill I took note of the random patches of snow here and there.  It seemed that spring would be a long time arriving in these hills.  

At the antique store where Brandon and I browsed, we admired a cabinet made of burlwood.  Several of the trees had large burls, like pregnant bellies, hugging their rough-barked trunks.  

Burlwood

Breaking free of the woods, once again a Jane Eyre-ish scene stretched before me.  Were it not for the Blue Ridge peeping through from behind, I would easily have been transported to the windswept moors of England.  I could almost hear a cape flapping.