History of Taylor Land & Cattle Company

Well, these neighbors have been in the western North Carolina area for four generations.  Walter P. Taylor (Bill's father) was born in 1910 on Grove Street in Asheville, NC.  Walter's father inherited the family business in Cincinnati which originally was a manufacturer of fire brick and fine pottery in Manchester, England.  They came to Asheville in 1908 when lumber was big business in Western North Carolina.  Bill's grand-father started the Citizens Lumber Co. in Biltmore which prospered enough to allow them to purchase 11 acres in Biltmore Forest, adjoining the Biltmore Estate where they built their dream home.  Times were good. His grandfather invested heavily in the Grove Arcade Building, buying the plans which originally was meant to be an indoor shopping mall (and today, by coincidence, is an indoor shopping mall).   Then, in 1929, the real estate bust in Florida made its way to Asheville and his grandfather lost all of his holdings, including the Grove Arcade Building. Times turned tough.  Walter, Bill's dad, learned what a real estate bust meant and passed down those lessons to his children.  

Since that time, the Taylor family has been going strong and steady for years. W.B. "Bill" Taylor, current patriarch of Taylor Land & Cattle Company, has been in these parts for over 40 years. His mother's family owned what is currently known as Taylor Ranch in Fletcher, NC. Several years ago Bill bought 30 acres from his mother's family. Over the years he would keeping buying land that was contiguous to his from relatives, adding to the original 30 acres, while running a longhorn cattle and horse ranch.  Eventually, he turned Taylor Ranch into a premier outdoor event venue, the first of its kind in the area and operating today.  Bill remembers a time when 40 acres beside Taylor Ranch was up for sale and an outside developer was going to buy it.  Bill bought it in order to maintain the land and not have it turned into small lots dotted with houses. Eventually, he bought so much land he couldn't afford to just hold on to it so he kept what he could and started developing it but his kind of development was different.  He divided the acres into large tracts and put into place conservation easements at a time when "conservation" had not yet become a popular buzzword and at a time when being "green" was not in the mainstream. And, just like that, Bill says, "we became developers."

Today, Taylor Land & Cattle Company, has become an impressive family business offering diverse services - grading, real estate, event venue and is still a longhorn cattle and horse ranch (yes, the beef is for sale and it's good!).  The family business involves his daughter, Ashley in the Taylor Ranch event management and his son, Billy, managing Taylor Land & Cattle Company.  Central to all of its businesses, however, is the legacy of land stewardship, maintaining the natural flora, fauna, and topography of the land for future generations.