The Village of Cliffside

The Village of Cliffside was conceived a century ago by Raleigh Rutherford Haynes, a 19th century Southern textile pioneer and visionary. Mr. Haynes built a great textile empire and surrounding village on a horseshoe bend of the meandering Broad River at the Foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina. He appropriately named his town Cliffside in reflection of the terrain surrounding the village.

For three quarters of a century, the village flourished, as a living/working self-contained way of life. In the later part of the 20th century, a corporate decision was made to discontinue the business of textile-owned real estate, and, seemingly, overnight, Cliffside, as a village, was no more.

Presently, well into the 21st century, across the nation, people of vision are reflecting on the principles used a century ago for community development. There is a growing desire for families to live close to neighbors and become friends, to relearn the art of “Front Porch Sitting,” to revive their souls with a stroll down Main Street or the river’s edge, and for children of all ages to experience the thrill of catching “lightnin’ bugs” on a lazy summer evening.

Thus is the concept for : The Village of Cliffside