House Tour: Mountain Re-Shack

Rather than tear down a derelict mountain shack, the owner solicited the help of North Carolina architect Chad Everhart to re-imagine it for modern-day living.

The Mountain Shack

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The Mountain Shack

The original building, shown here, was a Depression-era home sited in a 10-acre cow pasture 25 minutes west of Boone in the Blue Ridge Mountains, most likely built for a farm hand working on larger fields down the road. The home had been abandoned for decades before North Carolina architect Chad Everhart's client hired him for its re-design.

Chad Everhart

The Re-Shack Envisioned

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The Re-Shack Envisioned

The architect called for enclosing the original structure in bands of hemlock painted bright white, to celebrate its abandonment, and make it architecturally interesting. He also added a new roof and gutters, and salvaged the stone foundation and chimney.

 Chad Everhart

Floor Plan

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Floor Plan

Everhart reorganized the floor plan on two levels, creating a loft out of two tiny bedrooms above, and a living room, kitchen, dining area, bath and laundry below. Originally 1,000 square feet, the home was reduced to 850 square feet, though the porch was expanded and a deck added.

 Chad Everhart

Exterior Elements

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Exterior Elements

Everhart was drawn to the home’s unusual fieldstone foundation and chimney, which lack clean grout lines or cut stone. The hemlock skeleton, bridges the divide between old and new and provides a striking visual in the rural North Carolina countryside.

 David Shatzman

Great Room

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Great Room

The fireplace in the living room was replaced with a propane gas stove that vents up through the original chimney, and heats the entire house. By reconfiguring the second floor into an open loft area, the space is made light, airy and expansive.  

Photo: &a

Interior Details

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Interior Details

The horizontal hemlock slat-siding detail is repeated inside, painted bright white in contrast to gray-painted drywall and exposed ceiling joists.  The exposed structural elements are a common design theme inside and out.  

David Shatzman

Bathroom

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Bathroom

The bathroom—adjacent to the kitchen and main living areas—reflects the home's now modern aesthetic.  Different-sized wall tiles and sleek fixtures add visual interest to the minimalist design, while a wall-mounted towel warmer brings creature comforts into play.

 David Shatzman

The Porch

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The Porch

The porch, expanded from its original foot print, uses the hemlock slats to create a side wall complete with mock window. A rear deck was added to provide additional outdoor living space.

 Chad Everhart

Re-Imagined for Living

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Re-Imagined for Living

The re-imagined home now comes with its own narrative to tell.  “It’s a story of how the past and the present merge together to show how something abandoned was reclaimed, reworked, re-clad and re-inhabited,” says Everhart.

David Shatzman

For More...

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For More...

For more on the Mountain Re-Shack, click here. For other house tours, consider:


New Look (and Life) for a 1950s Cape


A Green Dream Townhouse


An 18th-Century Stone Farmhouse Reborn

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