Saluda Realty & Construction

Like many businesses, Saluda Realty and Construction started modestly.

After a long career in the construction business, following the construction trade of his father and grandfather, Roy Eargle moved to Saluda in 1981 to retire. But driven men must persevere. So Eargle got his N.C. real estate and General Contractor's licenses and went to work buying property and building homes. Roy's son, Grier, started in the family business in 1987. Soon, they were building in subdivisions in and around Henderson and Polk counties and buying little used commercial property in downtown Saluda. With their combined business acumen and construction knowledge, the business flourished.

Not only was Saluda attractive to Roy Eargle for his retirement, but it was and continues to be appealing to a host of others as well. The beautiful rolling hills and spectacular views, coupled with the proximity to larger towns, make it a perfect location for a second home. In fact, Saluda now enjoys the triple market of second homebuyers, commuters and retirees. Its nearness to larger towns like Asheville, Charlotte and Greenville/Spartanburg means that people can either easily escape from the city to a mountain retreat or take advantage of the larger towns' entertainment and shopping resources with little inconvenience.

As the Eargles' business grew, they also noticed a growing demand for log homes. As chance would have it, one of Roy's high school friends was the founder of Columbia-based Southland Log Homes. It didn't take long for Saluda to sport a beautiful model log home and become an authorized Southland Log Home dealer. Southland has name recognition and is considered on the forefront in the log home industry. Although Saluda Realty and Construction is happy to build stick homes, 90 percent of its business comes from building the old-fashioned way: with logs.