BESSIE’S

This house was built by a Cherokee woman and her husband. The original house was located beyond the well where a rock wall can still be seen. They lived there while this house was completed. After he died, she continued to live here until she passed.

You might notice several of the light switches are lower than usual. Bessie was less than five feet tall. She used the back room as, what she termed, her Indian kitchen. It had a wood cook stove which she preferred. Her granddaughter upgraded the current kitchen but Bessie called it the White kitchen and continued using the one in the back. She always had a large garden on the flat to the right of the carport and used the rock BBQ pit to can her vegetables.

I can remember many times seeing her walk up and down the road looking for her sons. If I stopped, she would only speak to me in Cherokee. I was convinced she didn’t speak English until my wife remarked she just didn’t speak English to me.

We call this house Bessie’s in remembrance of her.

OVERVIEW
You can enjoy 600 feet of flat creek frontage and a large expanse of grass with no neighbors. There are both front and back porches, a large fire pit with firewood, charcoal grill and picnic table in the back yard. Benches and a swing are overlooking the creek for quiet times. The house has 2 bedrooms and one bath. One bedroom has a queen bed and the other 2 twins. There is a full size pull out sofa in the back room. The living room has a reclining sofa and love seat and the back den a love seat, rocker and table desk. Both rooms have WiFi, TV with independent Netflix and ROKU operation with a DVD and VHS player in the den. The kitchen is stocked with the usual items including Keurig, drip and percolator coffee pots, microwave and dishwasher. Linens, paper goods and soap are furnished. Washer and dryer are off of the den.
This house is located on the lower end of Little Snowbird creek about 8 miles west of town. The approach road is paved and the driveway is hard packed gravel with an adjacent carport. There is parking both on the driveway and above the house.
The area offers boating at Santelelah Lake, the scenic Cherohala Skyway, The Tail of the Dragon with its many curves, for motorcycle enthusiasts, hiking the many trails in and around Joyce Kilmer National Forest. There is rafting and kayaking on the Nantahala river and of course great trout fishing on several creeks in the area. Fishing license can be bought online.
It's recommended that groceries be purchased before arriving to save a trip back to town. Additionally, this is a dry county so any alcoholic beverages need to be brought in.