Brevard North Carolina Real Estate Blog

Here in western North Carolina, one of the most reliable signs that spring is here and summer is close at hand has nothing to do with the blooming dogwood trees or the hummingbirds. All you have to do is take a drive up Hwy 64 west, about 20 minutes from downtown Brevard towards the Lake Toxaway area. That’s where you’ll find Eddy Hoots hard at work under the shade of the trees and alongside the chiseled mountainside, creating his chain saw carved bears.

Eddy Hoots discovered his passion for his special kind of chain saw carved bears nearly twenty years ago during a trip to Montana with his father. "They're on every corner out there and I just had to have one" he says. Hoots has been fine tuning his art form ever since and now makes a living carving bears in various locations around western North Carolina, including one of his favorites spots along Hwy.64 in Lake Toxaway during the spring and summer months.

Although he admits that sometimes there's more talking than carving going on, it can take a full day to carve even the smaller bears and many more to create the larger, more complex varieties. Even after the carving is complete, it will be a while before the bears will be ready for their new home. Experience has taught him that it can take as much as a year for the wood to season before it can move on to the finishing stage where the surface is burned to create the rich dark color. From there it's brushed, varnished, and lastly brought to life with marble eyes. It's a family affair and Eddie's wife and two children each play a part in the finishing process. Even the youngest member of the Hoots family, Eddy's 6 year-old son helps out with the varnishing.

Like any artist, Eddy is particular about the type of material he likes to work with and luckily for him, local white pine is his favorite. "Most times my wood finds me" thanks to the local builders who provide him with a constant supply of pine trees for him to work with. The soft wood is perfect for sculpting the smiling faces and all the life-like details that make Eddy's bears so irresistible.

According to Eddy, his best selling bears are the ones he's designed to hang on the side of a tree or along a porch railing. But it's the loveable, life-size bears that draw the traffic at the Lake Toxaway location. In the summer and fall months, when visitor traffic is at its peak, there's a steady flow of cars pulling into the gravel parking lot where Eddie and his bears have set up shop.

Which of the bears is Eddy's favorite? It's the one he keeps at home; the one he bought years ago on his last trip to Montana with his dad.

If you're ever up this way, traveling the mountain roads around Brevard, Boone, and Blowing Rock, keep you eyes open for North Carolina's own, Eddy Hoots and his Bear Den. Or, you can always visit Eddy and his bears online at the Bears Den.