We recently cashed in Finn's 13th birthday present (he turned 13 in June--but Blogger won't let me update his age on my profile!): a trip to the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro. In reality, Finn would like to go to England, France, or Germany. I decided to try to bring a little bit of Europe to him during this trip, and we chose to stay at a European-inspired boutique hotel in Winston-Salem.
As soon as we pulled up to the Graylyn Estate Manor House, we remarked that it reminded us of a smaller Biltmore. After we checked in and unloaded our bags, we enjoyed a tour of the Manor House by Herb, who was a wonderful guide! During that tour we learned that Mrs. Gray, who designed and had the house built (with her millionaire husband's input, of course!) in the late 1920s/early 1930s, grew up in Asheville. Ahhh, I thought. That explains the Biltmore-esque appearance!
The Grays had traveled to Europe and brought back with them some very interesting items for the house, including an arched doorway from France and some wall panels that the French government didn't want to release, prompting Mr. Gray to take the case to the French Supreme Court, who ruled in his favor! But the French government did require plaster molds to be made of the panels before they could leave the country. Fascinating!
On the outside of the house you can see the stones of the cantilevered stairs rounding around the stair tower.
The back of the Manor House features a lovely little garden area. There's also a white garden, which was past blooming when we visited, but I could see rusty hydrangea shrubs shaped into trees, and I imagine that during the summer it's beautiful.
We stayed in the Mews, a Normandy-inspired area near the Manor House.
At the Mews, the roses were still blooming--in mid-November! My own yellow roses are also finishing their season right now.
Earlier this year, I almost purchased a few sky pencil evergreens for our garden space, but decided against it because I felt I needed to think about it longer. But now I've decided to do it! Next year....
This was the view from our hotel room.
Finn loved it! He felt like he was in France! I just wish we'd been able to stay another night.
We had a quick, early breakfast in the light-filled enclosed stone porch. My husband and I have a longstanding love of stone spaces. Here he is with his ubiquitous green tea and lots of gorgeous stone. The breakfast was adequate, but not particularly excellent. However, the wait staff was excellent!
This was one of my favorite spaces in the house. The color of these tufted chairs is my all-time favorite shade of blue, and the Chesterfield-esque shape of them is my all-time favorite shape. Look at that fireplace! And those steel doors!
The stay itself was a little higher-priced than I would have anticipated for the actual accommodations. Our room was squeaky clean (my top requirement of any place we stay!) and comfortable, with a sweet little courtyard in the back, which we didn't get to use because we were only there for one quick night. Every other thing we needed was provided, except one. The one thing that would have truly helped bolster the stay would have been an in-room coffeemaker. Breakfast opened at 7 am, but for those of us who rise long before that and like our coffee, having it at our fingertips at 5:30am would have been really nice! It would have been particularly nice to enjoy it on our little private courtyard. Alas!
Graylyn Estate is owned by Wake Forest University, and I found myself half-hoping that Finn or Annie will choose Wake Forest one day, so that perhaps we can find an excuse to go back and stay at the Graylyn again.
Happy birthday to our blue-eyed, blonde-haired, Francophone, Spanish-speaking, artistic, musical, kind-hearted, good-natured, gem of a son.
We are now parents of a teenager! And what a wonderful teenager he is. :)
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