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Mountaintop Retreat
Cashiers, North Carolina
At the end of a winding mountain road, this home is a reverent response to the setting, crafted of materials that echo the forest landscape. Slung low and rambling with the topography, it appears to be a simple one-story cottage, but a lower level is tucked into the hillside below. An asymmetrical stone gable marks the entry, opening into a one-room deep floorplan that maximizes light. Here is found a most striking balance of starkness and warmth: heavy timbers and expansive windows frame an awe-inspiring vista, a bird’s eye view of a 1,000-foot rockface that rises from the valley below.
A VARIED PALETTE OF MATERIALS appropriate to the mountain setting breaks down the scale of this house, making it approachable and inviting.
THE FRONT DOOR OPENS INTO A GREAT ROOM with soaring ceilings, detailed with reclaimed timber (timber framed?).
IN THE GREAT ROOM, a wall of floor-to-ceiling glass frames the mountain landscape.
THE KITCHEN
THE PRIMARY SUITE is a soothing escape.
Planked walls and timber beams add a small dose of rustic character.
TUCKED INTO THE HILLSIDE is a lower level. A series of bedroom suites encourage guests to relax and enjoy the mountain setting.
THE LOWER-LEVEL STAIR HALL leads to a fun surprise, a hallway with playful bunk niches hidden behind sliding wood doors.
HEAVY TIMBER LINTELS AND A SEGMENTAL STONE ARCH detail the stone cottage façade.
CARVED INTO THE HILLSIDE sits a garage with a covered breezeway that leads to the mudroom.
The screen porch is perhaps one of the most cherished rooms in the house, WHERE THE MAJESTY OF THE MOUNTAIN REIGNS.
