Fryemont Inn

In 1923, most of the uneven wooden planks in downtown Bryson City had been replaced with concrete sidewalks.

Hogs that once roamed free and wallowed in the muddy center of town were gone thanks to Dr. A.M. Bennett, health officer for the North Carolina State Health Department, whose first order of business called for the removal of livestock from the heart of the city and condemnation of all drinking wells in town to make way for the construction of a city water system. Dr. Bennett knew that without sanitary conditions, no town can grow.

And growing she was; in the 20s, Swain County boasted lumber production valued at over $2 million, with a harvest of over 70,000 board feet daily. Sadly, the industry was slowing, due, in part, to a fungal blight affecting the American chestnut tree. Weighing the loss of his most valuable trees, and the imminent creation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, timber baron and Bryson City resident Amos Frye knew the time was right to grant his wife Lillian’s request. Lillian, who was the first female member of the North Carolina Bar Association, had implored her husband to build a place where they could entertain many of the guests who traveled to visit them in the mountains. More than once, she’d urged him to embrace the tourist industry, but Amos had declined. While Amos gets credit for building the Fryemont, it was Lillian’s persistence and vision that gave life to the Fryemont Inn.

Amos and Lillian owned the logging rights to timber in the area, which gave them access to the best trees around. When it became evident the mighty chestnuts couldn’t be saved, the trees were felled and sent to the construction site in Bryson City to be used as paneling for the interior walls. Oak and maple were used on the floors. Present-day visitors see the original poplar bark shakes that cover the front exterior of the inn; a unique choice of siding, as other builders applied logs horizontally.

The Fryemont Inn allows visitors to stay in a room where the lumber was historically preserved.

Dr. Bennett hired Richard Sharp Smith, the supervising architect for the Biltmore House, and the Frye’s began planning for their first guests.

Having an inviting fireplace is a must for any inn, so Smith hired the best mountain men who “knew how to build chimneys that drew so well it would draw a cat right out of the room.” The glorious lodge would never suffer from the ailment of backdrafts or smoke-filled rooms due to a faulty flue. Today, the fireplace serves as one of the main gathering places where guests can work puzzles, read, or enjoy a cup of coffee. It is common to find guests colonized around the fire, warming themselves after a day of outdoor fun.

The first visitors to the inn endured a daylong, bone-rattling train ride into the tiny little mountain town. At the time, only 400 people called Bryson City home. Visitors traveled on one of the four daily passenger trains, whose engines screamed to a stop and belched white clouds of ash and steam into the Carolina blue sky, signaling the arrival of another wave of visitors.

Some visitors stayed a week, some a month. Others, like famed author and activist Horace Kephart, fell in love with the area and called the mountains home. All visitors left the mountains forever changed, with a hole in their soul that only the Fryemont would fill.

As they stood on their property overlooking town, Amos and Lillian watched and waited for guests. They signaled their employees to be ready. I imagine Lillian stood with her spine straight and her chin lifted confidently. She knew that tourism was the future, and the Fryes had created a place of beauty that generations would treasure. Ever the welcoming hosts, the Frye’s dispatched a hansom cab, whose driver loaded the guests and their belongings then steered the horse-drawn carriage up the dirt road to the Fryemont Inn.

Amos and Lillian operated the inn until his passing in 1935. Lillian continued operations until her death in 1957. For a while, the inn sat empty until W.B. Dillard purchased the building and renovated the facilities to make fewer—and larger—rooms, each with its own private bath.

In 1978, George and Sue Brown rode a motorcycle through the winding roads from Atlanta into Western North Carolina, stopping at Winchester’s Grocery, a little country store in the Lauada community owned by Frank Winchester. It was late in the evening and the Browns needed a dinner recommendation. Frank highly recommended Fryemont Inn, for the trout there was legendary and Winchester himself knew a thing or two about trout. The Browns enjoyed a lovely dinner in the dining hall as the spirit of the Frye sprinkled a little magic on the guests. The following year, while on a business trip, George spied a for sale ad in the Wall Street Journal for an inn located west of Asheville. Not just any inn, one with a swimming pool. Road weary from years of business travel, George picked up the phone and called Sue. The conversation went something like this: “Remember that place we stayed in the North Carolina mountains, the one with the swimming pool? It’s for sale.”

The rest truly is history.

For visitors, the Fryemont Inn serves as a place of respite, but for locals, the inn is much more. Years ago, Maria Beale Fletcher, a former Rockette and the only Miss America who hailed from North Carolina, spent time teaching dance to visitors and residents alike. Even before then, the inn featured an orchestra whose music echoed through the mountains.

And then there is the pool.

If the swimming pool could talk, the Fryemont Inn’s pool would whisper tales of childhood giggles and starry-eyed infatuations. Filled with 66,000 gallons of mountain water, generations of mountain children and adults learned to swim there amidst guests from out of town. Local mothers knew their children couldn’t stay away from the lure of the Tuckaseigee River that feeds into Fontana lake, so they insisted their children learn to swim. The best place to learn was the Fryemont Inn. It didn’t matter if Mama herself was petrified of water and hadn’t so much as toe-touched the water since she got baptized, she knew George and Sue’s place was safe.

That’s what locals called the Fryemont Inn: “George and Sue’s place.” The Brown family may have arrived as outsiders, and I am certain they endured the isolating growing pains of running a “tur-ist place,” but the roots the Brown’s planted in 1978 took hold and continued to grow. Most locals can’t imagine Bryson City without the Fryemont Inn. Many adults remember having George and Sue as their first employer. Women who worked there brought their kids with them and together, as families are wont to do, everyone pitched in so the inn ran like a well-oiled machine. It is common to find employees at the Fryemont who have invested decades of their lives in the special place.

That type of stewardship and pride keep the doors open and welcoming a century after those first visitors arrived by carriage. “We can’t not do this, nor can we let our guests down,” says hotel manager Monica Brown. “We must keep the Fryemont as close to its original way,” she said as she guided me down the rock stairs, where a hand-crafted metal rail caressed my hand. These are the little touches that sets the Fryemont Inn apart.

The Fryemont is operated by three generations of the Brown family. Sue and George are semi-retired, although Sue continues to cook. The executive chef is George Jr. He and his son, Tyler, are ever present multi-taskers, with duties ranging from meals to maintenance. Monica, George Jr’s wife, manages the hotel, while their daughter, Kathryn, hosts special events.

In addition to the 37 unique rooms adorned with chestnut paneling, the Browns added eight private suites and a large cabin for guests wanting a modern touch. All of those rooms include contemporary amenities, including satellite TV and air conditioning. Then there is the food. The Fryemont dining room and fireside bar welcomes tourists and locals by reservation, while dinner and breakfast is included for overnight guests. Those on the go can grab an express breakfast, and dinner doesn’t disappoint, with a menu much like it was in 1923, with fresh rainbow trout, chicken, and lamb.

Visitors can’t see the magical pixie dust sprinkle on them as they arrive, but they do feel a sense of peace and even ownership. They immediately feel at home in the mountains, hidden behind giant hemlock trees and tulip poplars. The inn is a hiding place, literally on the edge of town, made more private because of the surrounding undeveloped land. Staff welcomes guests as long-lost friends. In many cases, guests have come regularly for 20 or more years.

“We have some guests who first came to the inn as children,” Monica said one beautiful spring day as the inn was preparing to open. “Now they bring their grandchildren. We’ve watched our guests grow up, get married, and return with their family. The inn has helped us develop lifelong friendships.”

The family has many special events planned for this, the inn’s centennial year. You can visit the inn’s website to learn more.

With a front-porch view of the mountains, the Fryemont Inn is a place to make memories with friends and family. Whether you enjoy games by the fireplace or a delicious dinner, you’ll leave with a sprinkling of magic courtesy of the people who treasure this delightful hidden jewel in the Smoky Mountains.

• 245 Fryemont Street, Bryson City, North Carolina
• 828.488.2159
• fryemontinn.com