About TCN

About The Compleat Naturalist
The Compleat Naturalist nature store and wildlife art gallery was founded in 1992 in Historic Biltmore Village, Asheville, North Carolina, by Hal and Laura Mahan. Both are professional naturalists with extensive backgrounds in natural history museums and science education. Hal served as director of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and the San Diego Natural History Museum, and was the first president of the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History. He has a Ph.D. in Zoology (ornithology). Laura is former head of education at both the Cleveland and San Diego museums, and has an M.S. in Biology (botany and plant ecology). She also served as an interpretive naturalist for several years with the Cleveland Metroparks System.

Our store carries merchandise relating to all fields of nature study: birds, botany, astronomy, entomology, geology, mineralogy, anthropology, and paleontology. In addition to our retail activities, The Compleat Naturalist satisfies a strong educational mission by offering a variety of classes and field trips.

We believe that a lifelong interest in natural history can profoundly change a person's life, providing fascinating worlds to explore wherever one goes and whatever one's level of expertise. (Right: Laura teaches a field class on identifying wildflowers at Craggy Gardens on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Asheville.)

Visit us in Asheville's Historic Biltmore Village (www.biltmorevillage.com) at the intersection of Hwy. 25A (Brook Street) and Kitchen Place, across the street from La Paz Restaurante and next to the Biltmore Depot Restaurant. Our address is 2 Brook Street. Free parking is available all along Brook Street and in the lot across the street and other streets of Biltmore Village.

STORE HOURS:
Monday-Saturday
10:00 am - 6:00 pm

Construction News:
Please pardon the mess! If you have visited us lately, you may have noticed the large new building which is nearly completed (just to the right of the picture). This is a major new retail complex that will house stores such as Williams-Sonoma, Talbot's, Chico's, J. Crew, and Coldwater Creek. Plenty of free parking will be available under the building. Completion is scheduled for early April, 2008, with a Grand Opening on April 10.

We are also excited to welcome a new neighbor, The Jazzy Giraffe, which will open soon in the cottage just to the right of our store. They plan to open shortly after April 1.