This mountain plantation, tucked in the Reems Creek Valley area near Weaverville (about 12 miles north of downtown Asheville), explores daily life in the early 1800s in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Visitors can peek inside our historic structures. including our loom house, tool shed, spring house, smoke house, and corn crib. It's free to visit and located five miles from the Blue Ridge Parkway (exit at Milepost 376.6).
For a more in-depth experience, interpretive guides lead visitors through the1790 slave house and discuss the eighteen enslaved people that lived and worked on the Vance farm. Tours conclude at the reconstructed Vance home. Zebulon Vance’s notable career would begin long after his family left this farm and visitors are welcome to explore the exhibit in our visitor center and learn more about his time as governor and how this early mountain life would come to shape him and his policies.
Annual events include a spring lecture held in April, a Militia Living History Day in September, an Appalachian Folk Festival in October, and Appalachian Christmas Carol in December. There are additional workshops, lectures, symposia, and other events throughout the year. Visit their website to learn more about upcoming events and programs.
See the simple Christmas decorations from period during December tours.
About Zebulon Vance
Visit the Vance Birthplace to learn more Zebulon Baird Vance—a lawyer, soldier, orator and political leader in the nineteenth century. As controversial as he was engaging, Vance was rarely at a loss for words and was frequently the center of attention. His contemporaries saw him as both rugged and eloquent, prejudiced and progressive, hotheaded and calculated, a traitor and a hero. A charismatic and shrewd leader, Vance guided North Carolina through the American Civil War and played a major role in defining a new identity for white southerners following Reconstruction. Come discover how a fiery young man from the Reems Creek Valley became a legendary political figure in the American South.
Directions
From Asheville: Take I-26 West (US 19-23 North) to Exit 21(New Stock Road). Follow the brown directional signs to the site on Reems Creek Road.
From the Blue Ridge Parkway: At Milepost 376.6, turn onto Ox Creek Road and wind down into the valley. At the end of Ox Creek Road (four miles), take a right on Reems Creek Road and go about a mile.
Hours & Admission
Tuesday - Saturday 9 AM-5 PM, Closed Sundays, Mondays and most major holidays. Free admission except for some special events.
