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imageFlat Top Manor as viewed from Bass Lake

Flat Top Manor as viewed from Bass Lake

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This is Flat Top Manor as viewed from Bass Lake in the Moses H. Cone Memorial Park. This was the house of Linda and Moses Cone. Moses Cone was renowned for his achievements in the textile business. He was industrious and business-savvy but treated even his lowliest employees with respect. Cone acquired 3,500 acres in two tracts to build his estate. He constructed the white mansion seen here, along with three lakes stocked with fish and a sprawling network of carriage trails. When Bertha Cone died, she donated the estate to the Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital in Greensboro, which later donated the estate to the U.S. Government.

The estate, now a park, is a treat for tourists on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Visitors can enjoy local crafts, which are displayed inside the house. They can walk or ride horses up the many carriage trails, or they can hike the many footpaths that crisscross the park, including one that goes to a tall tower from which there is a panoramic view.