10th Annual Cashiers Designer Showhouse

The 10^th Annual Cashiers Designer Showhouse at THE LODGES AT MILLSTONE Benefiting The Zachary Tolbert House and 2007 Grant Recipient, The Cashiers Valley Community Center

August 18 – September 2

Hours – 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM Daily

1:00-4:00 PM Sunday

General Admission: … $25.00

Group Rate: 10 or more: … $20.00

Lunches Daily by Savory Palate

Directions to Quick Shuttle Service: From the intersection of Highway 64 and 107 in Cashiers, take 64 West towards Highlands. Go approximately ½ mile, turn left at the Showhouse/Cashiers Valley Community Center sign. Hop on; it’s the only way to go.

Showhouse Calendar 

Showhouse invites you each day to tour The Lodges, enjoy lunch, the views, the shops, gardens and exquisite art galleries. Here are some special days; to inquire about them and purchase extra tickets, call 828/743-7710.

Patron Party  - August 17 – “Let’s Paint the Town Red” 6:00  PM

Daily Touring - August 18 – Cashiers Designer Showhouse opens at 10:00 AM, continuing daily through Sunday, September 2.  Shops Open Daily - Antiques and treats - Lunches daily by Savory Palate - The Lodges Art Gallery opens - Vistas and Garden Niches 

August 22 – Cost $45.00 - Silver Slip Falls Eco Tour and Hike and Fashion Show by Highland Hiker, lunch too!!

August 23 – Cost $65.00 - Edgar-Reeves Interactive Lamp Seminar and High Tea at The Chattooga Club.

August 28 – Cost $10.00 - We’re treating you right. Local residents can enjoy The Lodges on this special day! 

August 31 – Cost $125.00 - Trout Secrets with ESPN2’s Chad Foster at Mountain Top Farm. His Tales, Trips and Topical Tips. BBQ and cocktails!!

September 2 - 1:00 – 4:00 PM - Last day ‘til next time!! 

Art Galleries in Cashiers 

Los Angeles, Chicago and New York are all great art destinations; but these two weeks, art lovers will prefer a visit to The Lodges Art Gallery at the Cashiers Designer Showhouse. Curated by Debbie Hudson who has been identifying emerging talent in the Southeast for 25 years, and guided by the talents of Anne Morgan Kelley, Mary Adair Leslie of Summit One Gallery in Highlands, and Karen Weihs and Cathy Woods of Weihs-Woods Gallery in Cashiers, outstanding examples from their collections will be rotated through the gallery spaces. Local and regional works by Jane Smithers, Tom Bluemlien, Rosemary Stiefel, Ron Williams, Scott Upton, Wesley Wofford and Vivian Jendzio have been assembled and beautifully hung. Lyrical truths, the mysteries of existence, the allure of nature and the wilderness are additionally represented in the works of Linda McCane, Robert Striffolino, Andrew Peters and Liz Sullivan. “A center for creativity,” says Showhouse chair Millie Lathan, “is truly our Cashiers Valley.” The art ‘pieces’ and outdoor sculptures are on view each day of Showhouse, August 18 through September 2.  

Gardens and Terraces 

Shade gardens from Stephen Baldwin, terraces from Erin and Dustin Watson and vistas elegantly refined by the touch of arborist Candy Worley and horticulturalist John McCarley grace this year’s Lodges at Millstone. A mountain shade garden with hosta, variegated Solomon’s seal, St. John’s wort and granite benches and containers ornament the entrance garden. Interesting water sources, an authentic North Carolina millstone and hidden sculptures are presented in surprising locations. A new “take” on sculpture is the work of local artist, Suzie Riley. “It’s all about sculpture moving off the table into the landscape,” says Suzie. This biodegradable piece will be nestled into the meadow. The Baker Loggia is refreshed by the red, white and green of seasonal annuals. A centerpiece “table” flowing with lime green moss is meant to strike your fancy. The simple elegance of boxwood defines the work of many of the local horticulturalists gathered at the Showhouse. “Less is more here,” says John McCarley, “and don’t you dare miss it.”  

Special Showhouse Event with ESPN’s Chad Foster 

A highlight of the upcoming Cashiers Designer Showhouse special events will be an evening with ESPN fly fishing celebrity Chad Foster. Foster, who hosted ESPN2’s nationally-acclaimed program, Fly Fishing America”, spent eight ‘magical’ seasons traveling the country in search of America’s finest fly fishing destinations. These days Chad spends most of his free time fishing the world-class trout fisheries of western North Carolina. 

The Showhouse fly fishing evening will consist of a rare private viewing of one of Foster’s ESPN Fly Fishing America episodes complete with personal anecdotes from the ESPN host himself. Guests will be treated to behind-the-scenes secrets of taping fly fishing episodes that can be seen in 85 million households. All in attendance will also have an opportunity to pick this celeb’s brain on his favorite fishing holes around the country. 

The grand finale of the night will be a drawing for two lucky winners to spend a day on the water with Chad, fly fishing the lakes of Lonesome Valley. Another big winner will receive one of Chad’s personal fly rods to take home for ‘keeps’! 

Chad learned to fly fish from his father, David, a long-time Cashiers resident. “Pops” was a great teacher and the rest of the story is history. What’s the largest trout Chad’s ever caught? An eleven-pound brown trout on the Frying Pan River in Basalt, Colorado, caught on an actual ESPN Fly Fishing America episode. 

Chad’s advice for a rookie fly-fishing enthusiast? Learn to fish correctly so you don’t develop bad habits. Secondly, it’s all about having fun outdoors, rather than how many fish you can catch – advice all anglers can take to heart. 

The evening provides a chance to visit “Mountain Top Farm”, a private summer home rarely open to the public. Little has changed at this quintessential mountain lodge built around 1920. The old estate has been home to five generations of the same family who spent summers exploring the mountains on the land that is now Mountaintop and Pinchot. The family has retained the original lodge and the 20-acre Hurricane Lake, where the Showhouse event will take place. 

Cost for tickets, including a mountain dinner, is $125 per person. For further information on this special evening with ESPN’s Chad Foster, call the Showhouse Office at 828/743-7710.

Keeping It Like It Was 

Award-winning Designers are “Moving In” to the Cashiers Designer Showhouse. Moving vans from Charlotte, Atlanta, Highlands, Franklin, Birmingham, Jacksonville and Cashiers are headed to the Showhouse. Their wares and the designers’ talents are to be displayed August 18 through September 2 in the rooms of the refurbished, historic Millstone Inn. In keeping to the original attractions – the old charm of wood walls, 7 ½ foot ceilings and spectacular Whiteside Mountains views, -- a large group of impressive designers have chosen to stay with “comfort” and capitalize on the “natural.” The Gathering Room is inspired by the 1930’s original sitting room for guests. “It spoke to me”, said Carole Weaks, and to do this historic home justice, she’s not “fighting it.” All the fabrics will work off the walls and do not take away from the views. “Keeping it like it used to be” is my aim, said Toby West. The pond outside is brought “inside” with a host of unique fly-fishing accents in the Fireside Sitting Room. “Color is one way to let the inside and outside flow into each other,” said Tom Hayes. White and green and American furnishings are intended to make any guest of the Inn’s Stillwater Bedroom dream “in nature.” 

The 2007 Designer Showhouse is set amidst old mountains and, as a former Inn, has been a refuge for many summer visitors. The Wildflower Room, designed by Phoebe Howard, intends to preserve the light and airiness through the use of sheers and cream-color paints. “Soft and cozy and dreamy, a bit of a fantasy,” is how Mrs. Howard described it. The indigenous pressed orchids denote both the feminine and the native. 

‘Neutral,’ ‘rustic,’ ‘natural’ are words to best describe The Lodges at Millstone, an historic and handsome 1933 home, this year’s Cashiers Designer Showhouse. The newest owners, the Baker family, will be entering the Kathy Guyton-furnished Loggia to find a signature mountain style, one that is comfortable and casual, yet blended with a mix of the contemporary and the sophisticated. “Rustic modern” also defines the Dining Room, an area, says Carolyn Malone, that is “connected to the earth” with some primitive pieces. Pottery and unique artistic objects in browns and creams are being chosen for the patterns which best represent nature. 

The Cashiers Historical Society presents this year’s Showhouse as a “naturalist’s” delight. In their mission to preserve and protect the uniqueness of the Cashiers Valley, The Millstone Lodges are a unique opportunity to display life from an old-time perspective. Patrick Lewis, in re-designing Dr. Stoddard’s Office (he was the first owner of the house), has researched the insects, flora and fauna of the region, and placed specimens in curiosity cases. This “naturalist” office is only one of over 20 spaces that have been created, and designed for The Lodges at Millstone, a house whose old charm and mountain views are all part of the 2007 Cashiers Designer Showhouse.

Where Does The Money Go? 

Literally hundreds of volunteers, supporters of the Cashiers Historical Society, and friends of the Cashiers Valley Community Center, team up for two weeks of intense activity. Van drivers, greeters, designers, docents, servers, horticulturalists, cleaners -- all pitch in to make the transportation and touring – the entire Showhouse experience – go smoothly. At the end, everyone benefits! The Cashiers Historical Society continues the work of preserving the Zachary Tolbert House and sharing the past with present and future generations in the Cashiers Valley. The grant they are giving this year to benefit the Community Center will contribute to the overall improvement of the existing buildings.

Heirlooms to Eat 

There are two kinds of heirlooms and an abundance of antiques to glimpse every day at the 2007 Cashiers Designer Showhouse. The Showhouse Shoppes – stocked this year with pottery and furnishings, paintings and jewelry, gifts and treasures, -- open each day at 10:00 AM. To complement a day of touring, lunch, catered by The Savory Palate, is available at 11:30 and includes heirlooms too – the tomato variety! The Showhouse grounds include a café so guests can relax and plan an entire day amidst the panorama of the mountain vistas. A full menu with an array of salads and wraps, and a new pimento-cheese spread, created especially for this event; homemade cookies and drinks, will complete the daily menu. “The Cashiers Designer Showhouse is truly a destination event,” says Chairwoman Millie Lathan. “A day at The Lodges at Millstone has been created to feel like a full day at the old, or now, new Inn.”

The Goose is on the Loose! 

The red goose is on the move….from the dahlia island at the Crossroads….to the paper goods aisle at Ingles…. The goose then did a post-office pop-by. But who took the tags? The Cashiers Designer Showhouse Goose-Chase Committee knows where the goose lives; they just don’t know where the winners are hiding. They ask that call-ins be made to 828/743-7710 to receive those FREE tour tickets.

Press Releases:

July 18, 2007 Crossroads Chronicle

NINE LOCAL DESIGN TEAMS PREDOMINATE AT THIS YEAR’S DESIGNER SHOWHOUSE

Nine area designers are getting ready to welcome you to the 10th Annual Cashiers Designer Showhouse which opens August 17, this year at The Lodges at Millstone.  Says Skip Ryan of the Ryan Companies, whose Coates & Clark entry hall first invites you in:  “It’s fun to see Showhouse come together each time.  Every year the skill and talent of our local designers emerges in this fabulous showcase.”  

As you enter the Lodge, you’ll be beckoned by Skip’s French blue and white diamond patterns and his collelction of botanicals in a gallery of pictures all creating a fresh, clean, and attractive way in.

The Lodge naturally provides a spectacular setting and all the designers have focused on the indoor/outdoor aspects that connect the Lodge and its guests to the Whiteside Mountain views which surround it.  Priscilla Wodehouse of The Decorator’s Touch was inspired to use naturals in her color palatte.  “God’s colors,” she said, “are the inspiration for her choices of tones and textures.”  Her “Le Nichoir” is a tranquil resting stop in this year’s House.

The Lodge has welcomed so many friends and guests since it opened in 1933.  Our designers have often-times imagined who those visitors might have been, where they came from and how they might have enjoyed their days in the mountains.  Sally Johannessen of Dovetail Antiques “fantasized” a naturalist visiting both to escape the summer heat, but also here to collect local specimens and sketch them. A French Library Table, ‘period’ telescopes, sketching materials, and old bottles of ink personalize this Retreat.

Another “set” has been created for the room called Tuckaway.  Vivianne Metzger and her partner, daughter Cherie Tibbetts were inspired by an oil of a hunt scene they acquired on a trip to England, but you will find their room to be filled with decorative items from North Carolina pottery to French plate racks, all blended to show their fondness for the objects they value and the House they’ve in past year’s stayed in!

Nora Butler of Nora and Company is filling the kitchen and bar area with handcrafts too, many from the Piedmont Craftsmen’s Gallery near Raleigh, but the operative word in her “set” is ‘happy.’  Bright colors and interesting people mingling before dinner were her inspiration.

Relaxation is the key to so many of the public and private areas too.  Debra Green of English-Green Interiors has chosen to create a cozy interior in the Silver Slip Sitting Room; yet, her signature in design is a part of it too:  heavy red linen floral drapes will complement the tones of gold, tobacco, and olive green she loves to use.

Neutral colors, rustic furniture, simple linens, all as a background, is how Ann Sherrill of Rusticks envisions her room, Laurel.  “To create a soothing atmosphere, you have to let the decorative treatments act as a backdrop to any Big view,” says Ann.  Her casual but sophisticated style plays out beautifully in this, her ninth year at Showhouse.

Lynn Monday has appeared in all ten showhouses!  In fact her shop, Lynn Monday’s House of Design, originally belonged to Cashier’s first doctor and was the first house in the area with electricity.  She sees her Showhouse space, Will Gordon’s Study and Library, as a slightly commercial setting and is using unique but eclectic pieces to furnish it.  From a library piece created by Chattooga Woodworks’ Jeff Collins, to lamps from Edgar-Reeves, accessories from Ainsworth-Noah, and a one-of-a-kind Antler Mirror by local artisan Chad Collins, Lynn’s work continues to be a perennial crowd-pleaser.

A true welcome to this year’s Lodges at Millstone is the brainchild of Eddie Alvarez and George Oliver of A Country Home Antiques.  “Welcoming, simple, warm, are the feelings we are trying to evoke,” says George Oliver.  Their Lodge Lobby was inspired by vintage photographs of all the Cashiers Valley local waterfalls given to them by their friend and former Lodge-owner, Heinz Haibach.  Heinz encouraged George and Eddie to open their business in this area and he invited them to their first Thanksgiving Dinner here at the Lodges Dining Room.  “Heinz’s legacy lives through the gift of the prints which we are now proudly rehanging in this year’s Showhouse,” adds George.  He and Eddie and all of the nine local design teams represent the ongoing traditions of warmth and rustic simplicity that welcome all Lodge guests.  This year’s Showhouse Co-Chair, Jeri Rosedale put it wonderfully when she reminded us how great a group of professionals have been assembled.  Said Jeri:  “It is their accomplishments that makes everything come together for us each year.  So, please, come and visit and learn from each of these local designers.”

Showhouse 2007 is open Saturday, August 18 through Sunday, September 2.  For ticket information, directions or for information on the many special events that are planned for this year, phone (828) 743-7710.  Plan to participate.  Everyone is welcome.

July 25, 2007

ADVENTURE AT THE CROSSROADS

A red goose has suddenly appeared amidst the dahlia island in the center of town.  It’s all part of the fun in the lead-up to this year’s 10th Annual Cashiers Designer Showhouse.  “Expect the unexpected!” says gala chairwoman Kathleen Rivers.  The “sighting” is all part of a game of pursuit:  “get after that goose, wherever it pops up, remove its neck-tag and phone the number provided to arrange to pick up a free ticket to tour rooms and gardens at The Lodges at Millstone,” says Ms. Rivers.

The goose-chase is only one way the gala committee is underlining the Patron Party theme, “Let’s Paint the Town Red.”  Everything about the party, just like the redesign of The Lodges themselves, will look at the old in a new way.  The random sightings of red objects continues until the day of the opening event, August 17, 2007, an evening hosted by AIG Baker.

Guests at the Patron Party can expect to be treated to an over-the-top event, sophisticated, but funky.  Adding to the lively nature of the gala are the contributions courtesy of The Gustaf Westfeldt McIlhenny Foundation and “red hot” table top gifts from the McIlhenny Company.  Five generations of McIlhennys have made their home here.  The end of the school year signaled that it was time to leave New Orleans and head for the mountains of North Carolina to stay at the Rugby Lodge.  By car or by rail, the entire family would pack up and go, including the help!  The summer time in the mountains and those memories have led a new generation to settle and fall in love with Cashiers.  The horrors and devastation of Katrina energized and ended a 150-year migration to permanent safe havens for all the families.  Paul and Judy McIlhenny and Elizabeth and Rod Rodriguez have found a new “nest” along Whiteside Mountain, but always remember their roots in Fletcher, climbing trees and milking cows.   “Life is good here,” says Elizabeth Rodriguez.  Working in the kitchens of Good Shepherd or contributing to the works of the Cashiers Historical Society, Elizabeth follows the family’s long history of always sustaining and preserving the local traditions.  “This has been a wonderful post-Katrina therapy,” says Elizabeth, representing many out of Louisiana whose hurricane exodus has benefited the community.

The Tickets for the Patron Party, for the tours and the many special events can be obtained by calling the Showhouse office at (828) 743-7710.  The goose and other “red flag” events can be pursued all over town.  The gala committee requests that you just take the neck tag and leave the goose.

August 1, 2007  Crossroads Chronicle

CASHIERS DESIGNER SHOWHOUSE TO FEATURE THE LODGES AT MILLSTONE  

Excitement is building as we head to the 2007 Cashiers Designer Showhouse, a two-week event at The Lodges at Millstone, opening August 18 and closing on September 2.  Hours are 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM daily, except Sunday, when the House is open 12:00 Noon to 4:00 PM.  There will be a shuttle from the Community Center to the Lodges; tickets can be purchased before you board a van or at the Showhouse.  The price is $25.00

 ... a preview of the designed and decorated rooms; photos do not do them justice...