by Joanne O'Sullivan . photography by David Dietrich
Coming upon the clearing in the woods, you can see the house hugging the contours of the rocky hill, looking comfortably settled in, as though it had been there for some time, becoming a part of the natural landscape. With a new house, it’s not easy to achieve that organic, earthy quality without looking artificially “rustic.” Asheville architect Michael McDonough does just that with a mountaintop Fairview home that takes the best elements of natural building and applies them to thoughtful design, creating a home that’s grounded but refined.
The house makes spectacular use of wood, much of it locally-sourced. Towering locust-trunk pillars frame the outside arrival area as wide-plank steps lead to a custom white oak, black walnut, and maple door. The floor in the entryway—made from trees sustainably culled and mule-hauled from the forest of nearby Warren Wilson College—features black walnut. There are cherry cabinets in the kitchen and split cedar shakes on the exterior. Each variety has its own patina, it’s own texture, from polished smooth to weathered, deep and rich to light. The interior locust-trunk pillars are arranged at random to look the way they would in the woods, says McDonough.
Natural materials lend themselves to natural forms: there are curves and peaks, nooks and crannies. “We wanted it to have the feel of a place that had been added on to over time,” says McDonough. The design hinges on three separate branches, so to speak: one for storage, one for living, and one for sleeping. The garage is accessed by a breezeway and the entry area and hallway mark the dividing line between the social and sleeping spaces. Homeowner Susan Cass says this layout is perfectly suited to the home’s primary purpose: family reunions. The great room, back porch, and lower-level game room provide ample space for everyone to be together to enjoy the distant mountain views, listen to music, or just talk. But the three masters suites—one with a private balcony—and “bunk room” for the kids allow everyone to have some private space as well. With six siblings and three kids of her own, that’s important, says Cass. “You can be together, but you can also get away.”
While design-wise, it has a “summer camp” feel, says McDonough, the features are much more sophisticated. “We wanted it to have a lot of craftsmanship and character, and use local materials,” says Cass. The half-wall dividing the utility area in the kitchen from the great room is paneled wood, designed to look like a piece of furniture. In the office, the gorgeous quarter-sawn white oak paneling cleverly hides a Murphy bed, and there’s also built-in sleeping loft—reached by climbing the natural branches of a locust-tree ladder. The pantry door in the kitchen has a distressed tin insert made to resemble a pie safe. “Little craftsman touches” are everywhere says McDonough, displaying the thoughtfulness that went into every feature. The stained glass front door panel by Atlanta artist Susan McCracken features a live oak that reminds the family of their home on the South Carolina coast, and a stained glass art piece of the moon and the sun in the dining room by local artist Jamie McCabe gives the house its nickname: the Blue Moon Lodge.
The home is informed by the Arts and Crafts style, but isn’t limited to it. The floors in the lower level game room are a warm brown poured concrete which have a look that’s sophisticated and modern, but inviting at the same time. There’s a custom, poured-concrete sink and vanity in the lower-level bathroom. Cass chose bright glass pendent fixtures over the breakfast area table for a pop of color and her children created colorful mosaic accent tiles for the floor below. Equally important are the “green” features. McDonough positioned the house on an east-west axis to improve its passive solar qualities. Solar heated water fuels the radiant heat floors, resulting in less reliance on the heat pump. There are energy-efficient appliances, lights, and, of course, the sustainably harvested lumber. Salvaged wood is used as trim on the entry to the sleeping area and on the bar in the lower level game room. When considering the railings for the interior and exterior, McDonough says that builder and woodworker Jim Koerber would ask “What have we got in the woods?” first.
Arriving here from the humid South Carolina Low Country is like “a big exhale,” says Cass. The weather is cooler up here and there are no close-by neighbors like at home. Wild turkeys emerge from the woods. and the occasional bear comes by to eat from the fruit trees that dot the property, holdovers from the time when this property was part of a family farm with an orchard. While the house is wired for wi-fi, Cass was careful to limit the large, flat-screen TV to the downstairs game room. “We’re not coming up here to watch TV, we’re here to spend time together,” she says. Besides, there is plenty to see right outside the window, with the ever-changing seasons and the steady presence of the mountains in the distance.
