By Emily Williams
Breaking away from the ever-popular lake house or beach property, some Over the Mountain area residents are heading for the hills, buying and building beautiful properties in the mountains of North Carolina.
One of the most popular communities in the Cashiers, N.C., area is the neighborhood of High Hampton. Boasting the amenities of a resort-style community, High Hampton is home to a golf course, country club and — at an elevation of 3,864 feet — views of Rock Mountain and Chimney Top Mountain.
Mountain Brook residents Bob and Jeanie Mackenzie have owned their High Hampton home since 2003.
“We had been coming to Cashiers for several years and staying at the High Hampton Inn,” Mackenzie said. “High Hampton Inn is a very rustic, family-oriented development.”
Instead of hitting a highbrow resort, Mackenzie said that her family enjoys Cashiers for its low- key quality.
“It is like a trip back in time with the focus on the outdoors and spending time with friends and loved ones,” she said.
Mackenzie’s High Hampton house is one of the four original “golf cottages” built for the community. Built in the 1970s, each cottage has the same general design while varying in size.
“My favorite room is the screened porch,” Mackenzie said. “The weather in Cashiers is so cool during the summer months that the porch is the best spot to enjoy the outdoors, entertain or take a nap.”
She said their porch is a gathering place for friends and family to enjoy being together and to take in the view of the mountains.
Though Mackenzie said she has many good memories attached to her mountain home, by far her favorite is the July 4 parties her family has hosted.
Fellow Mountain Brook residents Ed and Lynn Cassady also call High Hampton their home away from home.
The Cassadys have owned their property for 10 years but didn’t build their vacation home until the spring of 2014. They collaborated with Jim Robinson of Design South Builders, who is currently building four homes for Birmingham families in Cashiers.
Ed Cassady said he found building a home a welcome and thought-provoking process that forced the family to consider what they enjoy in order to create a house that would conform to their way of life. Thus, they built their house with a large, open floor plan and amenities to highlight both nature and family.
“I love the screen porch with a swing bed, fireplace and hidden television and fabulous view,”
Lynn Cassady said. “In keeping with the rustic feel of the space, custom wooden doors were built to cover the television when it is not being used.
“You could spend the entire day in this space. Eating breakfast in the morning to the sounds of birds chirping, watching Wimbledon, taking a nap on the swing bed and ending your day sipping wine in front of a roaring fire — in July.”
Ed Cassady said the comfortable and engaging feel of the porch extends throughout the house, creating a number of spaces suitable for conversation, contemplation or simply enjoying the view, which Lynn Cassady said is the real decoration.
“Everything else is a supporting cast member,” she said. “We chose light walls in order to highlight the beautiful rustic beams on the ceilings and the lovely antique hardwood floors.”
Though they are empty nesters, Ed and Lynn Cassady said their Cashiers home is rarely empty and that the family has enjoyed many vacations and even a birthday celebration there.
“Last summer, my side of the family came to Cashiers for my mom’s 91st birthday,” Lynn Cassady said. “My brother and his family came from San Francisco, my sister and her family came from Houston, and my mom came from Fort Lauderdale.”
She said all 16 visitors spent their days spread out all over the house only to convene by midnight on the porch to share stories and enjoy each other’s company.
“It was exactly what I was hoping when designing the house,” she said.
Lynn Cassady and Jeanie Mackenzie both agree the best times of the year to travel to Cashiers are summer and fall.
“There is nothing better than driving up the mountain about a half hour outside of Cashiers and watching the temperature in your car go from 100 degrees to 82 degrees,” Lynn Cassady said. “At the same time, Thanksgiving is magical, and it is great fun to pick out your Christmas tree from one of the many farms.”
There are plenty of amenities around Cashiers to enjoy the break from the summer heat.
“We love to shop, eat good food and hike,” Mackenzie said.
Both families enjoy playing golf on the High Hampton courses. Mackenzie said she prefers the course that allows dogs, children and even llamas to accompany players. The High Hampton Inn hosts a group of llamas every summer and offers residents the opportunity to hire a llama as their golf caddy, take a llama on a hike or even lead a llama through obstacle courses during the annual Llama Olympics.
“Whether for golf, fishing, boating, dining, tennis or cards and conversation, Cashiers truly has a lot to offer,” Ed Cassady said.
