Early in our marriage we owned a cabin in the north Georgia woods that we visited many times while living in Raleigh. My wife's family spent summers in that area and we followed suite. At the time the trip was easily 9 hours one way and it didn't take long for us to realize that there's got to be a mountain location closer to home base that would give us more 'mountain time'. We eventually sold the cabin and started talking about NC and the beautiful mountains that were within 4 hours of our home.
A number of years, two children and life zoomed past at mach speed until in 2001 we got serious about starting a search for our next mountain home. I remember clearly that our focus was on a location that would eventually become our permanent residence. Our short list included:
- Close so we could enjoy it over time
- Long range mountain views / altitude
- Close to cultural amenities
- Buildable land
- Easy drive to town
- Affordable
- 10 acres
- Good investment in the event we ever wanted to sell
- Permanent residence potential
We dissected the NC mountains by geographic area. We included the mountain range west of Hickory and on to the borders of Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia and South Carolina. We simply discounted actual border states because at this juncture we were head over tarheels with NC and wanted to make this our forever home. We narrowed our focus to the counties of Buncombe, Haywood, Swain, Jackson, McDowell, Mitchell, Avery, Watauga and of course Ashe. Those counties that didn't make the list were cut for reasons that now escape me but those that rose to the top met many of our bullet points for a second home property.
Several times a year we'd make the trek to another target area on our list and check out properties of interest. Most met some of our criteria but not all our criteria. I can remember Buncombe County was of particular interest because we like Asheville and surrounding areas but as we researched the area closer it didn't meet our 'affordable' requirement. While some did hit our financial mark they lacked in other points that were too hard for us to overcome.
Each trip 'educated' us more on specific areas. As time went on we gradually narrowed our search to a couple of prime locations. Jackson and Ashe counties were among our favorites but Ashe stood out. Thinking back, we really didn't look closely at Ashe County until late in our search because of our large target area. I remember driving back to Raleigh from another area of interest and, having some extra time, driving through Ashe County just to take a look-see. That drive through set the stage for our next and last scouting trip to the mountains.
A few months passed and we were on the road again but this time specifically to visit Ashe County. A friend's brother that had a second home there offered to give us the cook's tour. Those 3 hours, spent with him, was the best time of our entire NC mountain search. We saw the county from top to bottom while looking at subdivisions, raw land, cabins, and towns within the county. I remember on our trip home that the vote was unanimous for Ashe County.
Our original plan was to build on 10 acres sometime in the future as we got closer to retirement (now that's another blog topic...retirement). I spent most of my working career as a photographer but came from a building family. Ultimately I received my general contractor's license in 2000 with the primary goal of building our mountain home.
One Ashe County subdivision did catch our attention...Big Tree. It met all of our criteria except one. It was not affordable for the 10 acres we wanted. This was 2006 and the real estate market was on the up side all across the spectrum. Land was expensive, cabins were expensive, even our Raleigh home had appreciated beyond our wildest expectations. We gave Big Tree some serious thought and compared it to all of what we found in 9 counties and decided that this was the place for us. In 2007 we purchased 2 acres on Big Tree and started the next phase of our planning...the cabin we were going to build.
As you remember, the bottom fell out of the real estate market in 2008 and of course we bought at the height...story of our lives. Even with the inflated pre-2008 prices our decision was one of the best we could have ever made. The property is within 6 miles of West Jefferson, NC. It would be a good investment should the market return and we ever had to sell. It is within an easy drive to Boone where Appalachian State University resides. The land is at 4,300 foot elevation so our view is very long range. The pitch of the property is gentle making it an ideal location to build. It wasn't 10 acres but all our other criteria outweighed this one negative.
We had a fantastic architect from Hillsborough help us with our plan. Harvey Architecture incorporated all of our design requests into a functional and very workable plan. We chose to build our cabin using structural insulated panels from a North Carolina company called Eco-Panels. The build was a very smooth and efficient processes. Everything fell into place on time and on budget. The result has continued to serve us well for comfort, functionality and energy efficiency.
Since we moved to Ashe County full time in 2012 our life has been a great adventure. We've found the people to be generous, giving, super helpful, honest and loving. The town of West Jefferson offers up most of our material needs and to supplement we plan an occasional trip to either Winston-Salem or Charlotte and the internet to fill any small gaps. The weather so far has given us an opportunity to enjoy 4 seasons and find each to be more exciting than the last. There's lots to see and do in and around Ashe County ( Ashe Co. Chamber of Commerce ) ( The Coolest County ) and much to discover. Our search has ended and our journey has begun.
Love to have you join us in our mountain paradise...why not Ashe County!
Several times a year we'd make the trek to another target area on our list and check out properties of interest. Most met some of our criteria but not all our criteria. I can remember Buncombe County was of particular interest because we like Asheville and surrounding areas but as we researched the area closer it didn't meet our 'affordable' requirement. While some did hit our financial mark they lacked in other points that were too hard for us to overcome.
Each trip 'educated' us more on specific areas. As time went on we gradually narrowed our search to a couple of prime locations. Jackson and Ashe counties were among our favorites but Ashe stood out. Thinking back, we really didn't look closely at Ashe County until late in our search because of our large target area. I remember driving back to Raleigh from another area of interest and, having some extra time, driving through Ashe County just to take a look-see. That drive through set the stage for our next and last scouting trip to the mountains.
A few months passed and we were on the road again but this time specifically to visit Ashe County. A friend's brother that had a second home there offered to give us the cook's tour. Those 3 hours, spent with him, was the best time of our entire NC mountain search. We saw the county from top to bottom while looking at subdivisions, raw land, cabins, and towns within the county. I remember on our trip home that the vote was unanimous for Ashe County.
Our original plan was to build on 10 acres sometime in the future as we got closer to retirement (now that's another blog topic...retirement). I spent most of my working career as a photographer but came from a building family. Ultimately I received my general contractor's license in 2000 with the primary goal of building our mountain home.
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| During the building process |
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| View from our cabin |
We had a fantastic architect from Hillsborough help us with our plan. Harvey Architecture incorporated all of our design requests into a functional and very workable plan. We chose to build our cabin using structural insulated panels from a North Carolina company called Eco-Panels. The build was a very smooth and efficient processes. Everything fell into place on time and on budget. The result has continued to serve us well for comfort, functionality and energy efficiency.
Since we moved to Ashe County full time in 2012 our life has been a great adventure. We've found the people to be generous, giving, super helpful, honest and loving. The town of West Jefferson offers up most of our material needs and to supplement we plan an occasional trip to either Winston-Salem or Charlotte and the internet to fill any small gaps. The weather so far has given us an opportunity to enjoy 4 seasons and find each to be more exciting than the last. There's lots to see and do in and around Ashe County ( Ashe Co. Chamber of Commerce ) ( The Coolest County ) and much to discover. Our search has ended and our journey has begun.
Love to have you join us in our mountain paradise...why not Ashe County!
If at first you don't succeed, skydivings not for you. - S. Johns
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