VanLandingham Estate $$

2010 The Plaza, Charlotte
704/334-8909
www.vanlandinghamestate.com [1]

COST: $150–250 per night

The estate was designed to serve as the home of local cotton baron Ralph VanLandingham and his family. He commissioned local architects Charles Christian Hook and Willard G. Rogers to design the home and paid just $6,000 for the home when it was completed in 1913. The estate remained a private home until the late 1980s.

At one point, a developer stepped in to purchase the estate with the intent of leveling the home and building condominiums. The sale was stopped and the home was instead turned into a nine-room bed-and-breakfast ($179–269 d) decorated with period furnishings.

The home retains its original architectural features, including a floor-to-ceiling fireplace, arched windows, and a wraparound stone porch. Several of the rooms have sleeping porches. A traditional Southern breakfast is served in the dining room.

The grounds are as impressive as the home and boast a total of 65 gardens within the five-acre estate. Both the gardens and the home are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.