The Well-Feathered Nest
BY KATE REYNOLDSPHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID DIETRICH
They call it “Nestledown” — a sanctuary tucked into the side of a hill on the shore of Lake Junaluska. The name is an oblique homage to Swan, an old family name on the distaff side, but it’s so much more. It’s the feeling that you get when you walk through the artfully carved front door and are greeted with a breathtaking view, straight through the dining room, of the placid lake beyond. It’s the sense that all that’s required of you is to lay down your concerns and obligations and surrender to serenity. Come in, it invites, and relax.This is precisely what Tom and Martha McLaughlin intended for their charming home in Haywood County. The place resonates for the couple, who travel from their main residence in Woodstock, Georgia to enjoy the lush landscape and comforting sense of community that have defined this area as their cherished country retreat for two decades. “For me, it evokes another era,” says Martha. “It’s like going back in time and slowing down just a little bit.”
The McLaughlins first visited here as guests of friends and determined that it would be the perfect venue for their annual family reunions. After renting two adjoining lakefront properties each summer to accommodate the ever-expanding clan, they eventually purchased one of the buildings — a 1920s summer cottage — with the intention of renovating the rustic cabin as a vacation escape.
Martha had seen the work of Asheville architect Jim Samsel and was impressed by the understated elegance of his work. He agreed to inspect the property and give an assessment. “Because of the termite damage to the building,” Tom recalls, “Jim told us it was hopeless; we’d need to start over again.” Despite the sentimental attachment, Tom continues, “both Martha and I sighed in relief — the old cottage was quite small and had a very chopped up floor plan.”
The couple was eager to retain the character of the existing structure, however. “Our goal was to fit in with Lake Junaluska,” says Martha, “to have the house look like it belongs here.” But a simple, vernacular design was not going to be enough. The McLaughlin’s aesthetics and their practical approach to building are finely honed: Tom has a background in real estate development, and Martha a degree in Interior Design.
There was also the X factor: Martha is an inveterate collector of antiques of all varieties, but particularly fine Staffordshire and Majolica porcelains. The home would need to be very special, indeed. Its creation would require a team effort.
As Jim Samsel began to consider the structural elements, the couple enlisted Susan Nilsson, ASID, to guide them in the interior design. “Susan not only thinks outside the box,” observes Martha, “she makes you think outside the box.” The players worked in concert to assure that the home would suit the McLaughlin’s lifestyle and the environment they had chosen to embrace — rustic, yet refined.
The vision that emerged is a blend of Arts & Crafts with an English Country flavor, using materials that have regional precedent and appropriateness — shingle, stucco and stone. The structure is rich in details and accented with plenty of hand wrought iron work by Daniel Miller. Miller’s work punctuates both the façade and interiors of the home, from a hanging lantern at the entrance to curled supports for the rain gutters to handrails in the stairways. “Look at the fluidness of the line,” says Martha. “He’ll take metal and bend it like it’s nothing.”
To accommodate the limited size and steep slope of the property, Samsel divided the 4,300-square-foot residence into three levels. “The home has a modest footprint,” he notes, “but it provides a lot of livable space. It presented both challenges and opportunities. It’s a tight site — we had to build right up to the setback lines and work around existing trees — but you’re right up on the lake and those trees have become an amenity. ”
The vertical orientation of the home also assures lots of ambient light, stellar water views from virtually every room and plenty of deck space to enjoy the scenery and observe the life of the community. “The back porch is an important area to me,” says Tom, “because the old house had a deck with a picnic table and inevitably everyone would gather there at the end of the day. Over the years, we have so many great memories of just watching the world go by. At different times of day you have different ages of folks and activities on the lake and the walking path: people in canoes, runners, dog walkers, moms with strollers…”
The surrounding landscape also provided an inspiration point for Susan and Martha’s interior design. Faced with the task of creating continuity between the three levels of the house, Martha’s diverse collections and the mountain setting, Nilsson chose a rich, earthy palette of reds, golds and greens that would soothe the eye and complement the spectrum of woods in the furniture.
“The challenging thing about decorating was how to seamlessly integrate all these different elements,” notes Martha. “I’ve spanned three centuries of antiques — 18th, 19th and 20th — and very different styles. I hesitate to use the word ‘eclectic,’ because very often that’s a hodge-podge. But Susan helped me to tie everything together — the colors, the layering. She had the vision of how to tell a story and pull it all together.”
To establish a context for that vision, the floors and ceiling on the main level are antique heart pine reclaimed from the Old Washington Mill in Fries, Virginia, which was in operation in the 1800s. The finish, inspired by the Wythe House in Virginia, is a swept pine effect, treated gingerly with white wash as a counterpoint to the darker tones of Martha’s period furniture.
Flora and fauna are recurrent themes throughout the residence, beginning with the vaulted entrance hall, where dozens of naturally shed antlers are displayed in an artful installation that evokes old European hunting lodges. Playing off of this, Nilsson has incorporated elements of Black Forest and tramp art into the décor to offset the abundance of floral imagery and the delicacy of the ubiquitous porcelains. “It imparts a certain masculinity that tempers all that,” she explains.
Throughout the residence comfort, ease and function are key. The kitchen features dual doors to enhance traffic flow, with the work triangle stationed at the opposite side of the room and a large, unencumbered island fitted with SubZero refrigerated drawers to provide storage for commonly used items.
At Samsel’s suggestion, the main refrigerator is housed in the pantry, which features a pocket door that can be closed to conceal preparatory clutter when entertaining, leaving additional space for guests to congregate in the kitchen proper.
“There is open living space, but enough segmentation to create intimacy,” says Samsel. “And the kitchen is generous enough that you don’t feel separated from the rest of the house. It’s a nice balance.”
Balance is the operative word. Here, the cooperative talents of the homeowners, architect and designer have resulted in a cohesive whole. While each room in the home has an individual design motif and theme, the transitions are graceful — nearly imperceptible. “Susan is great with that,” Martha observes. “The idea that each room is its own thing is not necessarily a good concept. There has to be a common thread that runs through the entire house.”
The common thread? Enjoyment and appreciation of the finer things in life — be they exquisite objects, quality craftsmanship, the light reflected off the lake or the blessing of community. Ultimately, it’s about creating a place where you can nestle down.
