The House of Joy

The House of Joy is your own private mountain retreat in the heart of the Appalachians. Front wheel drive and 4 wheel drive vehicles are best for navigating our mountain roads due to the steepness in some spots (read the last paragraph for more information).

There are spectacular views from the front of the spacious wrap-around deck, and soothing breezes and sitting areas on all three sides of the deck. The House of Joy is set on 40 private acres, with your own personal hiking trail that loops around the land above the cabins. The House of Joy has a huge great room with gas fireplace and giant flat screen TV (for watching movies on a streaming service or on the DVD player, no cable and no satellite), and full kitchen adjacent to it. The great room is perfect for group gatherings, with table space for 21, and additional seating on the deck. Two half baths are also on this floor.

Downstairs are four family-sized bedrooms. Each of the four bedrooms has a queen sized bed and a loft area with 3 twin mattresses for kids and teens (and youthful adults!). The lofts are accessed by "ladder-steps", and may not be safe for toddlers or the elderly. Each bedroom has access to the downstairs stone porch. Two full baths (with showers) are also downstairs, at each end of the hall.

Additional beds include a double sofa bed, and a cot. There is bed space for up to 20 people in the downstairs rooms (5 people per room), and one more person can sleep on the upstairs futon. The sofa bed and cot are extra bed-space in case you need it.

The recreation room is on the top floor, and houses various board games and a TV with DVD player.

A large fire-pit area with stone and wood-bench seating is next to the House of Joy.

A giant hillside slide is next to the fire pit, burlap bags are provided to slide on. A tether-ball pole and ball is also in this area.

Also included for your enjoyment: DVD's, books and games.

Wi-Fi is provided, but it is not high speed because that is currently not available at out mountain location. It also experiences occasional down-time. Using multiple devices at once may cause excessive lag time.

Large-screened TV only receives internet steaming services or DVD's, no cable or satellite access.

The laundry room houses a washer and dryer. Any of Mountain Top's towels used during stay need to be washed, dried and folded before departure.

The kitchen has a standard fridge and stove/oven, microwave, dishwasher, standard coffee maker, toaster, two double-sinks, and plenty of dinnerware and cookware.

No smoking is permitted inside.

There is a small window AC unit in the great room, and there is a ceiling fan in each room. The downstairs stays cool since it is partially embedded in the hillside.

The House of Joy is only open from April through mid-November each year. There is a 3 night minimum stay (Christian groups can check with us about exceptions to this for an additional fee if a shorter stay is needed).

The House of Joy is close to popular Maggie Valley and historic Waynesville, as well as the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and the Blue Ridge parkway. It takes about 45 minutes to drive to Asheville. Area activities include white water rafting, horseback riding, body flying (over a wind tunnel), fishing, hiking, shopping, gem mining, golfing, hot air ballooning and mountain biking. For more information and links to area attractions, go to (website: hidden).

The House of Joy is a special, peace-filled place. We hope you will come and experience it for yourself.

Driving tips: The last half mile leading up to the House of Joy is gravel and moderately steep. Most front-wheel drive vehicles don't have any problem if the driver doesn't drive too slow up the steeper sections, but some rear-wheel drive vehicles find they sometimes lose traction on the gravel. All-wheel-drive and 4-wheel-drive vehicles are ideal. As you are going uphill on the steeper parts of the gravel roads, it helps to keep a steady speed and not stop. If you do find you are losing traction, just stop and back up to a flatter part of the road, and try again. When you are heading back down the steeper parts of the mountain roads, make sure to keep the transmission in a lower gear in order to save wear-and-tear on your breaks.

1500 Square Feet