Highlands, Highlands Architects, and the Area’s Resources

Welcome to Highlands, North Carolina.  Many people from Atlanta, the Buckhead area, Florida, and even Texas have discovered this unique mountain hide-away and have established second homes, vacation homes and retirement homes here.  And some are Highlands architects.

The post page for this little informative website gives you some history about the area that you may find interesting and entertaining.  This page is more of a resources page.  We will add restaurants and other helpful places to this from time to time.

 

Several years ago, a Highlands area architect, Rand Soellner, ArCH, NCARB, LHI, senior staff architect of the HOME ARCHITECTS ®, conducted a land ownership analysis of parcels in the Lake Toxaway area.  He performed the bulk of his research at the Transylvania Courthouse, in the basement, where they keep the property records.  Several years later, he compared his research to statistics generated by the Highlands Chamber of Commerce.  The statistics matched within 1% of each demographic, so this data seems to hold true, year after year.  Click here to see a leading –> Highlands Architect .

Those statistics are: that people that generally buy property and houses in Highlands, Glenville, Cashiers, Sapphire and Lake Toxaway appear to be homogenous through the “Plateau.”  Their makeup is generally: 49% from Atlanta, 35% Florida, and an interesting 13% from Texas.  The remaining 3% are from just about anywhere, sometimes New York, Washington D.C.-Baltimore area, Ohio and other places.

When you get to here, you will no doubt be hungry, because it’s a long drive up stretches of nearly virgin mountainside.  Makes you wonder how anyone got up there to build the road.  So, if you might be interested in what restaurants are here, check out this link:

Restaurants

That link has been provided by Trip Advisor.com.  In it, you will find one of our favorites: Kilwin’s Chocolates & Ice Cream.  They custom make their own fine candies and they are superb.  Mountain Fresh Grocery is also the source for the best in mountain foods from a deli perspective.  Pescado’s has the best in terms of tacos and burritos; especially their regionally famous fish burrito; the best we’ve ever had.  Brick Oven Pizza is the place to go for pizza.

Now then, getting back to architecture, if you are looking for an architect to design your next mountain house, be sure to check with Rand Soellner, ArCH, NCARB, who has designed some fabulous estates and cottages in this area, including Ravenel Ridge and other communities.  Some of his work from around here has been featured in a nice coffee table book, along with several other world famous firms, available on Amazon.com:

House With A View

Richard Meier, the designer of the High Museum of Art in Atlanta has some of his work featured in that book, along with Mario Botta.  Three of the houses in that volume were created by Rand Soellner and they are the only ones that appear “timeless” and of mountain origins.  Soellner actually knows how to create very modern structures, but he learned that his mountain clientele want what he does with his muscular Arts & Crafts mountain style, more often than not.  This is in his blood.  His great grandfather, Andreas, immigrated from Bavaria circa 1869 (then called Prussia).  He was a carpenter in this hilly region of what later came to be known as southern Germany.  So, after traversing the ocean and begetting children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Andreas’ woodworking spirit lives on in Rand, who designs timber frame and post and beam houses for people from all walks of life in this beautiful spot in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Links & Resources for Highlands Architects & Real Estate:

Local Highlands Real Estate Broker:
Merry Soellner 828-399-1580

Local Highlands Architects: www.HomeArchitects.com
Rand Soellner ArCH/NCARB
HOME ARCHITECTS ®
828-269-9046

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Highlands – Cashiers Hospital
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