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I was excited to tour SAI Design's latest creation on Town Mountain Road today. For now I am simply giving you a sneak peak of more to come. The house is rich in good design thought and will take me some time to put it all together. In the meantime please get to know these guys and visit their website at www.saidesign.net. Enjoy!

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What is not there becomes, in its absence, as important to the meaning of the piece as what remains.A new exhibit opens at Artery, the Asheville Area Arts Council gallery on Depot street in the River Arts District. I attended the opening last night and was struck by the balanced relationship between the four artists. Combined, Akira Satake (clay), Barbara Zaretsky (textiles), Brian Boggs (wood) and Barbara Fisher (paintings) represent a modern aesthetic that is uniquely Asheville. Given the clean lines crafted from earthy materials, throw in some soft geometry and symbology I could imagine seeing this timeless collection in a Manhattan apartment or stumbling upon it in a remote mud dwelling. Ever so quietly, it spans time and place.All four artists keep studios in various locations near the river. If you haven't done so already, take some time to visit this area and tour all the new things happening there. There is creative food in two new restaurants as well as several new galleries. Conveniently, next weekend is the Studio Stroll so there are no more excuses for finding yourself in the space between downtown and the French Broad, known affectionately as The River Arts District.Text and photos by Troy Winterrowd

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While out this past weekend scouring for fun furnishings for my new mid-century apartment I was surprised to find more vintage modern furnishings sprouting up in new locations. One location was Oddfellows Antiques at 124 Swannanoa River Road. Owned by Tom and Kelly Haskin they describe their place as a 12,000sq/ft Design Warehouse. Since the last time I had visited they definitely have a great selection of thoughtfully displayed merchandise. I am already looking forward to my return visit!

As both a designer and realtor I think ranch homes are a valuable and overlooked commodity here in the Asheville area. For those people wanting a simple, one-level home close to town we have some 40's to 60's neighborhoods loaded with potential and offering a great lifestyle here. In a recent conversation with some of my favorite design/build talent, Brad and Katie Rice, I discovered their last ranch remodel won some awards and felt it was worth noting. I am simply copying an article published in Western North Carolina Builder/Architect magazine that showcases the home along with their timely philosophy.Clean lines and open space welcome you as you cross the threshold. Light cascades through sun tunnels embedded in the soaring ceilings and dances off the glass-tiled backsplash of the sleek, modern kitchen.  The 40-year-old home is unrecognizable: a newer, greener, fresher version of its former self.This stylish remodeld ranch in Asheville's historic Montford neighborhood embodies the philosophy of Brad and Katie Rice of Bellwether Design-Build, the team behind its award-winning metamorphosis: to bring together innovative design, cost-effective construction and sustainable building practices."People usually have kind of a ho-hum opinion of ranch homes," Katie explains.  "part of the excitement for me was to show what could be done."Here is combination of shots showing what is now the soaring great room.The husband and wife team brings 20 years of experience in building and designing homes of every project. Katie's interests in design and sustainable building meld seamlessly with Brad's background in construction and his strong ties with local subcontractors.  The boutique company offers start-to-finish services, including land consulting, home design, renovations, remodeling and interior design. Keeping a home's design and construction under one roof --- whether for a custom-built home or a remodel --- helps Bellwether's clients control their costs."The design-build package is not found in many firms," Brad says. "We also believe that good design is green design."And building green doesn't necessarily mean spending a lot of green.  The exterior of the Rosewood Ave. remodel that dazzled the Parade of Homes judges was fashioned from a salvaged barn roof found in nearby Waynesville. The luxurious marble countertops in the bath were remnants, costing a fraction of market prices and requiring no new energy to manufacture.  Also remnants were the wool carpets --- inexpensive, natural and long lasting. The low-E windows were locally manufactured products that help support the Western North Carolina economy and lock out the Appalachian cold superbly, reducing both heating bills and the home's carbon footprint.The exterior before remodeling.Getting in on Budget"We offer our customers a better value and a wider range of services," Brad continues. Both he and Katie are proud to provide clients with options designed to help them complete projects no matter the size of their wallet."We understand designing within budget," Katie says. "The design expenses are always incorporated into the building expenses."Many customers go to a designer first, and then bring the result to a contractor. But a designer wiht no building background may create a home far beyond a customer's budget. Similarly, a contractor may be able to build from a plan, but cannot offer design expertise. "We bring both of these estimates to the table," Brad says, "and this provides our clients with a well-rounded financial approach to their new home from the get-go."Whether a new build of a remodel, Bellwether Design-Build is dedicated to keeping operation costs reasonable."Essentially, we're a small and versatile firm that is capable of doing a lot of projects with very little overhead," Katie says. "We are happy to be able to provide any service a client might require in order to ensure that he or she is completely thrilled with results and their investment."This home was the winner of three awards in the Asheville HBA 2009 Parade of Homes: Gold Award for Craftsmanship in Price Category, Innovative Home Award and the Trend Award for the best use of recycled materials.

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A Minimal Home for a Local Architect Southern Living Magazine published the design and plans of this home designed by local architect William O. Moore.  The house was originally constructed for him and his wife on North Griffing Blvd. in 1973 and was constructed for $42,000. Following, publication he sold plans to many others who wanted to create this simple living space for themselves. The home showcases one of his signature design features of a dominate roof. He told me, "Roofs are traditionally cheaper to maintain and replace." So he dedicates maximum square footage to the roof in containing interior spaces.More information on the history and designs of Bill Moore coming in the future.

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MLS# 473429Price: $ 540,000Size: 2520 Sq/Ft. - 3 Beds & 2.5 BathsListed by: Beverly Hanks I am happy to report this wonderful home has enthusiastic new owners. Here is how Carol Pennell, the listing agent, had described the home. "The R.D. Gregory House built in 1959 was designed by award winning Asheville architect J. Bertram King.  This custom built mid-century modern home boasts one of the finest in-town western sunset views around.  Newly refinished hardwoods, marble baths, chef's Jennaire stainless kitchen, Brazilian slate, Italian tiles, meditation garden, extensive rock walls and paths.  Open flowing floor plan with walls of glass allowing mountains to catch your breath."

Photographer: Christopher Sherman Nelson

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Blending Down Home with Uptown I sat down over a cup of coffee with interior designer Leslie Anne Huntley today to spend a few minutes finding out about what motivated her as a designer. She had dreamed of doing interior design for years following a career in education. Her passion nagged at her long enough to finally take the plunge and earn her degree in Interior Design from Western Carolina University. She followed that by working for a company designing high end, contemporary kitchens and baths. Dreaming of far off spaces beyond the kitchen she started her own company, Roost Interior Design, to broaden her creative world and design portfolio.Leslie's mantra is to work with what you have mixing the old with the new. She enjoy's working with the client's existing lifestyle and possessions by repurposing and enhancing the space in ways that seem completely new, but not foreign to her clients. She says," my mission at Roost is to help synthesize my clients' tastes into a harmonious space. It's not about my personal taste, but helping our clients to discover the ingredients for an environment that brings comfort and happiness to them."I was able to get a quick tour of a home that Leslie recently completed, a cozy bungalow in Montford within walking distance to downtown. Showcasing the charming, historic bones of the cottage she opened up, lightened and added a layer of modernist sparkle, polish and shine to bring together a time blended interior that could appeal to a variety of clientele. Overall, I appreciated her eclectic "Metropolitan Home" style aesthetic that professionally balanced warm & comfortable with cool & clean.Article by Troy Winterrowd, Photos provided by Roost

SmartBuilders piece together a "Clever" Home

If you were to travel to the end of Reems Creek Rd and continue onward and upward you would eventually come to the valley perimeter and there you would find a tall, sleek box sitting on 40 private acres overlooking the vastness of the western North Carolina mountains. This 3200 square foot box, constructed of structural insulated panels, known as SIPs, is being pieced together and finished off this month for a new resident from Florida. The cross country effort included Clever Home designers from San Francisco, Insulspan fabricators from Michigan and SmartBuilders being the local player pulling this project together.

I met Gawain Mainwaring, owner of SmartBuilders, at the site for a tour. He showed me some of the details of this 3 bedroom and 2 ½ bath home that came shipped to him in pieces. The four-story home is topped off with a master suite on top that opens up to its own private terrace with a fire pit. The entry level contains the great room with a sleek KitchenAid kitchen. The dramatic overhead light fixture the owner made himself using LED lighting and a plumb bob refracts light and adds movement to the space. Clever!Overall, the owner has created a wonderfully layered and cool home to enjoy for years to come. I give him great credit for braving the frontier of modular construction over distances. In the end it is a great product. I don’t know the details of the costs involved on this particular home, however, it is my experience that doing this type of modular construction affordably can still be challenging in our area and throughout the country. There are cost hurdles given the complexity of manufacturing, shipping and coordinating. Given the great local designers, builders and design/build teams (including SmartBuilders) we have in this area it is my feeling that you can get something site specific and site built just as affordably today with tailored results. I simply recommend comparing options. Either way I appreciate the collaboration that went into this great new addition to the growing modern landscape of Asheville.Stay tuned for more modern from SmartBuilders in the future!Article by Troy Winterrowd, Photos by Troy Winterrowd and SmartBuilders

Happy Valentine's Day. Everyone knows I am smitten by a ranch home. I am equally keen on featuring more articles on remodeled ranch homes in the Asheville given the great supply we have here. If you have a home to show off please let me know and perhaps together we can influence the recycling of these simple and versatile homes. Thank you!  Troy

PCB&L Architects reconstruct ABC's Brand Identity I have been enjoying the three new ABC Stores popping up around Asheville in the last year. My jaded, winter outlook of late has been warmed by the progressive nature of the sunny, new design from a government agency. It is refreshing to see such thoughtful construction in the context of the commercial strips of Tunnel Road, Leicester Highway and elsewhere. The modern composition and rhythmic nature of the facade, including the new brightly colored graphic, is not only elegant, it honors the nature of how you experience it from the automobile. The entire facade serves as memorable and well branded sign for speedy travelers negotiating traffic and other commercial entities of our mountain version of the American commercial strip.Curious to know how this came about I met with architect Richard Fort of PCB&L Architects in downtown Asheville. Richard was the lead architect on the three new buildings. The architecture company was hired to design both the building and to develop the branding and supporting graphics. Richard stated that the Asheville ABC Board was indeed progressive in their thinking. They realized that their old stores were as unwelcoming as a dirty adult bookstore and were a deterent to the everyday female shoppers they were now aggressively trying to market. As I know from real estate 80% of home buying decisions are made by women along with purchases for the home. In an attempt to expand their market and create a more welcoming environment for all consumers they wanted a more open, well lit and transparent shopping experience. Now isn't that nice.Another important point was that the retail building was designed and built on a very tight budget. The design firm fought to keep key materials such as the contrasting bricks in place and worked to balance the design budget in other ways. This goes to show you that economic commercial buildings don't have to be done in synthetic stucco and plastic windows. With appropriate and professional design planning you can have a sophisticated building that stands out, surpasses your neighbors and is openly sexy. Thank you Asheville ABC board for your progressive strategy and PCB&L for your mindful stewardship of your clients vision and brand. We all benefit from your refreshing collaboration. Admittedly, I write this while sipping on a glass of Sky ginger vodka that I could not resist buying while photographing the interior. Not feeling naughty enough I am deviously hopeful my purchase bought a nice, deep grey brick for another ABC Store somewhere in the future.Article and Photographs by Troy Winterrowd