A Mountain Sanctuary Written by Stephanie Burnette Photography by Mary Campbell
W
hen a mountain retreat is perfectly positioned to border a stream of the Glady Fork River and the expanse of the Blue Ridge Escarpment, it’s easy to put the winding mountain drive and off-the-grid Transylvania County location behind you.
“We got lost every time we came up at first,” says Greenville interior designer Marian McCreight, “with no access to GPS, it really is a secret retreat.” Marian designed the interiors alongside her husband, Randy McCreight, who built the home. The structure may be most notable for what it lacks: central heat, air conditioning, a dishwasher, televisions and Wi-Fi. “We took every element nature offered us to its best advantage,” he said, “including the family’s desire to build a fire when it was cool and sit on the porch when it was warm. It was a very different project right from the start.” In lieu of traditional HVAC, Randy equipped the home with a whole house fan to keep air circulating and installed water-powered warm board radiant heat under the slate floors for comfort. Outside spaces are deep and covered, intentionally appointed with comfortable, all seasons furnishings to dine or lounge en masse in any weather. The Blue Ridge Escarpment is the only deciduous rainforest east of the Olympic peninsula. It receives upwards of 100 inches of rain annually and is predictably 10 degrees cooler than the Upstate. “Things outside don’t survive here if you don’t plan for them to,” explains Marian, “and this porch was essential to the purpose of the home.” Randy says the back porch was meant to have the best view of the gorge. “You feel like you’re up in the trees and as far as the eye can see there isn’t a house in sight,” he says. “Amazing, considering it’s just an hour and fifteen minutes from Greenville.” He planned to bring subcontractors up from Greenville, but quickly shifted to area craftsman. “The grader we found, Greg McCall who helped us plan the drive and position the house, recommended a concrete guy who knew a framer and quickly it all became very, very local.” One such artisan built the porch railings on site, which span the length of the structure front and back. Though often referred to as “ivy railing”, native mountain laurel was used by Brevard carpenter Jonathon Dotson.
SPRING 2016
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