Sunnybank, Hot Springs NC

This old inn dates back to 1840. In 1875 the old building was expanded and rebuilt in the ornate Italianate style, serving as a summer home. It later became a boarding house, and was owned by the Gentry family for over fifty years. Jane Gentry was a musician and folklorist, who taught the visiting Cecil Sharpe many old ballads for his book English Folk Songs of the Southern Appalachians.
Earl Shaffer, the first thruhiker, stayed here in 1948. Thousands of hikers followed, including Elmer Hall, who bought it in 1978 and has run it ever since, as a combined hostel, B&B, and Buddhist retreat.