Contemplation for the Win – Carolina Home + Garden magazine

Modern home recognized for its innovative approach to warmth

The view of the home from the firepit is dramatic, and the open connector between the angled architectural wings maximizes daytime sunshine and midnight star gazing. Exterior materials are gridded black stucco and Nichiha cladding, a premium fiber-cement product Bryant likes to use for its replication of real wood’s warmth without its drawbacks.
Photo by Tim Burleson

As its name suggests, The Perch sits on a hilltop. This makes the residence uniquely positioned for contemplation of the mountain sightline — fitting for a couple with major life changes looming on their own personal horizons.

The homeowners were getting ready to retire from their academic careers around the same time their daughter left for college. They reached out to Brandon Bryant, partner with Red Tree Builders-Alair Homes Asheville. The firm had built several homes in the Versant community, including one for good friends of the property owners, whom Bryant had met and kept in touch with over the years.

With that relationship established, Bryant brought architect Brent Campbell, principal of BCA Architecture and Design, to the drafting table. “We have worked with BCA before, and Brent had a great vision for that piece of land,” Bryant says. “The clients wanted maximum connectivity to the amazing views and nature, and modern design really helps open views.”

Asheville’s Vision Design Collaborative, PA, a landscape-architecture and land-planning firm, was contacted to help site the home and calculate the area of disturbance and storm runoff. “There was a steep slope area which limits the height of disturbance and [was] a lot of vertical distance to cover in a short span,” Campell explains. “It was challenging but worked out perfectly. The pitch of the driveway is not steep, and maximum views were captured.”

Campbell’s firm specializes in innovative designs guided by commitment to environmental and sustainable solutions. “I knew it was going to be an exciting and innovative project from the beginning. The owners came to the initial meetings with a dramatic and contemporary vision for the home,” he recalls. “They were all in on the dramatic cantilevers and the two wings at different angles.”

Campbell says dividing the house into different wings resulted in additional exterior walls with more windows. “The two wings are almost like two houses, and they are connected with outdoor living space.” (No doubt that innovation was a big factor in The Perch winning “Best One-of-a-Kind Home” in the 2024 Parade of Homes Awards.)

On the main level, one wing is what the team describes as public — an open room with a seamless flow of kitchen, dining, and living room. The laundry room is on the hallway from the kitchen which leads to the two-car garage.

The other wing is the owners’ retreat, with a primary suite and the study that was a must-have. “That was their one requirement,” Bryant says. “They were professors, and wanted a dedicated room for reading and listening to music.”

The lower level has a guest bedroom with access through sliding glass doors to the stone patio and firepit, and a small bedroom for their daughter’s use when she is home for school breaks; a Jack and Jill bath is between the two.

The most unique area of the home is the three-season room in the center, with sliding glass doors on facing interior walls that access each wing and a wall centered by a large glass window that allows an unbroken view from the glass main entry door to the rear wall, screened from floor to ceiling. A gas fireplace serves both the living room — where it was encased in artisan plaster by Orling Finishes — and the center room, where it is wrapped in steel. A door on the screened side leads to the exterior staircase which descends to the fenced yard.

Gina Taterus, lead interior designer with RT Design, a division of Red Tree, entered the project when Campbell submitted conceptual plans, reviewed room flow and function with Bryant, and checked with the HOA on exterior materials and colors. Deep-dive conversations with the homeowners followed, where they discussed colors, finishes, and fixtures.

“Clients we work with are often planning a second home or a future primary home for retirement, as in this case,” Taterus points out. “They’re leaving their work life and the home where they raised their children and doing something brand new. This design was very different for them, and their previous home was furnished in a style that was not suitable for this, though we were able to incorporate some of their most loved pieces.”

At under 3,000 square feet, the house is not large. “It was never about square footage for the owners,” Bryant says. “This house is designed for daily living — purposeful windows, strategic outdoor connections.”

Adds Taterus, “Intimate, meaningful areas were important to them, inside and outside of the home. There are small gathering places and places to get away from it all. It’s how they’re living now.”

Style At Play

The plaster framing the fireplace is by Orling Finishes; owner and founder Eli Orling is acclaimed for his artisan craftsmanship. The piano occupies its perfect place for optimal performance in front of the glass doors leading to a small terrace. Marrying styles with aplomb, Taterus found a home for a cherished antique cabinet in this modern room. Drapes are on a motorized system and open and close with the touch of one button.

Serious Contemplation

Slate blue sets the atmosphere in the cozy study’s built-in shelving and cabinets. The turntable, book, and vinyl collection are displayed, while the rest of the stereo equipment and office supplies such as printers are on slide-out drawers behind the cabinet doors, elegantly embellished with custom-made leather pulls. Sliding-glass doors lead to the small deck for al fresco reading; a paned glass pocket door is on the opposite wall.

Practicality with a Side of Ceramics

The homeowners like to cook and entertain, and the separate cooktop, sink, and counter areas provide stations for multiple people to pitch in. They are also fond of the color blue, and Taterus included several shades of it within the palette for the home. The Cambria counter on the island has some cobalt-blue veining, but not the counters on the perimeter, which are more muted in deference to the white-gray-taupe tiled accent wall. Perimeter cabinets are from the Wellborn Premier Series sourced through HomeSource Design Center in Asheville, in “River Rock” stain and “Glacier.” Open shelves display pottery collected by the owners on their travels.

The primary bedroom is so window-focused that the view, made extra accessible by an adjoining deck, becomes the art. Rather than appointing side lamps, Taterus chose to hang pendant lighting.
Photo by Tim Burleson

The secluded setting of the home allows for a totally private, window-framed view from the soaking tub. Porcelain tile in gray-blue slate covers the walls behind the tub and the vanity from ceiling to floor. Cherry-wood cabinetry floats above the floor.
Photo by Tim Burleson

Winning Pitch

Architect Brent Campbell says the homeowners were “all in” on dramatic cantilevers for this compact (under 3,000 square foot) house that nabbed a “Best One of a Kind Build” award. The three-season central corridor allows the residence to be divided into common space and private wings. Builder: Red Tree Builders-Alair Homes