Childhood Nostalgia

Teri has fond memories of growing up visiting the family summer lake house, so after purchasing a beautifully sloping lot in Dry Creek/Southpoint on Lake James, she and husband Jerry engaged Bruce Hafley at Timberframe Carolina to create the perfect retreat cottage – very functional but not too big.  The home was designed as a getaway for creating family memories for their grown children and future grandchildren much like Teri had experienced as a child.  Teri and Jerry also enjoy entertaining their many friends.  They envision long weekends relaxing on the lake with guests.  And once acquaintances learned they were building a Timberpeg home, Teri and Jerry soon found they had many New friends.

Childhood memories for Teri consisted of visiting a home tucked into the woods that looked like it had been there for years.  So as you approach their new Timberpeg home, there are several design features that blend the home into the earth and make the home appear smaller from the outside creating an attractive and simple exterior cottage style.  Using a 1 ½ story design with a slightly lower 9/12 roof pitch, lowers the total height of the building.  As your sightline lowers from the roofline, you are drawn to the lower sloped front porch roof also drawing your sightline down creating the appearance of the house blending into the landscape.  The timbered truss over the long front porch welcomes visitors and reveals a taste of more beauty to come inside.  The natural wood timber on the exterior combined with the stone columns anchors the house right into the landscape. 

The inside was also designed to recreate those childhood memories, but this time they are for Teri and Jerry’s children.  An open floor plan design between the dining, kitchen and great room allows the family to socialize during their everyday activities of cooking, eating and relaxing.  While this first floor setting provides a quiter setting for unwinding, the walkout ground floor below creates a more lively social setting.  A game area with billiards, a large screen tv and a kitchenette provide facilities for watching sports and competition – all necessary activities for today’s family bonding.

On the outside, spaces were created to enjoy the beauty of the natural lake setting.  A large screen porch off the kitchen provides unobstructed views of the lake.  And being open on three sides allows cooler lake breezes to easily blow through.  Outside the ground floor are large brick paved patios that creates a natural walkway to the lake and dock below.

With so many places to hang out in the way each one prefers, everyone who visits can create their own memories.