Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2014 - 45

hunting and hounds scenes that chase each other
above the chair rails in many of the cottages.
Mary's artistic sensibilities make themselves
known in other ways. Rose petals lay scattered on
the bed, whose posts or timbers are wrapped in
the kind of gauzy fabric that is meant to get lost
in. A silver tray on the bedspread presents a piece
of parchment. "We hope this magical property
reveals itself to you as it has to us," a recent invitation said by way of welcome.
The Red Horse Inn is the kind of place for people
who want to hole up with a bunch of books or a
book to write, with only each other for company
and a pressing need to slow down. Broad porches
and rocking chairs inspire quiet conversation and
may yield a glimpse of the Wolters' horse, My Little
Secret. The cabins have galley kitchens big enough
for simple meals. Landrum has grocery stores and
a few restaurants (one not to miss, Mary says, is
Stone Soup, whose patio attracts diners on pleasant
evenings and whose inside rooms are decorated
with photos of equestrian hunters and jumpers).
Breakfast is done a little differently at The Red
Horse Inn. Instead of being served in a common
dining room, the Wolterses stock the small fridge
in each room and cottage with orange juice, fresh
fruit, muffins and an egg dish. Packets of oatmeal
and grits are near the microwave, and the break-

fast closet is well-supplied with coffee and tea.
The inn had its beginning many years ago, over
"way too much coffee" when Mary and Roger were
art students at The School of Visual Arts in
Manhattan "talking about what we wanted to do
when we grew up," Mary says, sitting in the inn's
beige and white conference center and gathering
place. "We dreamed of building an artists' retreat
that would be so beautiful that they could get in
touch with their muse. Then we'd laugh and say,
this is a stupid plan because artists never have
money. But that's where the vision first came
from."
So, working as commercial artists in the New
York City area, they started thinking about an inn
instead. Mary's parents introduced them to the
foothills of South Carolina. Mary and Roger found
this rolling piece of property, all hills and valleys
and carpets of green. They built the cottages first,
spacing them far apart because, after all, people
want to disappear when they go on vacation.
"Our goal was to make as much privacy as we
could," she says. And then, from what was to have
been the barn beside their house, they built the inn.
The inn has hosted corporate retreats and family reunions. It has staged several large weddings,
but they proved to be so fraught with detail that
Mary gave them up.

If you go

The Red Horse Inn
45 Winstons Chase Court
Landrum, South Carolina
29356
theredhorseinn.com
864-909-1575

Why vacation
in a one room hotel?

The Folk School
changes you.

Escape to Blue Ridge
Cabin Vacations of North Georgia

Plan your escape today.
www.escapetoblueridge.com ~ 1-866-618-2521

engaging hands and hearts since 1925.
come enjoy making crafts and good
friends on 300 natural, scenic acres in
western north carolina.
John C. Campbell Folk SChool
folkschool.org
BraSSTown

1-800-Folk-Sch
norTh carolina

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014 | 45

http://www.theredhorseinn.com http://www.escapetoblueridge.com http://www.folkschool.org http://www.escapetoblueridge.com

Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2014

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