Town and Country

The antique telephone booth weighed one ton and required nine men to ease it into place through a hole in the roof. It was an extravagant way to honor homeowner Peter Vexter’s British roots, as was the installation of an authentic fire-station pole between the floors of a two-level garage. 

“The pole was a nice touch,” he says smoothly. “Without knowing anything about the future” — in the shape of a 5,500-square-foot contemporary dream home in the North Carolina mountains — “I used to think that would be something I’d love to have one day.”

Peter was a captain with the London Fire Brigade and an insurance broker with Lloyd’s of London before moving to Chicago in the 1990s, where he met his wife Marty. He continued as a volunteer firefighter/EMT in the Clarendon Hills suburb, in addition to his day job. 

Ironically, the authentic London phone booth was a regional find, scooped up by interior designer Michelle LaVictor during a buying trip at world-famous High Point Market in the NC Piedmont. And when Peter and Marty continued to outfit their Cliffs at Walnut Cove residence, they were careful to trim out the rooms with plenty of contemporary local artworks, as well, culled from many of Asheville’s hippest venues. Marty reels off names such as glassblower John Almauger, painter Daniel McClendon, and ceramicist Akira Satake (all of the River Arts District); encaustic abstractionist Julia Fosson (who sells at Woolworth Walk); sculptors Robert Gardner (multimedia, Haen Gallery) and Ben Greene-Colonnese (glass, Center for Craft); and fine-art basketmaker Matt Tommey.

Coming off Western North Carolina’s “Summer of Glass” blitz — actually a six-month endeavor — it’s fitting that Dan Collins, president of Glennwood Custom Builders, should mention that medium. Glass is increasingly important to the Mountain Modern mode, and the Vexter home is so extensively glazed it appears transparent on the front approach. Collins notes the “many glass-to-glass corner windows” inside — a look that dispenses with corner moldings in favor of flawless visual access to the outdoors. The house’s main staircase has a solid-glass baluster, and glass encloses the multi-level garage complex.

Todd Young, principal with Young & Young Architects of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, elevates Jamie Hartzog of local Blinds and Designs to major-player status: her expertise in high-tech window coverings validated all that glass. “This site has views in almost every direction,” Young notes, “and we had to take advantage of that, but enable the homeowners to control their privacy, too.” Engineering the secret pockets that hold the retractable, remote-control blinds wasn’t an afterthought, then, but an “integral part of the architecture that was done during the rough-framing [phase],” he adds.

“You want to make sure the window treatments are stored in a way that is aesthetically perfect,” explains LaVictor, principal at the firm’s design arm Young & Young Interiors. She likewise praises Blinds and Designs, and both Young and LaVictor credit the miracle of FaceTime, respective project managers Chris Harrington (Young & Young) and Bret Hartzog (Glennwood), and the Southern mountains’ wealth of artisanal talent for making the long-distance project unfurl without hiccups.

Among its eight exterior living spaces, the home’s most essential outdoor room has a series of bi-folding and pocket doors, says Collins, “so it can be enclosed and conditioned for extreme hot or cold weather.” Not that a little humidity or a few snowflakes are likely to discommode the Chicago-conditioned Vexters, who first explored North Carolina when one of their children attended Wake Forest University. 

Peter has begun transitioning into retirement, and says that he and Marty first toyed with the idea of building a vacation home in the area, keeping their red-brick Georgian up north. But the mountains pulled them in, and, just like that 2,000-pound phone booth, anchored them to the spot. Drawn to another Glennwood-built house at the Cliffs, the Vexters contacted Collins and didn’t look back.

“We loved it here so much,” confirms Marty, “that we sold our old house in 12 days and moved to Asheville full time.”

Clear Succession

In the great room, an inverted hipped ceiling paneled in rift-sawn white oak shows the Mountain Modern vernacular’s latest warming trend. Baronial-looking Indiana limestone paves the back wall and comprises the fireplace surround, bookended by Elk Mountain stone (Ayres Stone Works). A picturesque clerestory showcases the glass-to-glass corner windows. The floor is also rift-sawn white oak, notes interior designer Michelle LaVictor (Young & Young Architects/Interiors), who chose the understated neutral furniture. 

Five-Alarm Fancy

Marty Vexter says that her husband Peter, a former firefighter and semi-retired insurance executive, loves to use the home’s most unusual accessory: a fire-station pole that connects the two levels of the glass-walled garage. A yellow crash pad and red trim were installed to achieve perfect authenticity, notes architect Todd Young, principal of Young & Young Architects. 

Makers’ Mark

Stained-alder cabinetry by Mountain Showcase Group outlines the kitchen, and, to the left, makes a wall-to-wall installation to support gallery-lit artwork by locals Ben Greene-Colonnese, John Almaguer, and Akira Satake. Gleaming linear glass tile on the backsplash is paired with a Thermador range and a chic, minimalist island crafted of “Perla Venato” cream quartzite (Mountain Marble).

London Calling

It took a leather-paneled ceiling, porcelain floors with radiant heating, a handsome stone entertainment-niche surround, and rich masculine furniture to hold down the media room’s obvious central motif. The antique London telephone booth acknowledges homeowner Peter Vexter’s native city — but was found regionally, in world-renowned furniture capital High Point, NC.

Cool Down

Alexander Franqui, owner of Water Dance Outdoor Creations, crafted the dramatic cascade in collaboration with designing architect Todd Young. The piece’s steel components and concrete-finished troughs (Tom Schulz, EnnisArt) set it apart from the all-rock water features common in more traditional luxury homes. With its central rivulet running laterally beneath the bridge of the house, the piece is a work of contemporary art, “an evolving look in the Mountain Modern style,” notes Franqui.

Mountains to Sea

More stained-alder cabinetry by Mountain Showcase Group distinguishes the master bath, with a “Sea Pearl” countertop from Mountain Marble. The bubble-glass sconces (Modern Forms) were chosen by interior designer Michelle LaVictor (Young & Young Architects/Interiors).

Air Apparent

In the master bedroom, the floating tray ceiling is a contemporary take on a traditional beam configuration and also functions to conceal uplighting. The bed likewise “floats,” pulled out from the wall to take full advantage of the outdoor vista. Interior designer Michelle LaVictor chose the batik indigo textiles because they suggested the peaks and valleys of the Blue Ridge.

Resources

Architect: Todd Mitchell Young, principal architect, Young & Young Architects (with project manager Chris Harrington)

Builder: Dan Collins, president, Glennwood Custom Builders (Hendersonville)

Project Manager: Bret Hartzog, Glennwood Custom Builders

Interior Designer: Michelle LaVictor, principal designer, Young & Young Architects/Young & Young Interiors

Blinds: Jamie Hartzog, Blinds and Designs (Fletcher)

Cabinetry: Mountain Showcase Group, Inc. (Hendersonville)

Closet systems: Carolina Closets (Fletcher)

Concrete finishing (water feature): Tom Schulz, EnnisArt Eco-Responsible Decorative Concrete (Asheville)

Granite and stone detailing: Mountain Marble (Asheville)

Framing and siding material: Builders First Source (Hendersonville)

Furniture, artworks, lighting, textiles: Michelle LaVictor, interior designer, Young & Young Architects/Interiors; local artwork from the River Arts District, Haen Gallery, Matt Tommey, and more (some selected by the homeowners).

Hardwood flooring: The Hardwood Company (Granite Falls, NC)

Interior stair railing, mirrors, exterior glass railing, glass shower-door enclosures: DeSoto Glass (Horse Shoe)

Plumbing fixtures and appliances: Ferguson (Asheville)

Stonework/masonry: David Ayres Stone Works (Seneca, SC)

Water feature: Water Dance Outdoor Creations, LLC (Arden)

Windows: Jennings Builders Supply (Brevard)