Sapphire and Sapphire Valley

Sapphire Valley lies along US 64 about eight and a half miles east of Cashiers. The valley floor sits near 3,200 feet, lower than Highlands or Cashiers, and the resort land is mostly in Jackson County, with the Transylvania County line on its eastern side toward Lake Toxaway. The Fairfield Inn opened in the late 1890s, and the resort era never really stopped: the Sapphire Valley Golf Club's George Cobb course opened in 1956, ski slopes were cleared in 1966, Realtec assembled 5,700 acres in 1971, and Fairfield Communities took over in 1980 and finished the Holly Forest course in 1982.

Two organizations came out of that history. The Country Club of Sapphire Valley, sold to its members in 1983, is a private club on the Cobb course. The rest of the resort's amenities, including the lakes, the tennis center, ski slope, pools and recreation building, were deeded to the Sapphire Valley Master Association in 1993, and owners in the association's neighborhoods pay dues for access. Housing is more varied than in the gated clubs to the west: condominiums and townhomes near the resort core, and single-family homes and lots on the ridges above.