ROOTED IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
About Us
A family-owned, locally rooted team built on hospitality, relationships and a genuine connection to the communities we serve.
The Fernwood Collective didn’t begin with a business plan. It began with helping a friend.
Maria Gabriela Taborda, known as Gabi, first stepped into short-term rental management by helping a close friend care for his vacation rentals. What started as simply lending a hand grew naturally. Friends told friends, homeowners shared their experiences and through relationships and referrals, Fernwood gradually became the family-owned operation it is today.
That organic beginning still shapes the way we do business. We believe the best businesses are built on trust, relationships and a genuine connection to the community they serve.
From Luxury Hospitality
Local Property Care
Hospitality has been part of Gabi’s story long before Fernwood. Before calling the mountains of Western North Carolina home, Gabi gained her hospitality experience working at two of South Florida’s most recognized resorts, The Breakers Palm Beach and the Boca Raton Resort. Those experiences helped shape her understanding of hospitality: anticipating the little things, paying attention to details and making people feel genuinely welcomed and cared for.
Today, she brings that same spirit of hospitality to The Fernwood Collective, just in a much more personal and local way.
Our Community Is Our Home
Western North Carolina isn’t simply where we do business. It’s where we’re raising our families, building friendships, exploring the outdoors and putting down roots.
Gabi is a mother of two who homeschools her children while running Fernwood with her family. When she isn’t working, you’ll often find her outside enjoying the mountains, riding her mountain bike or spending time with her family.
That family-centered lifestyle has also become an important part of Fernwood’s culture. The majority of our team is made up of homeschooling mothers from our local community. We’re proud to have created opportunities for local moms to earn meaningful income, contribute their talents and be part of a growing business while maintaining the flexibility to put their families first.
When The Fernwood Collective grows, we want our community to grow with us.
Why Choose Us?
Rooted Here
We're not an out-of-town management company trying to learn Western North Carolina from a distance. This is our home. We live here, raise our families here, and genuinely care about the communities where the homes we manage are located.
Hospitality With Heart
Great hospitality is about making people feel welcome. Gabi's background in luxury hospitality influences the way we care for every home and every guest, while our small, local approach allows us to make that experience much more personal.
Supporting Local Families
Fernwood is built around people. From the moms on our team to the local contractors, service providers, and small businesses we work with, we intentionally look for opportunities to keep our business connected to and supportive of the local community
A Team That Cares
We don't simply outsource the care of our homes to the lowest bidder. We've built a local team we know and trust. We train our team, support them, and work alongside them so that everyone takes pride in the homes and guest experiences they're responsible for.
Helping Guests Experience WNC
We want guests to experience more than the home they're staying in. We want them to experience what makes Western North Carolina special, its mountains, trails, restaurants, small businesses, and communities. Every great stay is also an opportunity to introduce someone to the place we're fortunate enough to call home.
Growing Through Relationships
Fernwood was built through referrals, and we want relationships to remain at the center of the company as we grow. Our goal isn't to manage the most properties. It's to build lasting relationships with homeowners, take exceptional care of their homes, create meaningful opportunities for our team, and be a positive part of the communities we serve.
More Than Management
To us, Fernwood is about more than managing properties.
It's about caring for our neighbors' homes, creating opportunities for local families, welcoming people into our corner of the mountains, and helping guests discover the businesses, places, and people that make Western North Carolina special. We're proud to be family owned, locally rooted, and growing alongside the community we call home.