The North Carolina Mountain Village Attracting America’s Elite for Privacy and Serenity

A Hidden Enclave in the Blue Ridge Mountains

CASHIERS, N.C. — High in the Blue Ridge Mountains, far from interstate highways and urban skylines, the unincorporated village of Cashiers has quietly evolved into one of the most exclusive residential enclaves in the United States. With a permanent population of fewer than 1,000 people and at least four billionaires among its homeowners, this small North Carolina community now ranks among the country’s densest pockets of extreme wealth.

Situated at roughly 3,500 feet above sea level and about 65 miles southwest of Asheville, Cashiers offers cool summer temperatures, dense forests, and dramatic ridgelines that have lured affluent families for generations. Its geography and limited infrastructure help preserve a sense of seclusion that remains central to its appeal, even as property values soar and new development reshapes the surrounding plateau.

A Village Without a Traditional Town Center

Unlike many upscale mountain destinations, Cashiers has no formal government structure. The village is unincorporated, meaning there is no mayor, no municipal police department, and no traditional town hall anchoring civic life. Instead, the main intersection—where North Carolina Highway 107 meets U.S. Route 64—serves as the community’s informal hub.

At this crossroads, residents and seasonal visitors converge at a modest cluster of businesses: a single supermarket locals affectionately call “Mingles,” a coffee shop, a fly-fishing outfitter, and a handful of boutiques. These low-rise buildings, framed by thick pines and rhododendrons, give little hint of the wealth tucked away on the private roads that wind into the surrounding hills. The understated commercial core underscores the community’s preference for privacy and discretion over conspicuous opulence.

Gated Clubs as Private Micro-Towns

Most of Cashiers’ high-end real estate lies behind gates in a network of private golf and lifestyle communities that radiate from the central crossroads. Developed largely since the 1980s, these clubs operate almost as self-contained micro-towns, often with their own private roads, water and sewer systems, and in some cases security services. Entry typically requires both homeownership and club membership, with initiation fees that can exceed six figures and annual dues adding thousands of dollars more.

Within these communities, residents find manicured fairways, tennis courts, croquet lawns, fitness facilities, and fine-dining venues, along with access to lakes, trails, and mountain vistas. Golf remains a central draw: courses designed by well-known architects such as Tom Fazio and Arnold Palmer are engineered to showcase the region’s steep terrain, dramatic elevation changes, and sweeping views. These amenities help explain why buyers are willing to pay premiums that far exceed the broader regional market.

Luxury Real Estate Prices Surge

Over the past several years, property values around Cashiers have climbed sharply, reflecting increased demand for secluded luxury homes in scenic locations. Average sale prices in the most exclusive communities are now measured in multiple millions of dollars, with recent data showing typical transactions well above earlier norms. Pandemic-era dynamics accelerated the trend, as wealthy buyers sought spacious, private retreats with access to nature and room for extended family stays.

Some-grabbing sales include glass-and-steel mountain estates and expansive lakefront compounds trading for eight-figure sums. Such prices would have been difficult to imagine a generation ago, when the area was still primarily a summer refuge for regional families rather than a national destination for high-net-worth buyers. The rapid appreciation has tightened inventory, extended club waiting lists, and pushed entry costs higher for newcomers.

Billionaires Blending Into the Pines

The presence of billionaires and major corporate figures in such a small community sets Cashiers apart even within the broader world of luxury mountain resorts. Yet residents and longtime developers often emphasize the area’s “low-key” culture. Here, the preferred social currency is privacy rather than status symbols. Wealthy homeowners, including prominent financiers, industrial heirs, and technology executives, often describe being drawn to Cashiers precisely because they can move about largely undisturbed.

Stories circulate of ultra-wealthy residents driving aging pickup trucks or slipping into local pizza parlors and cafés without attracting special attention. The social environment leans more toward family barbecues, golf matches, and quiet evenings on screened porches than red-carpet galas or paparazzi-lined events. That ethos helps sustain a delicate balance: Cashiers offers elite-level amenities without the overt spectacle found in some high-profile resort towns.

Historical Roots of an Elite Retreat

Cashiers’ modern identity as a discreet enclave for the affluent has roots stretching back to the 19th century. In the post–Civil War era, Confederate general Wade Hampton III chose the area for a summer lodge, seeking relief from the heat and humidity of the lowlands. His presence helped put the remote valley on the map for other wealthy Southerners looking for mountain air and privacy, establishing a pattern of seasonal migration that continues today.

In the 1920s, the McKee family expanded on this legacy by developing High Hampton Inn near the site of the original Hampton lodge. The inn, with its rustic architectural style and emphasis on outdoor recreation, became a cornerstone of an emerging summer colony that drew prosperous families from across the Southeast. Over time, additional lodges and clubs appeared on the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau, reinforcing the region’s reputation as a quiet but exclusive refuge.

The Highlands-Cashiers Plateau as a Regional Anchor

Cashiers does not exist in isolation. It shares the approximately 25-mile Highlands-Cashiers Plateau with the nearby town of Highlands, which offers its own array of upscale hotels, restaurants, and boutiques. Together, the two communities form a compact mountain corridor that attracts visitors and second-home owners from Atlanta, Charlotte, and other Southeastern cities, as well as from farther afield.

Highlands provides a somewhat more visible commercial and cultural center, with art galleries, fine-dining establishments, and luxury accommodations that complement Cashiers’ more understated profile. Many homeowners split their time between properties in different clubs or move freely between the two towns for dining, shopping, and social events, creating a tightly knit, high-end regional ecosystem.

Discovery Land, Renovations, and a New Wave of Buyers

The character of Cashiers subtly shifted in the early 2000s with the arrival of Discovery Land Co., a high-end developer known for blending private golf clubs with extensive family-oriented amenities. Its Mountaintop Golf & Lake Club introduced a model reminiscent of ultra-exclusive resorts in the Rockies and the West, such as private clubs in Montana and elsewhere. This project broadened Cashiers’ appeal beyond its traditional Southeast base to include families from Ohio, Texas, California, New York, and other states.

The 2017 renovation of High Hampton Inn by operators with experience in luxury hospitality further raised the region’s profile. By modernizing accommodations and amenities while preserving the property’s historic charm, the project drew a new generation of upscale travelers and prospective homeowners. These developments, layered onto existing clubs and legacy properties, helped transform Cashiers from a largely regional secret into a destination of national interest among affluent buyers.

Economic Impact and Local Trade-Offs

The influx of wealth has had a profound economic impact on the Cashiers area. High-end home construction, renovation projects, landscaping, club operations, retail, and hospitality jobs all depend heavily on seasonal and part-time residents. Local workers staff restaurants, boutiques, maintenance crews, and service operations that cater to this population. For many businesses, the summer and fall seasons, when the plateau is busiest, are essential to staying afloat.

At the same time, the region’s economic model presents trade-offs for full-time residents. Rising property values and rents have made it more difficult for workers in retail, food service, and other modestly paid sectors to live close to their jobs. Many now commute from surrounding towns, sometimes driving more than half an hour along winding, two-lane mountain roads. While the traffic, especially during peak season, is a frequent complaint, the jobs and customer spending tied to the tourism and second-home economy are widely seen as vital to local livelihoods.

Housing Pressures and Infrastructure Strain

As demand for high-end homes and club memberships has surged, available housing for middle-income and working-class residents has become increasingly scarce. The prevalence of second homes and short-term rentals, combined with limited developable land in steep or environmentally sensitive areas, constrains the supply of more affordable units. Employers in hospitality and services sometimes struggle to recruit and retain staff due to transportation and housing challenges.

Infrastructure also feels the strain. Narrow mountain roads can become congested during the summer and holiday periods, lengthening commutes and complicating emergency responses. Some private clubs maintain their own road networks and infrastructure, reducing direct pressure on public systems but reinforcing a spatial divide between gated communities and the broader region. Balancing the needs of year-round residents with those of seasonal homeowners has become an ongoing policy and planning question, despite the absence of a formal municipal government.

Choosing Philanthropy Over Incorporation

In 2003, residents debated whether to incorporate Cashiers as a town, a move that would have created a formal municipal government with the power to levy taxes and regulate land use more directly. Voters ultimately rejected the proposal, reflecting concerns about higher taxes, increased bureaucracy, and potential changes to the community’s character. The decision cemented an unusual arrangement for a place with such high property values and significant economic activity.

Instead of relying on municipal tax revenues, many local institutions depend on private philanthropy and community partnerships. Wealthy residents and charitable organizations help support a charter school, a library, and a volunteer fire department. This model allows donors to target specific projects and maintain the village’s unincorporated status, though it also raises questions about long-term sustainability and equity, particularly if donor priorities shift over time.

Preserving Character Through Community Action

Cashiers’ residents have occasionally taken collective action to shape development in ways that protect the village’s understated aesthetic. When plans emerged for a budget hotel at the main intersection roughly two decades ago, community leaders and donors moved to purchase the land. They converted the site into the Village Green, a park-like space with walking paths and gardens that buffers the commercial core and maintains a tranquil, small-town atmosphere.

This episode illustrates how informal governance, backed by private wealth, can substitute for traditional zoning or land-use regulation. Rather than pass ordinances or rely on a city council, local stakeholders used their financial resources to steer growth toward uses they deemed compatible with Cashiers’ identity as a quiet mountain retreat. Similar dynamics continue to shape decisions about new hospitality projects, residential expansions, and public spaces.

Social Life: Low-Key Affluence and Shared Traditions

Despite the concentration of wealth, everyday life in Cashiers often revolves around simple, communal activities. Residents describe a culture that values informality: golf attire doubles as dinner wear, and social hierarchies are intentionally muted. Pro golfers, executives, and multigenerational families cross paths at local coffee shops, pizzerias, and hardware stores with little fanfare.

Seasonal events play a central role in reinforcing a sense of shared identity. A July Fourth celebration, complete with barbecue, patriotic songs, and even mini-cannon salutes, brings together both long-time locals and newcomers. These gatherings help knit together a community that might otherwise be fragmented by club affiliations and income disparities, emphasizing a shared appreciation for the mountain setting and the slower pace it encourages.

Regional Comparisons: Cashiers Among Elite U.S. Retreats

Cashiers is part of a broader national pattern in which affluent Americans cluster in scenic, low-density destinations that offer both natural beauty and anonymity. Other examples include resort towns in the Rockies, coastal enclaves in the Northeast, and lakeside communities in the Midwest. Many share common traits: limited year-round populations, strong seasonal economies, high housing costs, and a dependence on service workers who often commute from farther away.

What distinguishes Cashiers is the combination of its small scale, its unusually high concentration of ultra-wealthy residents, and its unincorporated status. While mountain destinations in Colorado or Montana may attract international attention and large tourist flows, Cashiers maintains a quieter profile, appealing to those who prioritize privacy over publicity. The region’s cultural roots in the Southeast and its legacy as a multigenerational summer colony also set it apart from newer, more transient luxury markets.

Balancing Privacy, Growth, and the Future

As demand for secluded, high-end mountain living shows little sign of abating, Cashiers faces a series of intertwined questions about growth, accessibility, and identity. Developers are exploring new projects designed to offer additional housing and hospitality options while preserving the area’s natural beauty and low-key character. Club initiation fees and membership caps, meanwhile, serve as informal brakes on rapid expansion, keeping the community’s scale relatively contained.

Long-time residents often express a desire for the village to remain as unchanged as possible, even as they acknowledge that growth is inevitable. The challenge lies in managing that evolution in a way that sustains both the region’s environmental assets and its economic vitality. For now, Cashiers continues to walk a narrow line: a mountain sanctuary where billionaires can blend into the pines, hospitality workers can find seasonal employment, and a small crossroads in western North Carolina can exert an outsized pull on the nation’s elite.