Welcome back to the place that shines a little brighter, glows a little warmer, than anywhere else. This month, we explore living spaces from Biltmore to birdhouses with one question in mind: Why do North Carolinians refer to their “homeplace,” not their house or their abode or even their home place? Here’s what we think: The two words cozy up, making something bigger than a physical location. There’s room for memories in that word, and there’s room to return. There’s always a light on at home. — Katie Saintsing
The kitchen is the heart of the home, a place to learn, nourish, and gather. A cooking instructor in Asheville hopes to keep it that way.
A community of artists finds a home, and a family, at a gallery near Creedmoor.
In 2007, Carrboro folk musician Stephanie Stewart left North Carolina, where she’d grown up, to spend a year in the Pacific Northwest. There, amid bright city lights and gloomy rainy days, she found both a renewed appreciation for her Southern roots and inspiration for a song. “I was ready to leave you, as I looked out my rearview, and watched your Blue Ridge fade into dust,” Stewart croons in the opening lines of “Wake Me Carolina.” This is her ode to the people and places she once left behind, and the journey she took to find her way back home.
Eastern bluebirds, once almost vanished from our state, thrive with the help of friendly (human) neighbors.
Why does this Haywood County town have some of the cleanest water in the state? It’s the result of the community’s efforts to keep the forests in its watershed pristine.
The spectacular views in North Carolina’s High Country aren’t just inspiration for writers, painters, and sculptors. Those landscapes — the rugged gray face of Grandfather Mountain, the vibrant fall leaves, the deep green meadows — are brushstrokes on Earth’s own canvas.
The sprawling vineyards and wide-open skies that stretch for miles across seven North Carolina counties offer relaxing getaways — not to mention some of the state’s finest wines — for Sunday drivers aching to escape the rush of city life.
Nothing lasts forever — and that’s what makes many of our cherished moments so special.
