Water in the Balance

Water in the Balance

Bullington Gardens Director John Murphy traces his agrarian roots back to the low-lying Swannanoa Valley, where he worked Warren Wilson College’s farm as an…

A New Leaf

It’s unusual that a self-styled “red-blooded American male” with a name like John Wayne Jackson would give props to homemaking icon Martha Stewart. Yet…

Country Chic

Over the years, Glennwood Custom Builders has grown a portfolio of splendid estates. Heirloom lodges dominate lake shorelines. Multi-tiered rooflines emulate the sweep of…

Shady Grove

In the cold light of a winter’s day, Leah Baker returned to lamps. Maybe the bitter air and waning afternoons of 2012 inspired her,…

You Can Go Home Again

You Can Go Home Again

Contractor Thomas Wolfe is no relation to Asheville’s rhapsodic literary giant. But overseeing the siting of Lobo Builders’ 474-square-foot micro home on a tricky…

The Primitive and the Pragmatist

En route to Gragg, an unincorporated town nestled up in Avery County, Hendersonville resident Robert Sears spotted an engine-oil-stained barn commanding the skyline, its…

Don’t Call it a Hobby

Don’t Call it a Hobby

Back then — “then” loosely meaning the mid-to-late 1800s, the pioneer era of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie book series —…

Life Studies  in Terra-Cotta

Life Studies in Terra-Cotta

The beginning is nebulous for Kate Fisher. Maybe her cache of gardening pots and planters started in Kentucky. There, she grabbed armfuls of her…

Against the Current

Mountain flora defines Appalachian lore. With few pioneers dogged enough to belly through impenetrable laurel “hells” and amorphous rhododendron groves, the Blue Ridge stood…

Egypt Meets  Little Switzerland

Egypt Meets Little Switzerland

Texas-born textile designer Caitley Symons relocated to Egypt with her family at age 12; perhaps her early immersion in Egyptian culture accounts for her…