REFOCUS FIVE (482027) is an elegant ranch style home, 3 BR, 1.5 bath monthly rental home SIX MILES FROM DOWNTOWN. Uncluttered, chic, spotlessly clean, fully furnished and well appointed! Strong WIFI. Equipped kitchen with granite tops, maple cabinets, stainless fridge or charcoal grill on the backyard deck make cooking at home a pleasant option. The large back and side yard with mature trees, (hammock in the shade) and the meadow across the street provide a private, pastoral ambience and yet you're minutes to downtown. Across the street is creek access, an aisle of pine trees to promenade, a natural wooded area, large fire pit, pavilion and glen available to you.
It's just minutes to the historic stone GROVE PARK INN. Count the layers of silhouetted mountain ranges while dining on its sunset porch overlooking the Donald Ross designed golf course.
Tour the famous BILTMORE ESTATE. The LARGEST privately owned mansion in the United States, the VANDERBILT HOUSE is a French Chateaux design - Downton Abbey, American style - unrivaled by the big houses of Europe. The grounds are breathtakingly beautiful. Landscaped acres, farmland, wooded acres, ponds and lakes provide endless walking, hiking, biking or horseback options in a natural setting of rolling hills and Appalachian forest. Its formal and informal gardens we're designed by famed landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmstead.
Dining at the Biltmore Estate is a treat at any one of the many restaurant options where they serve what they grow and breed on the estate grounds Tour the winery and wine-tasting. then take a bottle home to friends for gifts.
Speaking of gifts - Asheville's UNIQUE SHOPPING opportunities include local and regional crafts and jewelry, fabric and clothing. The FOLK ART CENTER features Appalachian crafts, pottery, blown glass, designer clothing, artifacts, quilts and prints. They always have an interesting special exhibit upstairs of one-of-a-kind furniture, sculpture and artifacts The RIVER ARTS DISTRICT studios where artists are at work while you browse also has wonderful choices for dining including WHITE DUCK TACO, TWELVE BONES (Obama's favorite) and the SMOKY PARK SUPPERCLUB. BILTMORE VILLAGE below the estate has shops that include the locally owned NEW MORNING GALLERY with a smart collections of furniture, jewelry, ceramics and outdoor sculpture. Stop at the minor BASILICA OF ST LAWRENCE just across the street while you are in the area. Tour the THOMAS WOLFE HOUSE in downtown Asheville before attending the theater at NC STAGE - always cutting edge.
There's a back way to the BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY from REFOCUS FIVE. Off the parkway are numerous hiking options and lookouts at CRAGGY GARDENS where the clouds meet the fog to curl between the MAGESTIC BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS, thus their nickname - The Smokies and rhododendron cover the hills. Continue past it to GRANDFATHER MOUNTAIN the regions most ecologically diverse nature preserve and a great place to hike, picnic and photograph. Cross the MILE HIGH SWINGING BRIDGE. Take a guided tour with a naturalist.
MOUNT MITCHELL STATE PARK takes you and family or friends to 6,683' heights, the highest peak in the Eastern United States with a 360 degree panoramic view at its summit. This is the home of wonderful hiking or biking, camping.
The FRENCH BROAD RIVER, third oldest after the Nile and the New offers tubing when the weather allows. It is not only beautiful on both banks but has trips of 1 hour or more from which you can hop out for lunch or a beer at one of dozens of microbreweries in BEER CAPITAL USA!
DOWNTOWN, our sidewalk musicians (buskers)are brilliant year round and the COMEDY BUS TOUR and the BREWS CRUISE are something to tweet home about. DINE at a great assortment of restaurants.
HIGHLAND BREWING and THE WEDGE are just two of the many bar venues with corn hole and food trucks.
Where there is natural beauty and beer, there is MUSIC and Asheville offers all varieties at unique venues from civic centers and historic churches to warehouses and bars. Look up THE ORANGE PEEL and THE GREY EAGLE, the US CELLULAR CENTER (Asheville Civic Center), the Diana Wortham and come again and again.
And yes - there is theater in both large and intimate venues...
Please don't forget to check out our other site VRBO 387785 REFOCUS COTTAGE, right across the street and creek from REFOCUS FIVE 482027. If you are in need of an EVENT VENUE - please think about booking our beautifully landscaped THREE ACRES with a picturesque creek running through it, a promenade of pines, a glen with a pavilion, a large fire pit, corn hole, badminton, Boccie Ball. The two rentals together make it perfect for a reunion, a birthday gathering, a small wedding, graduation, anniversary...
Did I mention FOOD? There are many great restaurants in Asheville with unique dining experiences featuring cuisine of any kind you can think of. And if the 7 minutes to a downtown restaurant is too much trouble, there are some great places to eat on this, the north end of town ~ tapas, fusion, vegetarian, vegan, sushi, WONDERFUL pizza, cal-zones and antipastos at family restaurant and bar 828 Family Pizzeria. Or for pizza, salad and local brew WITH a movie (family fare during the day, popular mainstream titles at night) there is the BREW AND VIEW about three miles from the rental.
ALSO VERY LOCAL to the rental is BEAVERLAKE and BIRD SANCTUARY only a 3 mile drive. This small lake can be walked around in 45 minutes making it a popular guest exercise spot where the conversation is usually about where to lunch and what event to attend that evening. One of our personal favorite spots for making plans because it is so pleasant that we often give them up to simply enjoy ourselves is the BATTERY PARK BOOK EXCHANGE AND CHAMPAGNE bar in the Art Deco GROVE ARCADE. They serve wine and champagne by the glass and display thousands of books to peruse in dozens of comfortable gathering spaces.
REFOCUS. Enjoy. From zip-lining to fine dining, Asheville is where I would vacation if I didn't live here. All carriers but verizon are spotty here but there is WIFI.