Michael Oppenheim

The much-anticipated Taste of Asheville Returns

Through a visionary’s lens, a modern Asheville abode strikes unexpected balance between darkness and radiance

Toxaway’s Wooden Boat Club anchors an extraordinary handcrafted tradition in leisure recreation

Throughout Western North Carolina sit dozens of public schools abandoned by time, consolidation, and changing demographics. In their heyday, they were community epicenters and veritable second homes for thousands of students. Today, some are boarded up, while others await imminent demolition and replacement by new state-of-the-art facilities. But there are also a handful of old schoolhouses tucked away in various corners of the mountains that have found new purpose as community centers, concert venues, historical beacons, and artists’ studios. Here’s a look at the past and present of eight of them.