Traveling east past the commercial backdrop on Highway 74, the countryside opens up before you. Pastures stretch out over rolling hills and climb slowly to the meet the mountains. Dairy cows graze peacefully in the field, neatly plowed acreage sits behind rustic farm stands, and time slows.

Just before the road heads up the mountain, you enter Hickory Nut Gap Farm, one of the area’s oldest family-owned farms and an enduring legacy to the community. Jointly owned and operated by the six descendants of James and Elspeth Clarke, the farm encompasses approximately 800 acres and is a mix of farm land, pasture, orchards, and several homes, both new and historic.

A weathered stone path leads visitors through a stately boxwood garden to the welcoming wraparound porch. The main house, an 1834 classic farm house, overlooks the horse pastures and valley below. A mix of old and new blend the past and present, and give reverence to former residents.

The home, originally a two-story, one-room log cabin, was built in 1806 by John and Nancy Ann Ashworth. It wasn’t until 1834, under the proprietorship of Bedford and Elizabeth Sherrill, that it was expanded and eventually turned into Sherrill’s Inn. The Sherrills bought the land after securing the postal routes for the area. The Inn became a popular overnight stop, as Hickory Nut Gap Turnpike (now Highway 74) was a main commerce route for farmers bringing goods and animals to market. Bedford also built a barn, feed storage, a spring house, and ran a supply store located just off the road. The smoke house, built by Mr. Ashworth, was the first building on the property and is thought to be the oldest structure in Buncombe County and built around 1790.

By the time the railroad was built in the 1880s, Sherrill’s Inn had fallen on hard times and was in disrepair. In 1916, visiting the Western North Carolina countryside from Lake Forest, Illinois, Jim and Elizabeth McClure were struck by the beauty of the area. As an artist, Elizabeth didn’t see the dilapidated state of the historic structure. Instead, she envisioned the manicured boxwoods she would later plant and a rainbow of flowers cascading down the hillside.

An educated couple, the McClures embraced their mountain neighbors as family and both worked tirelessly for their new community. Jim, an innovative thinker, put his energies into helping local farmers. In 1920, along with neighboring farmers, he started the Farmer’s Federation, a cooperative organization that in subsequent decades would influence all aspects of rural life in Western North Carolina. Jim also started a hatchery and founded a training association for farmers drawing eager men and women from across the Southeast. Elizabeth was very active in the community with gardening and art and worked wonders restoring the home. Her beautiful murals depicting their everyday farm life are a wonderful testament to their devotion to the life they had chosen.

Jim and Elizabeth’s daughter Elspeth, and her husband James (Jamie) McClure Clarke took over the farm after returning from service in WWII. She served in the Waves (Women Appointed for Voluntary Emergency Service) and he as a Navy surveillance photographer. Upon his return from the war, Jamie Clarke joined the Farmer’s Federation and eventually took over as president in 1959. He also was an editorial writer for the Asheville Citizen-Times, served on the Board of Education, and served three terms as a U.S. Congressman during the 1980s. The couple raised eight children and by the 1950s, Hickory Nut Gap Farm had become a dairy and apple farm. Life on the farm wasn’t all hard work, however. A dumbwaiter off the kitchen kept the children entertained for hours as did the secret room in the study (the original log cabin) that is hidden behind the bookcases.

Annie Ager, Jamie and Elspeth’s daughter, now lives in the house with her husband John and remembers escaping farm work by hiding in the boxwoods to read. “And remember the picnics,” John adds. “The Federation (Farmer’s Federation) would host picnics at the farm. They were great.”

The home was more than a residence for the McClure-Clarke families. It became a symbol of hope for area farmers and is the foundation from which the next generation will build their legacy.

(Continue reading Part Two: “The Next Generation”in the March issue)