A Rock and a Hard Place – Carolina Home + Garden magazine

Summer cottage will make good work of a would-be obstacle

A rendering of Stone Ridge, by Legerton Architecture shows the handsome granite cladding, quarried on site for the luxury cottage. A rendering of Stone Ridge, by Legerton Architecture shows the handsome granite cladding, quarried on site for the luxury cottage.

Even by the tricky topographical and structural standards of Asheville construction, the obstacles for this large wooded site in Barnardsville were particularly formidable. Intended for a 2500-square-foot summer cottage built by Legerton Architects, “the property offers expansive northern views and strong soil-bearing capacity,” says company principal Wendy Legerton, AIA. However, she reveals, “substantial granite rock shelves were encountered during excavation.”

But the discovery offered a creative opportunity to integrate the structure into its host site. And that’s how it came to be called the Stone Ridge House.

Meetings with the clients began four years ago in a close collaboration between Legerton, the firm’s co-principal Michael Mitchell, and project manager Fernanda Ramirez, along with Chris Otahal, principal engineer with Kloesel Engineering, PA. Builder is Sineath Construction of Weaverville.

“The clients wanted a home defined by simplicity and a modern aesthetic,” Legerton recalls. They asked for durability, too, and that came in part from “incorporating the natural granite found throughout the site.” The stone enhanced the aesthetic, as well. One of the finished home’s distinctive features will be its full-height granite exterior cladding, all of it quarried on-site. Even the black-cherry flooring throughout the home is being harvested from the property’s woods. The subsurface features required modifications and an ongoing dialogue between the clients, the Legerton team, and structural and geotechnical engineers during the extensive site preparation before construction could begin.

Then came Hurricane Helene. “The storm disrupted the existing well,” Legerton recalls, “requiring a new one, and damaged the access road, which had to be rebuilt. All these challenges emphasized the need for adaptability and collaboration in a mountain environment.” With the project now back on track, the home is expected to be completed within the next year.

**ON THE CREATIVE FRONT**
L-R, firm principal Wendy Legerton, co-principal architect Michael Mitchell and project manager Fernanda Ramirez of Legerton Architecture.
Portrait by Colby Rabon

The result will be a two-level family residence combining a contemporary aesthetic with traditional stone and wood accents. “The building form is composed of two intersecting rectangles,” Legerton explains. “It’s a simple plan that allows the natural materials and surrounding landscape to remain in focus.” Full-height windows and exterior decks will allow for an easy flow between the home’s large interior spaces and expansive mountain views, aided by the ten-foot-high ceilings gracing the main floor’s private and public areas, which comprise the primary suite, living and dining room, and the kitchen. The home’s lower level, housing two guest bedrooms, a full bath, and a laundry, is nearly as elevated with nine-foot ceilings.

Nestled into the sloping terrain, the main level opens to the upper portion of the site, while the lower level is neatly tucked into the mountain as a natural extension of the slope. Besides the rock, wood, and other locally sourced materials, sustainable measures include passive-solar orientation, natural ventilation strategies, and careful site placement. “The home respects the character of the site and works in partnership with the mountain environment, allowing [it] to feel deeply rooted in its surroundings from the very first glance,” says the architect.

Legerton herself is firmly embedded in the practice that was established by her father John in 1994; she joined the family practice in 2014 after working for firms in California and Maryland. Upon John’s retirement two years ago, Wendy became co-principal of the firm with Michael Mitchell.

Mitchell brings experience from several states and, as a LEED accredited professional, a deep knowledge of sustainable-design approaches. Project manager Fernanda Ramirez, who graduated with highest honors from Universidad Finis Terrae in Santiago, Chile, has worked on both residential and large commercial projects.

Having grown up in Asheville, and now raising her own family here, Wendy completes the circle by having an innate understanding of the regional vernacular and how to translate it via client collaboration — whether it’s upfitting a historic building into a hip bar in downtown’s South Slope district or overseeing a new build that takes advantage of world-class views without sacrificing a forested lushness.

“Architecture offers endless learning, balancing, and problem solving,” Legerton says, “with the tangible reward of walking through a completed project and seeing how people inhabit the spaces you helped create.”

Legerton Architecture, 21 North Liberty St., Asheville, 828-251-9125, legertonarchitecture.com.