about us
OUR DREAMS CAME TRUE - Early 1998
In the early morning of June 1998, having driven overnight from Florida, our small family group had arrived at Santeetlah Lake Western North Carolina. This adventure was our planned annual family vacation; the children had been excitedly packing for many weeks beforehand. We set up our base camp on the lake close to the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest, where we had previously planned to do all our mountain trail photography & exploring. We were so pleased with our venue choice; the lake was in pristine condition, no overcrowding and the stunning mountains, majestically rose from the shores of the lake. On that afternoon, we hiked several challenging and connecting trails in the Memorial Forest, stopping for our usual family backpacking lunch, loaded with fruits & energy bars, we arrived back to camp at around 6pm, feeling accomplished and very hungry. |
That evening whilst the children were tasked in building a group fire, the adults organized and prepared supper. The rest of that evening we sat around our cozy fire chatting and listening to some music the older children had brought with them, when suddenly out of the blue, came one of the children's suggestions 'why don't we live here permanently', followed by a load roar from the children. It had begun, the rest of the evening's conversation was fueled by the children's excitement over the prospect of living as prehistoric 'forest people'. All the adults clearly understood that the true spirit of children's enthusiasm especially on vacation, creating and manifesting their futures, is one thing, but the practicality of change is an adult venture. Our family roots were anchored deep in the Florida restaurant business, moving 600 miles north, making a sudden location change, was a different reality. Our parting words before bedtime was that we would think about it, why spoil some beautiful young dreams. The next few days we spent exploring the Spirit of the forest, the rewards were immense, creeks, challenging climbs and overwhelming views, natures architecture at its finest. The love of the mountains began to grow on us all, truly outstanding. The adults had kept silent about the relocation, however covertly, we had discussed the pluses and minuses of some of the possibilities. A few more days went by, our love for the forest got stronger, included in our daily activities now included swimming, fishing and bike trails. Our intentions were still a well-guarded secret, deciding not to allow ourselves to reignite the fuse of young expectations. Every night during quiet time the question of moving to the mountains would resurface, all the practicalities had been strategically answered, until finally and under great pressure, the adults had to break cover and admit we all had given it some serious thought. Looking back, I'm sure the roar from the children, would have disturbed many the other campers. We agreed that we would look into purchasing some suitable land, nothing else, no promises.
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Choosing Our Location - Setting the Scene
Our plan for the next three days was to search for the most perfect spot to develop and self-build our authentic Appalachian Style Log Cabins. A preference for our location was a water-based setting such as a Lake access close to the cabins, a creek, or spring, a difficult task when trying to stay within reality and budget. Our next step was to choose a general location, so we opened our area maps and discussed lots of different locations, finally we settled for the Nantahala area, this was an easy decision, one because it had a beautiful undeveloped lake and secondly, we knew the area reasonably well because we had hiked sections of the Appalachian Trail (AT), which runs through the Township. Over the next two days we had been shown many potential land development properties, most of which were exceptional, however, financially outside of our limitations. On the last day of our vacation, we discovered purely by chance an overgrown, 5-acre spring fed mountain lot. The land was located on the edges of the historic Cherokee Indian Village of Aquone, (where the two waters meet), the main Cherokee village is now covered by the beautiful and popular vacation destination Nantahala Lake. The area met all our expectations, and more importantly our budget too, life is about taking that one step forward, ‘we agreed to purchase’.
Our plan for the next three days was to search for the most perfect spot to develop and self-build our authentic Appalachian Style Log Cabins. A preference for our location was a water-based setting such as a Lake access close to the cabins, a creek, or spring, a difficult task when trying to stay within reality and budget. Our next step was to choose a general location, so we opened our area maps and discussed lots of different locations, finally we settled for the Nantahala area, this was an easy decision, one because it had a beautiful undeveloped lake and secondly, we knew the area reasonably well because we had hiked sections of the Appalachian Trail (AT), which runs through the Township. Over the next two days we had been shown many potential land development properties, most of which were exceptional, however, financially outside of our limitations. On the last day of our vacation, we discovered purely by chance an overgrown, 5-acre spring fed mountain lot. The land was located on the edges of the historic Cherokee Indian Village of Aquone, (where the two waters meet), the main Cherokee village is now covered by the beautiful and popular vacation destination Nantahala Lake. The area met all our expectations, and more importantly our budget too, life is about taking that one step forward, ‘we agreed to purchase’.
The Start of Construction - 2000 - 2003
Deciding the size and type of cabin was our next project, we wanted the buildings to be authentic, style structures; hand hewn logs, huge ceiling beams and a large rocking chair covered ‘Old School’ porch decks. Moving forward was the budget, ah yes, the budget, the destroyer of all things creative, next came the bank loan. We prepared our business plan of two cabins and a back-packing campsite; however, we were refused a bank loan on that basis, but did get an offer of an equity loan. We immediately understood that an equity loan on the family home, was making things a little more serious. Our decisions had to be made with absolute care and attention. We made a plan; only the tiniest of loans would be applied for, which would cover only the very basic building material, a sort of 'kick-start' amount, we applied and thankfully we were accepted. During construction we left the foundations and sub-floor to the experts; the real work began when the logs arrived from Tennessee. Over next two years of our self-build enterprise, we began counting the many 12-hour days of sweat equity, culminating in blistered hands, sore backs and the loss of some fingernails. In April of 2003, we had completed our first two cabins, Laurel Ridge and Blueberry Hill, and from 2003 - 2008 built two more, one we live in and one we sold. |
Where we are today - 2023.
Our next project is to manage our beautiful hardwood forest and we are excited to report, that the Northeast portion of the property now has two shady spring-fed ponds, both surrounded by grassy fields and blueberries. For our guests, an early rise at the pond will witness white-tail deer, squirrels and rabbits at play. The ponds are great entertainment for the children, who are welcome to fish them, we have a catch and release policy. |
The Future - The Final Project
The final project is to link both cabins to the ponds by individual trails, you will be guiding through our forest on a well-defined adventure. At the end of your journey guests will find grassy fields for picnicking, cooking (BBQ) facilities, meditation benches (bring your music) and a rain shelter should the weather turn. We can confirm this project has begun and is presently under construction, our final project will be ready for Spring 2024.
The final project is to link both cabins to the ponds by individual trails, you will be guiding through our forest on a well-defined adventure. At the end of your journey guests will find grassy fields for picnicking, cooking (BBQ) facilities, meditation benches (bring your music) and a rain shelter should the weather turn. We can confirm this project has begun and is presently under construction, our final project will be ready for Spring 2024.
We thank all our guest over the years, that have stayed with us, we are in gratitude for your business.