This place may not be what you think it is.

Some call it North Carolina’s own version of Stonehenge, the mysterious, prehistoric stone circle in southern England that has fascinated visitors for thousands of years. Ours consists of standing stones, but it was not inspired by — nor meant to resemble — its more famous counterpart.

Others call it “Hartley Henge,” as a well-intentioned tribute to the late John D. Hartley — the architect and builder who designed this space nearly 30 years ago. But Hartley’s widow says that her husband would’ve cringed at such a name. “He would’ve never wanted it to be named after him,” Lynne Jaffe says.

John D. Hartley (pictured in 1996) photograph by The News & Observer

You could call it Stone Knoll, adopted from the eight-home Stone Knoll subdivision that Hartley designed in the mid-1990s. As he did with some of his residential developments, Hartley, who died in 2011, used money he earned from the subdivision to create a communal space where the residents could find peace and tranquility.

“In some of John’s developments, he felt called to create a sacred space for the benefit of the community,” Jaffe says. “It was really important to him that the land was honored. He was trying to bring people into connection with the natural world.”

Stone Knoll is located in a field on John’s Woods Road off Old NC Highway 86, just outside of Chapel Hill, in the unincorporated community of Calvander. It’s technically on private property, but the homeowners’ association allows visitors as long as they’re respectful of the land and its peacefulness.

In addition to marking north, south, east, and west, the four largest stones in Stone Knoll are inscribed with animal footprints. The eagle slab (right) features Maya Angelou’s “On the Pulse of Morning.” photograph by Joshua Steadman

The reason people compare Stone Knoll to Stonehenge is because the spacious outdoor monument — like the one in England — is composed of giant boulders and stone slabs that spark curiosity about how they got there and what their significance is. At Stone Knoll, the stones are arranged in a spiraling pattern that is, by design, soothingly mesmerizing. Large, monolithic slabs mark the four compass points — north, south, east, and west — each adorned with animal footprints and thought-provoking poems by the likes of Maya Angelou and Carl Sandburg.

Thirteen years after Hartley’s death, Jaffe still can’t drive past Stone Knoll without thinking of the inspired soul who created it. Sometimes she stops to meditate there, as many do, and she always remembers why the stones are there.

“John wanted people to come away with a feeling of connection to the natural world and to something greater than themselves,” she says. “He wanted them to be encouraged and reminded about what is really sacred in this world, and within each person, and within us as a collective. He was encouraging us to be in community with all of life.”

Stone Knoll
John’s Woods Road
Chapel Hill, NC 27516