Photography by Emily Taylor Warnock
For PJ and Kathryn Anson, “second home” takes on a new meaning. While the couple lives full-time in Florida, this is the second time they’ve built a getaway retreat in the mountains of North Carolina. This time, they took their lessons from the first go-round and used them to achieve the hybrid home of their dreams, built for the future. Here’s their story.
PJ: We had a previous log home about 40 miles south of here, but we decided we wanted to move to an area that had skiing and restaurants and things like that. Our first log cabin was out in the middle of nowhere, and our kids were young at the time. Now, they’re at the age where they can ski and enjoy other activities.
Kathryn: We are starting to look a bit more toward our retirement and how we want to spend our time. Banner Elk has dining and wineries — there’s just more going on. And our community, Eagle’s Nest, is nestled right in between Beech Mountain Resort and Sugar Mountain Resort. So that offers a lot of year-round recreation, which is exciting to us. Plus, the kids and PJ like to dirt bike and ride around in the UTV, and the neighborhood really caters to all that. From Memorial Day to the end of October, every Saturday night, there’s an outdoor concert and the whole neighborhood comes. So there’s just a lot going on in terms of socializing and living the vacation lifestyle.
We had three kids under three when we built the first cabin as a second home, so, we didn’t put in the thought for some of the really neat touches that we have included in this home, which really just require the time to, you know, research and be on Pinterest and Houzz, taking snapshots of ideas and reading your magazine.
PJ: This house was a three-year build, and we set it up with the builder to do it cost-plus so that we really could make changes and add things or delete things. Now, we didn’t choose for it to be three years. That’s just how long it takes up there, and the pandemic happened in the middle. But three years really gives you a lot of time and, although you’re antsy to move in, it forces you to be very deliberate about everything you choose.
Kathryn: And it gives you the luxury of being able to stand in the space as it’s being built. Our builder really allowed us to be creative. I like the lodge look. But I also love the whimsy of cottage style, so we tried to go for a cottage with a lodge feel, with details like the stone turret and the arched front door. Those are things that feel very cottage-y, even though the home is grand.
PJ: It’s funny, I went to college in Johnson City, Tennessee, not far from here. And I used to ski nearby when I was in school. I remember back when I would go with my buddies and we would look at all these really cool homes, and I used to say to them, “Guys, I guarantee I’m going to have a house in this area one day.” Here we are, 30 years later, and we’ve got one … it’s awesome.
