The Carl Sandburg Home in Flat Rock is one of the major at- tractions here in Western North Carolina. It is located three miles south of Hendersonville on Highway 225, easily accessible off Exit 53 of I-26 South. The park, as I call it, provides shady lanes, miles of gardens, a functioning goat farm, Carl Sandburg’s home and a great deal more.

There are over five miles of hiking trails on the estate’s 264 acres that includes pastures, two small lakes, and two mountains. There are 32 structures on the site, including a barn for the descendants of Mrs. Sandburg’s Chikaming goat herd. The trail to the house is an uphill walk, but there is a bus service that will take you to the top. The walk to the top is a shady walk around the lake and past fields with great views of the house and Glassy Dome. Photo opportunities abound.

You should allow the time for a guided tour of the home (it takes about an hour). The house is a magnificent, three-story structure of white stucco and full of Sandburg’s memorabilia.

For some of us, going into the house will be reminiscent of visiting our grandparents’ homes — the aromas, the things all kept in the right places, a bit of dust here and there, an old telephone, a doily under an old glass plate, a shade with a string pull. In a poetic sense, the Sandburgs are America’s grandparents keeping us in touch with our past.

Outside the house to the left is a small outdoor theater where productions about Sandburg’s life and times are presented in the warm weather months. Down the path to your right is the world famous Connemara Goat farm.

During the summer many crops are grown here, including huge sunflowers and corn. On the path to the goat farm is one of the best examples of a covered gate on any farm or estate in the area.

Interestingly, Sandburg’s wife Lillian was the sister of the world-famous photographer Edward Steichen. The Carl Sandburg Home has an extensive collection of Steichen’s photographs which may be viewed by making special arrangements with the staff at the Carl Sandburg Home.

Lillian’s calling was raising dairy goats, and she was quite knowledgeable about their milk production and reproduction. The farm is still a producing milk farm. Children are welcome to enter the farm areas and may approach the goats under supervision. In general dogs, are welcome on the grounds but are not welcome in the goat areas at any time.

The f/32 Photography Group meets the second Wednesday of each month at the Reuters Center on the UNCA campus at 6:30 p.m. The diverse individuals of Western North Carolina who are members of the group known as f/32 are young and old, professionals and amateurs. The common bond is a mutual love of photography and what it can show us about our world. Find out more at f32nc.com.

Bill Logan retired from the Navy after 26 years of service and now lives in Hendersonville. He is the newly-elected president of the f/32 Photography Group in Asheville. His main interests are in film photography directed to landscape and architectural photography, mainly old buildings and churches. He may be contacted at whlogan@loganphotographics.com. His web site is loganphotographics.com.