They decided they wanted to open their own salt cave, but weren't sure where. The two were originally from New Jersey, but their daughter Jodie lived and worked in Greenville as a massage therapist at her own practice. When they brought up the idea of a salt cave, Jodie immediately suggested Asheville.

“As a family,” Beth said, “we began to look for a building in Asheville that would be suitable, and began researching how to build a manmade cave.”

After two years of hard work, Beth and Neal finally found the perfect location on Eagle Street to create their very own Asheville Salt Cave. They also found the perfect builder from Greece who built caves using Polish salt from three different mines.

Work began in February of 2012 and the salt cave was open for business that September. But that “perfect” builder they found turned out to be far less than.

He didn’t want to follow the electric rules and regulations for building the cave. “The builder hired a local contractor finally but failed to pay him the money for the work done on the project,” Beth said.

This meant that Beth and Neal had to pay the bill for the local contractor and have since been trying to collect from the builder for the past 6 years. 

“We have a paper trail, though,” Beth added, “so if he tries to come back to the United States to build another cave, we can have him arrested.”

Even with that financial struggle, Beth and Neal are tremendously proud of what they were able to create with the Asheville Salt Cave.

“Our manmade cave is the only one of its kind in the United States,” Beth said. 

It’s actually the only manmade salt cave in the United States that contains only wood, water, salt and rock. 

“Our cave is also maintained at a constant temperature and humidity,” she continued, “and it’s growing and sustainable.” This is because two water features that contain sole — a concentrated solution of water and salt — literally feed the cave.

Asheville Salt Cave started out with only one full-time employee and two part-time employees, but now has grown to 3 full-time employees and 15 part-timers. Guests can now also choose to have a massage in one of the two on-site massage rooms.

Neal currently does not use his inhaler and Beth said she no longer suffers from frequent migraines — and they owe it all to the benefits of their salt cave. 

"People with all types of respiratory conditions, skin conditions, headaches and a multitude of other ailments may see improvement by visiting the cave on a regular basis," Beth explained. She even said children who frequent the salt cave may build up their immune system.

“We are part of special and unique community here in Asheville,” Beth said.

As a local family owned and operated business, Beth said they support other local businesses in the community and hope they return the favor. 

Check out the Asheville Salt Cave Dig Local page for unique pricing for 45-minute sessions in the salt cave, as well as special deals from their salt market and online store.