A Room With A View

Rewind

Those who follow me may remember that a little over a year ago the Main Man and I thought we had found this perfect lot to build our retirement dream home just south of Knoxville, TN on Tellico Lake.

Imagine our disappointment (that's definitely a G-rated spin on the situation) when the architectural guidelines changed in the middle of our planning. We could probably have argued our case that we purchased with a different set of guidelines in place, but our enthusiasm was definitely squelched.

So I set out on a quest for another piece of heaven, this time a little further east, further into the mountains, and closer to our favorite destinations in Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina. We found it east of Kingsport, about 15 miles from the TN/VA line.



Though we have yet to make a commitment, Alex has spent the last 6 months making sure that our plans will fit on the site. We're in Kingsport today and tomorrow to finalize some of the details. The building pad is the level portion at the top of the hill with a minimum rise on the driveway (left side).

Let's get to the important stuff first:  The north view from my quilting studio.

 North

OK, so it's not so glamorous. Actually, in addition to a view of the driveway I'll have views east and west, including this east view from the kitchen terrace ...

East from kitchen

... and this view west from the living room.

West from living room

That's my van down on the road to give you an idea of the scale of the site.  From our bedroom we will be able to see this view to the south.

South view from master bedroom

I was excited to see masses of blackberries in bloom and I hope construction won't destroy too many of them.

Blackberry brambles

I would love to be able to make blackberry pies like my grandmother did. Or maybe blackberry cobbler. Or how about blackberry jam? Blackberry wine? Maybe we should name our home Blackberry Hill ....

The developer knows we're serious, but we need to make a commitment soon. Stay tuned.