This Home Was Designed With Relaxation in Mind

”Comfort first” was the mantra behind a perfect respite for a blended family.

Photos courtesy of Modern Rustic Homes

Perched in the North Carolina mountaintops overlooking the Nantahala River gorge, a hybrid log-and-timber home offers an idyllic getaway for a blended family. The owners are busy medical professionals with hectic schedules, so they wanted a place that would soothe the soul and take their minds off the immense pressures of their daily lives. This home is exactly what the doctor ordered, and Modern Rustic Homes was just the company to fill the prescription.

Having each been married with children before, the couple wanted to ensure the home could accommodate everyone at once and do it in kick-up-your-feet style. The terrace level (Modern Rustic Homes’ genteel terminology for “basement”) is fully equipped to handle the crowd when both extended families come to call. The space is now outfitted with a game room and media center, as well as an extra bedroom and full bath.

The main level boasts two bedroom suites of its own, so there’s plenty of space for folks to stay, but the upper level is the owners’ private haven. With its vast sleeping space, huge bathroom, walk-in closet and private loft, the top floor is completely dedicated to the master suite, providing total seclusion when there’s a full house.

Whether it’s just the two of them or all the kids come to call, the great room is a study in casual comfort. “The owners are just super laid-back people,” says Modern Rustic’s Michael Grant, who, with his business partner and builder, Joe Dixon, helped the couple’s vision come to life.

That vision starts the moment you step inside the foyer and you’re treated to the site’s magnificent views, thanks to the shotgun-style approach to the home’s layout. “We wanted you to be able to see through the house to the mountains as soon as you came in the front door,” explains Michael of the home’s airy floor plan.

Once you absorb the views, the materials used in the home, itself, beg to be touched. Heavy timber rafters and beams stained in Structures Wood Care’s “Chestnut” add warmth to the ochre-toned walls and the cool grays of the tactile Tennessee ashlar fireplace (which has a twin on the adjacent screened porch). Durable hand-scraped hickory floors ground the space. But it’s the great room’s design that boasts one of the home’s most important features: “The owners did not want the television to be the focal point of the space. They wanted this place to be quiet; a place where they could read,” according to Michael. So a separate antechamber for TV viewing was sited to the side of the main great room.

Outside, squared eastern white pine half-logs with full dovetail corners give the appearance that the lower portion is a full-log home. The upper story and gables are clad in a combination of board-and-batten and shakes stained a soft mossy green that coordinates with the corrugated metal roof. Round log supports and a king-post timber truss support the deep overhang that protects the front porch from the elements. The space also provides a prime view of the fire pit area nearby. “We wanted to ensure we gave the couple plenty of that indoor/outdoor mountain living experience,” Michael says.