Sugar Grove offers quiet and secluded High Country living
Situated in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains, Sugar Grove began as a farming community where sugar maples grew naturally before attracting city dwellers to its quiet, country atmosphere. “These historic towns are full of large tracts of land that have been in families for generations, but Sugar Grove is becoming a second-home community for Raleigh and Charlotte folks,” says Jonathan Lehman, a local broker with Keller Williams who has lived in the area for 25 years. “Also in the mix are full-time families that make up the town, work there and send their kids to the schools there.” In addition to having top-rated schools, Sugar Grove’s mountainous landscape lends itself to several hiking areas, some unmarked and some marked by Watauga County.
Sugar Grove was established in 1837 when the town received a post office and features landmarks listed on the National Register of Historic Places. “Old Cove Creek School was built in the 1930s and has a really cool old gym in it,” Lehman says. The Ben Farthing Farm has a bungalow built in 1923, a barn built in 1935, as well as an outhouse and mountainside cellar. The Ward Family House is another small-town attraction, boasting Queen Anne architecture from 1897.
Valle Crucis Community Park and the Watauga River provide outdoor fun
Part of Sugar Grove’s history can be found at Old Cove Creek School, a former school built by the Works Progress Authority. The Collegiate Gothic stone building now houses a recreational gymnasium, popular for intramural basketball games and amateur wrestling matches. Across the street, there’s a playground, an athletic field, basketball and tennis courts and a paved walking path. On Sugar Grove’s south side, Valle Crucis Community Park is a larger, more frequented park. The 28-acre area offers a one-mile paved trail along Watauga River, different playgrounds for younger and older children, a basketball court and a gazebo that’s popular for weddings and other events. “It’s amazing and 100% built with private money,” Lehman says. “Every Friday night in the summer, they have live music there. There will be 1,000 to 1,500 people from all over the area that come out.”
The Watauga River runs through the town, lending itself to fly fishing and kayaking. There are marked and unmarked access points where residents can sit on both rocky and sandy beach areas that kiss the calm parts of the river, as well as hike the trails along the water.
Sugar Grove features quaint cottages and custom log cabins
Winding marked and unmarked two-lane roads weave throughout Sugar Grove, branching off into narrow backroads that bend through the mountains and wooded landscape. Quaint ranch-styles and cottage bungalows, built between 1960 and 1980, offer pastoral views and usually sit on an acre or two. Some of these 1,000- to 1,500-square-foot properties feature attached garages and wide front porches, and price tags can range from $290,000 to $400,000. Larger, custom-built log cabins and other Mountain Architecture homes offer multi-level living with Grandfather Mountain views or wooded privacy. These 3,500- to 4,500-square-foot properties might feature vaulted ceilings, stone facades, wooden interiors and two- to three-level wrap-around entertainment balconies. Most of these spacious Craftsman- and contemporary-style cabins sit on two to five acres and cost anywhere from $890,000 to $2 million. “In this western Watauga area, you have a mix of full-time residents and second homeowners who build custom homes,” Lehman says. “There are a lot of tracts of land for purchase, too.” Buyers can look to spend from around $30,000 for less than an acre to $1.5 million for 30 acres of land.
Students can attend Watauga County Schools and nearby App State
Watauga County Schools, which receives an A rating from Niche, serves students living in Sugar Grove. “The school district is usually in the top 3 out of the 100 counties in our state every year,” Lehman says. Learners can begin at Valle Crucis School, a kindergarten through eighth-grade institution, before advancing to Watauga High School, both of which hold an A-minus. The high school also offers a virtual Watauga Innovation Academy and more than 35 student clubs, including service-focused programs like Future Fire and EMS Club and Mountain Alliance.
Students can continue their education about 5 miles east, where Appalachian State University enrolls about 20,000 undergraduate and graduate learners each year. The public university, founded in 1899, goes by the nickname App State and recently received a Research 2 Designation.
Local country markets and downtown eateries line Highway 321
U.S. Route 321, or Highway 321, is Sugar Grove’s main artery, providing access to local convenient stops and busier retail areas. Cove Creek Store is an old-school community market with a variety of items, from gas and groceries to home goods and hardware. The convenience store also has a bakery that offers both wholesale baked goods and individual servings, as well as a grill that prepares made-to-order sandwiches, burgers and barbeque platters. On the west side of town, near the Tennessee border, Stone Mountain General Store is another small country market with a wide array of items. About 5 miles east of town along Highway 321, Boone’s downtown features popular eateries and breweries. The Local serves upscale American fare, and Lost Province offers craft beers and wood-fired pizza. Dan’l Boone Inn Restaurant is a community staple, with family-style Southern cuisine inside a former inn.
Commuters can use Highway 321 to get around the High Country
Sugar Grove residents can take Highway 321 all the way to Charlotte, about 110 miles away. The major North Carolina city is also where the near airport is located. “Charlotte Douglas International Airport is our main hub,” Lehman says. “But it’s about a two-hour drive.” While no public train or bus system services this car-dependent community, the Appalachian Campus Area Rapid Transit, or AppalCART, serves the neighboring Boone area.
Jonathan Lehman has made his home in the High Country for 20 years. He has two children, ages 18 and 15. When they are not working in Real Estate, Jonathan enjoys time hiking and canoeing in the High Country. A 1992 and 1999 graduate of Wake Forest University, Jonathan has the experience necessary to help you with your High Country Real Estate transaction. In 1999, Jonathan started in the Real Estate business in a family firm in Lexington, NC where he was supervised by a former Chairman of the NC Real Estate Commission.
At the start of his career, he learned the correct ways to conduct his real estate practice. The highest degree of integrity and skill is the hallmark of Jonathan’s approach to business. Working in residential transactions, as well as commercial leasing and development with training in home building, Jonathan brings a wide range of skills and abilities to assist with your real estate needs. Since moving to the High Country in 2003, Jonathan has been involved in both general brokerage and on-site sales of vacation homes, attaining the GRI (Graduate of the Realtor Institute) designation in 2012. With 25 years of Brokerage experience, he has the skills, experience, and drive for results to get the job done for his clients.
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