Enjoying a Retirement Retreat in the Mountains

At this Blue Ridge log home, every day is a vacation.

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A pool, spa and timber-frame pavilion with a built-in outdoor kitchen promise full days of fun in the sun. On the terrace, accordion doors open to create seamless indoor-outdoor living.

Written by Suzanna Logan

Photography by Tom Harper

When northern natives Brian and Lynette Price set out to build a retirement home in the Blue Ridge mountains of Georgia, they couldn’t have guessed that they would soon be running their very own (unofficial) luxury resort.

The couple decided to put down permanent roots in the area after spending years visiting local cabins. “It all started when we would travel down South on our motorcycles,” explains Brian. “We would come down and rent cabins, and we fell in love with log homes.”

But a simple, cabin-in-the-woods-style structure wouldn’t do. The couple had big plans for a grand forever getaway with spacious indoor gathering spaces, an outdoor entertaining mecca and amenities, like a weight room and sauna, outdoor fireplace, bourbon cellar and game room. “We probably could have added another 2,000 square feet to this house,” says Lynette, laughing. “But we had to quit somewhere.”

It’s no wonder their guest rooms stay full. “All of our northern friends come down, and instead of renting a cabin, they stay with us,” explains Lynette. “Everyone who comes here falls in love.”

Their revolving door of visitors also includes a regular rotation of locals. “We have neighbors who come over once or twice a week for dinner, and we all cook together,” she continues. “On the weekends, we have friends over pretty much all the time and hang out by the pool and the pavilion.”

The couple wouldn’t have it any other way. Sharing their home with friends is one of their favorite ways to while away the days — in addition to exploring their 15-acre property with their three dogs and tending to their flock of free-range chickens, the vegetable garden and a veritable orchard of fruit trees and bushes. What don’t they spend their time doing? Painting. “We will never have to paint another day in our lives,” says Lynette, laughing. The Prices say it’s just one of the many perks of choosing a log home.

The couple decided on a hybrid design that pairs log construction on the main level with timber-framed elements and traditional construction elsewhere. The home’s designer and builder, Michael Grant of Modern Rustic Homes, sheds more light:

“The main floor is all log, and we used timbers in our rafters and beams to create the lodge look and feel to the house,” Michael says.

Limiting the log walls to the core of the house allowed other low-maintenance materials to have a moment. “We used a lot of stone in the front bump-outs and the stone pedestals of the porch,” shares Michael. “Then, we used a fiber cement product on the gabled ends and dormers. It’s a good balance of natural and synthetic materials.”

The Prices applied that same yin-and-yang approach throughout each of the home’s three floors. While most of the finishes are unfussy, a carefully selected feature drove the design of each room. A few of the special touches: a copper tub in the primary bathroom, mushroom board in the half-bath and a live-edge wood table in the dining room. “We included something that would be a focal point in every room,” says Lynette.

Throughout the house, a modern farmhouse aesthetic keeps the spaces feeling fresh and inviting, while windows at every turn bathe the interiors in natural light. Because the home is situated in the middle of the 15-acre lot with views of the mountains and a neighboring apple orchard, the couple ditched the drapes during decorating. “We wake up to sunlight and 24/7 views of the mountains and feel so blessed to be here,” says Lynette. “It is our forever dream home.”