Southcliff

Southcliff is a gated community of about 400 acres on the mountainside above Fairview, in southeastern Buncombe County off US 74A, the Charlotte Highway. Heading east from Asheville, the entrance is about 3.5 miles past the Blue Ridge Parkway interchange. More than 175 acres are set aside as permanent green space, and the community's own trail network runs over 6 miles through it, with picnic areas, an open-air pavilion, communal fire pits and a treehouse playground. The gatehouse is staffed around the clock.

Homes here are custom single-family builds, mainly Arts and Crafts and mountain-contemporary designs, most constructed from 2007 onward. Lots vary widely: wooded parcels under an acre in the lower sections and estate sites of 2 to 5 acres higher up. The upper Clifftop Estates section sits at roughly 3,500 feet, high enough for long-range views. Fairview itself is an unincorporated census-designated place of about 2,800 people, 11 miles southeast of downtown Asheville along the road toward Lake Lure, so owners pay Buncombe County taxes without a municipal layer.