Stay in our "quiet, happy place"
Turtle's House
near Banner Elk and Valle Crucis

Take a break from the grid and relax in a comfortable cabin located on an old family farm the quiet Matney/Shawneehaw Community surrounded by fields and forest. Just off the scenic By-way, Winding Stair Gap (HWY 194) between historic Valle Crucis and the town of Banner Elk. Perfect for families, bicyclist, hikers, dogs, skiers, or just a weekend getaway.

Turtle's house was originally constructed by C,O. Matney for his new wife Rosie in the early 1940's. This house was recently rennovated to repair the structure and make necessary improvements updating the house from the1940 version but we took care to safe one of the original sided walls in the laundry room, and the original plank ceiling in the kitchen area.

Bedroom 1

The end bedroom is especially enjoyable in the warmer months as it has two windows, one facing the forest and the other opening into the porch. This room is amazing for sleep if you enjoy the sounds of nature, rainy nights, crickets and a cool mountain breeze or if you close the windows, the ceiling fan stirs the air just enough. In the winter, the room is cozy with a deep bed, quilts, and warm blankets. The heat is electric and dedicated to just the room so you can set it for as warm or cool as you wish. In the snow, there is a nice view of the forest out the side window.

The room is small and furnished with a deep "softer" queen mattress. The headboard is a reclaimed door from the original house so its pretty special and unusual. There is a closet for clothing storage and a dressing chair available in the room. While this bedroom is small as most rooms were when the house was built, it is comfortable and pleasant.

Bedroom 2

The center bedroom is a peaceful retreat. The window allows the summer breeze and night sounds in if you wish. There is a ceiling fan to stir the air year round and the heat for this room is electric and dedicated to this room so you can set if as you wish.

The bed in this room is a firm queen mattress in a brass bed. The room is small and offers a full closet for storage of clothing and luggage.

The center bedroom is small as the house was built in 1941 when beds and rooms were smaller. The room is pleasant and comfortable with just enough space and plenty of blanket and quilts. Our pillows are basic so if you are particular you may want to bring your favorite.

Common Spaces

The Common Space Is a shared space of the kitchen, dining and living room area. It's arrangement is flexible to allow for the individual needs of our guests and their families. The common area allows extra sleeping accomodations in a sofa that has double recliners, a seperate recliner, and a foldaway single bed which is stored in the laundry room when not in use. A flatscreen TV and DVD player are provided in this space for rainy, or cold days when guests might be inside.

All of the furniture has sliders on the feet so that It can be moved easily to accodate sleeping arrangements without damaging the floor.

The absolute best part of our common area are the porches. There is a small porch near the road which allows a sunny view of fields and and stream in a rocking chair, The porch is awsome. There is room for an outside meal, or just hanging out in the private space of the back yard near the firepit. Both porches have a step or two up. The back porch is designed so that the baby gate we provide will allow small children or dogs to utilize the porch with out getting down into the yard. This porch is awesome at all times of the year whether watching the snowfall with cocoa or sitting out with fireflies or a good book in warmer weather.

Kitchen

Our kitchen is fully equipped with new appliances and cookware necessary for preparing a small and simple meal or snacks. Check our special info and area attractions page for a listing of grocery and specialty stores in the area for your shopping convenience.

Our kitchen is a "simple and basic" because it is utilized by a wonderful variety of guests who are generally extermely considerate of others. We encourage you to make yourself at home and treat "Turtle's" kitchen as you would your own. You are welcome to use any of the appliances, cookware, dishes and basic pantry as needed. Generally our guests are very considerate in the kitchen and follow the golden rule, "Leave it as you find it". for the next guest.

Many guests who find themselves with food at the end of their stay donate unopened prepackaged food to the "pantry" for other guests to enjoy if they do not wish to take it with them. Feel free to leave items on the counter or in the fridge, and if you find such items and wish to enjoy them as a special treat, by all means . Enjoy!

Breakfast

We offer a Mr. Coffee style coffee maker and plenty of regular grind coffee, cream, and a variety of sweetners...along with a small variety of tea. The best news is the water is deep well water that is sweet and pure. No need for bottled water here. You may want to bring your own bottle and take some home with you.

We do offer the ingredients for s'mores along with the sticks to make your own during the late spring, summer, and early fall when the fire pit is open,

TV

Local Television is unavailale in this area. Cable is not available and Digital Reception is very poor. There is a wide screen TV with a DVD player if you wish to rent or bring your own DVDS. What we lack in TV, we more than make up for in fireflies and stargazing!