No less than 200 tons of stone were brought in to build the aptly nicknamed “Rock House,” a 4,365-square-foot, four-bedroom home located in the Kenmure community of Flat Rock. The homeowners had purchased the nearly seven-acre lot as an investment and had been coming to Flat Rock for years to visit friends, golf, and explore nearby restaurants. Those friends are now their next-door neighbors.
R.L. Stanley, of SAMNAT Architecture in Fletcher, who designed the home, says, “Most people would have put the house down at the bottom of the site, near the road, because it’s a very steep site — but you know, the best place is at the top of the site. It was just going to take a lot of driveway to get there.”
That driveway, at 1,200 feet long, is the first most remarkable thing one notices about the house. Builder Rick Buchanan, of Buchanan Construction in Arden, adds that siting and then clearing for the driveway were two of the biggest challenges to the project. The homeowners, who wanted to be sensitive to their neighbors’ view, as well as conservation-minded about tree removal, had to balance all of that with keeping the drive accessible and not too steep. The views they gained, however, are unquestionably worth it.
Approaching the home, one can see what became of all the rock. The exterior is clad in native Midnight Blue and Silver Brown building stone, installed by Steep Creek Stoneworks of Brevard. It’s not stacked in a straight line or laid flat, but gridded almost mosaic-like, a robustly textured design that reveals the beauty of the material’s various hues, edges, and natural character: earthy but sophisticated. The inspiration for the Rock House was actually a home in Texas that the couple’s interior designer, Atlanta-based Judy Hannah, found and sent to her client, with the note, “If you ever build in Kenmure, this is what you should do.”
The rock is complemented by poplar bark, a unique textural material from Barkclad in Enka that provides a visual contrast to the stone but remains consistent with the overall aesthetic. The result is a mountain lodge with a sense of permanence.
Stanley says he wanted the house to feel “like it might have been there for a very long time.” The architect explains, “this was more a throwback to an old hunting lodge or estate-type architecture than your typical mountain home.”
Reclaimed timber is the distinguishing element indoors, where dramatic, 12-foot-high ceilings and exposed beams create a striking first impression. Sourced from Appalachian Antique Hardwoods in Waynesville, the material is between 100 and 150 years old: a deep, rich mix of oak and elm that the company repurposes from legacy barns in states from Pennsylvania down to the Carolinas.
In the great room, rustic posts provide support, and beams intersect above to create a coffered ceiling. Other boards are installed vertically along the walls throughout the living room and dining area, crisply offset by white trim around the windows and doors. Original cutouts in the timber posts allow charming “hiding” places where the homeowners leave treats for their grandkids.
Plush seating is arranged around a fireplace that’s clad in stone in the same artisanal, irregularly stacked pattern as the home’s exterior. The décor has an intentionally casual feel. As the homeowner explains, “We wanted this to be a place of comfort for the family.” She adds, “In fact, I picked out that brown rug thinking, ‘If someone spills a glass of red wine on this, I’ll blot it up and not even worry about it.’”
Against calming neutral shades, the living area plays off the custom-stained floor-to-ceiling kitchen cabinetry and is further echoed in the drapes and throw pillows. The effect is welcoming and well put together without being fussy. The informal dining area boasts stunning long-range mountain views and invites one to linger over coffee, wine, or a family meal. Just off the great room is a spacious screened porch, sited to hear, if not see, the creek that runs through the property. The porch has a fireplace, as well, and seating to accommodate a growing extended family — the homeowners, their children and their spouses, and soon, a total of five grandchildren.
The master bedroom is found on the opposite side of the home and has a distinctly different feel from the common areas. With white-painted shiplap walls and a soaring pale-blue pitched ceiling adorned with a lone reclaimed barn-wood beam, it reads like a rustic spa, one that invites calm repose. The spacious bathroom, with split custom-height vanities, an oversized freestanding tub, and walk-in shower, extends the sense of serenity with cool honed Crossville wall and floor tiles in white with pale-gray marbling. While the white-on-white theme may exude more beach than mountains, thoughtful accents like the timber beam, stone countertops, and textured cabinet knobs tie the homeowners’ personal quarters to the rest of the home.
The family-friendly theme continues downstairs, where one of the two bedrooms boasts a set of built-in bunks, twin over full, to host as many as six children. A pass-through cabinet connects the two sleeping areas — a feature that the grandchildren find irresistible. The couple’s grown children and their families all make regular use of the home, and were even involved in elements of the planning and design. Their son, a landscape architect, contributed the design for the yard, and their daughter-in-law helped select finishes in the house and spearheaded the decisions on the Jack-and-Jill-style bathroom that serves the two bedrooms downstairs.
While the lady of the house was actively involved in all aspects of design and construction, her husband, a retired distributor for a major beer company, requested one essential feature: a home pub. His former colleagues gifted him the custom “Rock House Pub” sign that hangs on the wall. The bar offers storage for wine, beer, and glassware as well as a keg cooler, so there’s always something on tap. With polished concrete floors, banquette seating, a shuffleboard table and a fully equipped men’s restroom just around the corner, the pub is a unique grown-up feature. An adjacent patio area allows for all-ages entertaining outdoors in warm months and provides access to the yard.
The Rock House, completed last summer, is already fulfilling the homeowners’ original vision as a mountain retreat not only for them, but for everyone in their clan. The matriarch notes, “Our kids visit there all the time and bring friends with them … it gets well used by the family. They know that this is their house, too, and we want them to enjoy it all together.”
