![]() Miguel Angel dropped several enormous trees to open views without crushing as much as a rhododendron. His crew’s work amplified our enjoyment of the great watershed with trails to the waterfall and the Bear’s Den. Getting around a mountain property is challenging on steep, slippery slopes, so we prioritized trail-making with Enrique Hernandez of Black Bear Landscape. ![]() ![]() The Outdoor Lights, our favorite go-to lighting experts, once again knocked it out of the park with copper deck lighting on the rustic handrails to offer understated access to the gardens. Night lighting is magical and set to Dark Sky standards with low wattage fixtures automatically extinguishing at 10 p.m. A discretely tented WC featured the newest in composting toilets. The creekside outdoor cooking area quickly included twin personal pizza ovens, a charcoal cast iron cook station, a green marble topped washstand and a standard grill. The Out of Africa canvas dining tent sprang into being to honor the big birthday of dear friend and artist Penny Pollock, and soon there was a companion Glamping sleeping tent down by the river. Cinnamon ferns outline the overlook trail to the river and tall Veronicastrum virginiana, native Culver’s root, pair with tiger lilies in the spring seepage discovered during construction. Our stone fountain, designed by Carl Peverall, uber sculptor of atmospheric creations from Celo, NC, accents the view of Fernwood Falls with its companion weeping Snowmound Cherry. Tiger and Carolina lilies reach 6’ heights on the terrace wall and Rozanne geranium cascades off the boulders. The Great Lawn now sports a topiary kingdom of mossed dogs around a large bubbling dog bowl. Gardens came gradually into existence on the steep hillside. Wayne then removed over 40 logs that jammed the river to allow it to run free. After 5 months, we had access to the river and a bridge to the waterfall. Terrace walls, underground electricity, a new dining terrace and a woodland drive evolved. He then provided access down the steep 35% slope thru the rhododendron hell to reach the river. The monster yellow track hoe dwarfed our tiny home as he began to lower the old parking area by 5’ to make a great lawn and boulder wall. The fun began when Wayne Miller, our top-notch grading expert, brought over his toys. Everything was modernized, customized and spit-shined. This resulted in taking the cottage apart from the roof down and the floor up while keeping the same footprint. We decided to double the very small house and add a room downstairs. Steve Gajda, builder extraordinaire in Cashiers, kindly took us on. Corabel asked if we wanted Fernwood back just at the right time. The Shofners stewarded the property for a decade, returning it to our care in 2020.īy 2020, we’d weathered Covid, unexpectedly sold our Dovecote farmhouse and were ready for a building adventure. ![]() Joining in the fun, we put up a Montana frame canvas tent on our land and made paths thru the dense rhododendron forest. Because of plentiful rain, a heavy flow of water began to slowly reveal the rock cascade. Our friends, Corabel and Martin Shofner, discovered the waterfall one very wet summer. Perching our car precariously on the verge of the two tire-track gravel drive, we marveled at the mature hardwood and pine forest with its dense rhododendron “hell.” The waterfall was invisible.Īfter modernizing the cottage, we purchased adjacent land. Featuring orange shag carpet, a wash station with an enormous hot water heater and strip heating, the kitchen left a lot to the imagination. The tiny one-room cottage was a quaint, homemade structure with a barn-like roof profile perched on the side of a very steep slope. We hit some wet gravel and slid downhill into Fernwood. Having lived in High Hampton since 1998, Hugh and I were adventuring on a cold winter's day. Visitors can't find us, but we can walk to the Village Green and have coffee at Buck's in 10 minutes. No rules are the rule once you pass local building inspections. Lancewood claims to be the first subdivision in the area and is a kind of lone wolf. An eclectic community of tiny cottages etch the landscape alongside the headwaters of the Upper Horsepasture River in Cashiers. The magic of dappled light in leafy green woods brought us to this tiny cove at the end of a gravel trail of little lanes. With a sound akin to a mad hive of bees, it intensifies with the cadence of a helicopter. Other days, the yin and yang of nature mellows the waterfall flow to a trickle, belying its nascent power. Transfixed in awe of nature, we watch from our deck as Fernwood Falls explodes. First a plume of spray, then a flume of white water boils down the rock face. The low rumble from the ancient dome of Big Sheep Cliff mountain echoes across our watershed. Landscape Architects, Hugh and Mary Palmer Dargan, create an oasis in a sheltered cove
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