2006 BEAUTIFUL HOMES WINNERS
From the Spring 2006 Issue
If you love gorgeous homes as much as we do here at Mountain Homes, you’ll relish the following pages as we showcase the inaugural winners in our Beautiful Homes Contest competition. Their entries are varied in style and come from a trio of states, but each has a distinctive flair that earned the entrants special recognition.
ARCHITECTS/BUILDERS
BRADLEY DOWDY
PLATINUM AWARD (TIE)
Reminiscent of European kitchens, this version at Mont Brae incorporates strong wood details, high ceilings and art elements such as paintings above the curved arch at the stove area.
More mountain-flavored materials are used at the side entrance, where twigs, limbs and barrels act as accents. Also notable are the red Adirondack chairs dotting the comfortable relaxation area.
Inspired by the traditional manor homes of old Blowing Rock, N.C. where this home stands, Dowdy created a dramatic design for Linda and Bob Pohle from such classic mountain materials as bark siding and stone and while it has a regal appearance, it is not only elegant and timeless, but casual as well.
Company: Bradley Dowdy Architect Location: Boone, N. C.
Objective of design: To give the owners a classically elegant house that would look as if it had been there a long time, while tapping into the natural materials of the area. The concept was to develop a feeling of timelessness and natural beauty.
Style chosen and description: A blended mountain style with elements of various types from old cottage style and Adirondack influences and using such native mountain materials as stone and wood.
Special features: Handsome woodwork throughout. Also a beautiful kitchen with attached screen porch and two-level garden sunroom with woven twig handrail. To accommodate the owner’s love of gardening and landscaping, the architect created special spaces for the hobby, including a potting room.
Why the design works: It fits the owners’ love of the mountains and the natural environment surrounding the house. The style has a rustic elegance or timelessness to it. The use of natural materials, such as bark siding , is a key element in the composition, and the home’s proportions, while fairly simple, came together well.
PARKER PLATT
PLATINUM AWARD (TIE) PHOTOS BY JERRY MARKATOS
Kitchens don’t get better than this one which Parker Platt designed for Gordon and Nina Williams at Lake Toxaway, N.C. Open to the rooms around it, it features stone, light woods played against a darker contrast shade and easy access to the remainder of the one-floor plan.
Done in the trademark Platt tradition, this porch is furnished and designed for almost year-round use.
With the fireplace as its focal point and a variety of seating areas, it can handle everything
from balmy afternoons to crisp autumn evenings.
Platt used interesting architectural elements such as the turret and gabled roof, along with dark colors, slate roof, shingle siding and natural materials to give this one-floor plan a refined yet charming mountain/lake style with an added richness not usually found in homes of this type.
Company: Platt Architecture
Location: Brevard, NC
Objective of design: Created for a retired couple as a vacation home and family retreat.
Style chosen and description: Mountain/ lake architecture with one-level living and elevator-accessible basement. Intended to blend into the landscape, selections include dark colors, slate roof, shingle siding and the use of native materials.
Special features: Outdoor living room/ porch with fireplace, which can be used throughout many seasons. A butler’s pantry. A study off the main bedroom. Kitchen fireplace. Lower outside fireplace hearth, raised as an eating area, and outdoor grilling area off the kitchen built into a stone alcove.
Why the design works: It blends into the environment and is not intrusive to the surroundings. The interior planning also works for the retired couple and their family. Credit also goes to Jimmy Fisher of Blue Ridge Builders, interior designers Judy Henson, ASID, and Carol Hartley of C. J. Brown House and photographer Jerry Markatos.
