Hound Ears is one of the High Country’s best-known gated mountain communities, located along Shulls Mill Road between Boone, Blowing Rock and Banner Elk.
It’s known for its golf course and private club, but that’s only part of the story. Hound Ears also has an unusually broad mix of real estate, a central location between several of the High Country’s most popular towns, and one important distinction that can be confusing at first:
Owning property in Hound Ears and joining Hound Ears Club are not the same thing.
If Hound Ears has made its way onto your home-search list, here are a few things worth knowing.
Hound Ears Isn’t Just One Kind of Property
Hound Ears was established in the 1960s along Shulls Mill Road between Boone, Blowing Rock and Banner Elk.
Because the community has developed over many decades, buyers can find quite a range of properties here.
That may include condos and smaller mountain getaways, older homes with plenty of character, substantially renovated properties, and larger luxury homes with long-range mountain views.
In other words, “Hound Ears” doesn’t automatically mean one particular price point or style of home.
For some buyers, it may work as a relatively low-maintenance second-home location. Others are looking for a full-time mountain residence or a larger property with room for family and guests.
That variety is one of the things we think makes Hound Ears particularly interesting.
Do You Have to Join Hound Ears Club?
This is probably the biggest source of confusion for buyers.
Purchasing a home or condo in Hound Ears does not necessarily mean that you are purchasing a Club membership.
Hound Ears Club is a private club offering amenities that include golf, dining, fitness, swimming, tennis and pickleball, along with additional recreational and social activities.
Membership options are separate from the purchase of real estate, so it’s important to look at the current Club information and determine whether membership is something you actually want.
That can make Hound Ears appealing even to buyers who love the location and community but aren’t necessarily looking for a traditional country-club lifestyle.
It’s also why we recommend verifying the amenities and membership rights associated with the particular property you’re considering rather than relying on a real estate listing’s generic amenity list.
The Location Is Better Than Many Buyers Realize
One of Hound Ears’ biggest advantages may simply be where it sits.
The community is located along Shulls Mill Road, with relatively convenient access to:
- Boone
- Blowing Rock
- Banner Elk
- Valle Crucis
- Grandfather Mountain
- the Blue Ridge Parkway
- area ski resorts and hiking
That can be especially attractive for second-home buyers who enjoy several different parts of the High Country.
You don’t necessarily have to decide, “Are we Boone people or Blowing Rock people or Banner Elk people?”
From Hound Ears, you can be a little bit of all three.
Homes in Hound Ears Can Feel Very Different From One Another
This is another reason we don’t think Hound Ears should be treated as one uniform neighborhood.
Elevation, views, lot position, age of construction, renovations and even driveway access can vary considerably from one property to another.
You might tour one home with a classic 1970s mountain-house feel and another that has been completely transformed into a modern luxury property.
Some properties emphasize long-range views. Others feel tucked into the woods. Some offer easier year-round access than others.
For buyers coming from outside the mountains, those differences can matter every bit as much as square footage or bedroom count.
What Should Buyers Pay Attention to?
When comparing homes or condos in Hound Ears, we’d look beyond price and bedrooms and consider things such as:
- location within the community
- driveway and road access
- elevation
- mountain or golf-course views
- age and extent of renovations
- association fees and responsibilities
- whether the property is intended primarily for full-time or seasonal use
- current rental rules, if rental income matters to you
- which amenities require separate Club membership
Those are the kinds of details that can make two seemingly similar Hound Ears properties function very differently for the buyer who eventually owns them.
A Little Hound Ears History
There’s also a fun bit of history behind the name.
The community began as Hound Ears Golf and Ski Club in 1964, and according to Hound Ears Club’s history, the distinctive name came from nearby rock formations that resembled a pair of hound ears.
The surrounding Shulls Mill area has an even older High Country story. It was once an important lumber community and stop along the East Tennessee & Western North Carolina Railroad — the line most people around here know simply as Tweetsie.
That combination of old mountain history and mid-century resort development is part of what gives this area such a different feel from some of the High Country’s newer planned communities.
Is Hound Ears Right for You?
It really depends on what you want from a mountain home.
If your priorities include a gated community, a central High Country location, a variety of property styles and the option of a private-club lifestyle, Hound Ears is certainly worth exploring.
But it’s also a community where understanding the individual property matters.
We’d rather help a buyer figure out whether Hound Ears actually fits than simply say, “It has a golf course, therefore you’ll love it.”
Because—as with most things in the mountains—the interesting part is usually in the details.
[See current Hound Ears homes and condos for sale →]