In 2019 on a bright, relatively warm early February morning I decided to visit Roan Mountain in Tennessee, the state where I was born and grew up, because the site along with the accompanying state park had been recommended to me by many people over the years. I had an amazing hike on the mountain’s multi-peak range, known as ‘The Balds’ because of its lack of trees which allows for a 360° view of the Appalachian mountain range along the border of Tennessee and North Carolina. On my way back driving down the mountain, I spotted a 'For Sale' sign placed somewhat haphazardly so that I couldn’t tell exactly what was on offer. Long story short, a few weeks later I had made a quick decision that was actually probably a decade or more in the making and was the proud new owner of a house and approximately 5 acres along the Doe River. However, this was only the beginning. I knew that the renovation would be a challenge, but also felt in my gut that I was meant to do it. Throughout, I kept thinking: ‘I really need to find a general contractor, but until then I’ll just find someone to…’ and before you knew it, the home was done and fabulous! Since I don’t think HGTV has a ‘Mountain House Reno’ show yet, I’ll take you through my adventure, room by room. 😅
So if the kitchen is the soul of the house, then this soul was tired but still kicking – a nice tile floor, hearty wooden cabinets, and, well, an oven. 1970’s? But hey, it gets hot, that’s what an oven’s supposed to do, right? I decided to keep the floor and the cabinets (paint them), add a natural finish granite counter and island (Trinity Granite, great place!) , white subway tile backsplash and, of course, appliances (yes, a dishwasher). The blue wall color was beautiful but intense so I took it down a few notches with a soft gray. And no worries, the toilet did eventually find its way home to the bathroom. 😉
I’m totally in love with the finished product, completed with the help of Jeff Dills and Charlie Stout from Bulldog Plumbing of Roan Mountain.
In general the house had so much to work with. But the full bathroom was, well, a gut job. The guys from Bulldog took it down to the studs as you can see. This was actually awesome, though, to have one room to build up from scratch. The bathroom might have been my favorite room to put together.
Here are the highlights:
I kept the cast iron tub, which seemed original to the house, and had it re-glazed. Then to create the surround, used a piece that’s waterproof plastic but looks like metal from ATI Decorative Laminates , an innovative plastics company headquartered in Greensboro, NC. Here’s the finished pairing; it really pops!
For the sink (and also the kitchen island), I wanted something that combined a stainless steel base with a granite top. Pricing these out ready-made wasn't really mountain house budget-friendly, so I looked into other options: Trinity Granite offered discounts on remnants, and for the base, I found these beauties for a fraction of the cost. The resulting kitchen island and bathroom vanity are two of my favorite pieces in the house.
We finished things off with some fantastic remnant vinyl flooring with a little shine to complement the tub surround, a mirror with built in LED light, and of course the original toilet (it came back after its vacation to the kitchen).
The dining room is a real favorite! Not much to do here, just cosmetics. The beautiful knot-free wood floors were refinished throughout the house by Upchurch flooring. The main thing was the wallpaper – after having stripped it from the walls of a ~5000 square foot house, I thought I would never use it again. Even now, I’m only at ‘accent wall.’ But I’m glad I got over my aversion because I think it made a huge impact here. Lastly, the cherry on top was the best housewarming gift I have ever received – a beautiful original painting from my dear friend and genius artist/decorator, Caroline Pyle 🥰
Like the rest of the house, the bedrooms had great bones. A big boost from my dear old friend Mr. Paint and my new bestie Ms. Wallpaper!
The central piece of the living room, the amazing fireplace, just needed some cleaning (and the convenience of gas logs). And while I probably wouldn't have chosen knotty pine walls from scratch, I decided to go with it. I wanted the challenge of combining its folksy vibe with more modern elements. Do you think it works? I say yes! 😊
And now to the best part – one of the silver linings of the Covid Year for me, in addition to the Spring Break with my son that turned into three months in the mountains together, was the chance to get further with the yard in one season that I ever thought possible. If you ever need to have the earth moved (literally) you can call Mr. Chuck Cabe (I don’t think they have a website but I can tell you how to find him). Also, I would not be able to maintain things without the continued support of Mr. Beecher Holtsclaw (If you need him, let me know!) I'm so excited to share this very special place with you! Peace 😌
