Wealthiest or most prosperous rural areas of NC? (Charlotte, Raleigh: loan, house)
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Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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Originally Posted by VinceTheExplorer
My very pretentious in-laws (physician and dentist) who constantly gloat over their IRA’s and 4,200 square foot McMansion down in Central Florida came to Asheville recently.
While in town we took them for their first visit to The Biltmore Estate. They were speachless as we reminded them that this was a 179,000 sq ft VACATION HOME built for a three member family on 125,000 acres.
A little humble pie well served. Haven’t heard one word about their home since. Lol.
And built by a New Yorker nonetheless! New Yorkers driving up North Carolina real estate for 125 years.
Seriously, speaking of the Vanderbilts and wealth, if you want to read a great book about both, read Fortune's Children - The Fall of the House of Vanderbilt. I read it and then listened to it. Great book about how this family accumulated wealth and how it was depleted through the generations. The Vanderbilts, Astors and their ilk used to try to outdo one another building the most ostentatious mansions, errr, I mean "cottages" in Newport, Rhode Island, Long Island, Fifth Avenue, etc. Fascinating read.
OT: do your in-laws, by chance, live in Winter Park? We stopped there in August and were blown away. Gorgeous homes, high-end shopping, beautiful lakes. I didn't realize that existed in Central Florida.
My very pretentious in-laws (physician and dentist) who constantly gloat over their IRA’s and 4,200 square foot McMansion down in Central Florida came to Asheville recently.
While in town we took them for their first visit to The Biltmore Estate. They were speachless as we reminded them that this was a VACATION HOME built on 125,000 acres for a three member family.
Haven’t heard one word about their home since. Lol.
... do your in-laws, by chance, live in Winter Park? We stopped there in August and were blown away. Gorgeous homes, high-end shopping, beautiful lakes. I didn't realize that existed in Central Florida.
No, they’re over on the coast by The Cape. Beautiful homes there as well.
Melbourne Beach and Vero Beach have equally wealthy folks who call the area home. One home I recall being built there had a 5,300 sq ft master closet for all of the wife's shoes, clothes and jewelry. That’s just insane to me and way out of touch with life IMO.
Winter Park is also very pretty ... pretty pretentious! Lol. My in-laws would fit in perfectly there. Not my environment to be around TBH but a very pretty area indeed. Lot’s of money there too.
We have a friend of ours who’s nearing 50 and lives in WP only because it’s “high end” and she’s trying to score herself a sugar daddy. She’s pretty obvious about it and spends lots of time out trying to find her Mr. Right. Kinda sad to see but she’s a good friend so we just shake our heads and smile.
Last edited by VinceTheExplorer; 09-16-2020 at 02:03 PM..
Yeah, all new money running the cash cow Biltmore Estate, or should I say “running it into the ground.”
The Vanderbilt descendants (the Cecils) still live in various homes across the Biltmore Estate’s 8,000 acres and in The Frith in Biltmore Forest.
They’re actually pretty low key people (all but one drive Toyota 4Runners) and are pretty nice in person. Knowing though how they treat their employees puts a major negative spin on them for me.
There's a small town about an hour's drive northeast of Raleigh called Warrenton that I believe was the richest town in the state before the Civil War. To this day, you can drive around Warrenton and the surrounding areas and see plantation homes that are still standing.
Yes, Warren county is very poor now, the home of the failed project "Soul City" --- but in 19th century it was home to the Jones' hot springs plantation, where General R. E. Lee sent his wife and children to sit out the war after their home in Arlington, VA was confiscated by the Federal government. It also had its own spur railroad line, and was home to Nathaniel Macon, speaker of the U.S. House for 28 years, and General Bragg, CSA..... In modern times, Warren County was the birthplace of distinguished writer Reynolds Price of Duke Univ., and of a recent U.S. Senator from Georgia.
Last edited by slowlane3; 09-16-2020 at 04:49 PM..
The Rockefellers had an estate outside of Fayetteville called Overhills. It's been abandoned for years, but was apparently quite the place back in the day.
There is a LOT of money in the mountains now. I don't know how "old money" it is, but I believe that is the where the most expensive homes in NC are. Of course there are massive million dollar beach houses too.
Agreed. The Highlands/Cashiers area is likely one of the wealthiest areas in NC.
Yes, Warren county is very poor now, the home of the failed project "Soul City" --- but in 19th century it was home to the Jones' hot springs plantation, where General R. E. Lee sent his wife and children to sit out the war after their home in Arlington, VA was confiscated by the Federal government. It also had its own spur railroad line, and was home to Nathaniel Macon, speaker of the U.S. House for 28 years, and General Bragg, CSA..... In modern times, Warren County was the birthplace of distinguished writer Reynolds Price of Duke Univ., and of a recent U.S. Senator from Georgia.
Yep! Warren County has an interesting history, from the antebellum wealth to the PCB protests in the early 1980's. It's sadly true that the area is impoverished today, as it's too far from the Triangle to be developed anytime soon. There are some areas east of Warrenton that are extremely rural, even for NC.
Highlands/Cashiers has a lot of money now, but not very much is from in-state.
As to NC money, there was this guy named Washington B Duke.
Going back further, there's Orton Plantation and many other sizeable holdings in ENC.
What would you consider as the mountainous areas with more in-state wealth? Highlands indeed seems to host a lot of people from the Atlanta area.
I will say, regarding the Duke family, I sometimes am surprised that Durham's upper class areas don't seem as grand as one would expect. There are still lovely areas of course, like Forest Hills.
What would you consider as the mountainous areas with more in-state wealth? Highlands indeed seems to host a lot of people from the Atlanta area.
I will say, regarding the Duke family, I sometimes am surprised that Durham's upper class areas don't seem as grand as one would expect. There are still lovely areas of course, like Forest Hills.
Durham has always been more gritty than glossy, yeah. Like you said, there are upper class areas such as Morehead Hill and Forest Hills but they're not as grand as the wealthy neighborhoods in Greensboro (Irving Park) or Raleigh (Hayes Barton).
To answer your question, Blowing Rock is a perfect example of a mountain town with in-state wealth. A lot of wealthy people from Charlotte used to vacation in Blowing Rock, maybe they still do but I'm not too sure.
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