Asheville Citizen Times - Andrew A. Willett, Architect, PA

Product: ASH_Broad PubDate: 11-22-2008 Zone: Main
Edition: First Page: homegarden_07 User: KHatton Time: 11-20-2008 18:42 Color: K
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ASHEVILLE CITIZEN-TIMES • CITIZEN-TIMES.COM
HOME & GARDEN
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2008 C7
Biltmore Forest home has Olde English feel
Nuts and bolts
The home: A 5,200-squarefoot four-bedroom English
Tudor home beside the seventh hole of the Biltmore
Forest Country Club.
The homeowners: Sally and
Bill Habermeyer, a retired
Navy rear admiral who retired
again in 2006 as president
and chief operating officer of
Progress Energy Florida.
Defining aspect: Elegant old
country homes in England
would be as comfortable as
the Habermeyers if they were
as up to date as this house.
The team
Architect: Andrew A. Willett
of Asheville.
Builder: Sean Cashin, Cashin Construction Co. Inc.,
Fletcher.
Interior: Andrew Willet, Sally
Habermeyer.
Grounds: Jim Wolfe Landscaping, Coniston Farms
Nursery, Arden.
The exterior of the house has a Tudor feel to it.
Dining in style
A former submarine group
commander, Bill has had as
many as a dozen former submarine officers around the
couple’s large dining room
table.
Framed antique needlework on
the wall came from William and
Mary-style chairs bought from
an antique store. Visitors often
comment on the wainscoting
and molding, designed by
Andrew Willett. Window treatments done by Susan Nilsson
of Asheville from Lee Jofa fabrics lend lightness to doors that
extend the dining room to the
stone terrace overlooking the
yard.
Office hideout
Sally and Bill Habermeyer have returned to Asheville after working in Florida for several years.
TO VIEW THE HOUSE OF THE WEEK,
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TEXT BY PAUL CLARK ! [email protected]
PHOTOS BY ERIN BRETHAUER! [email protected]
Bill’s office in front of the house
has a vaulted octagonal ceiling.
A lot of work and care went into
its design and construction,
creating a detail to an office
that Bill, who serves on a number of boards of directors,
A bowl-style ceramic sink adds an Old World touch with a bit of
modern flair.
loves. “It’s kind of my hideout,” he the country scene on the box on
said. “It’s a nice, quiet place to
the tile above the stove in her new
work.”
kitchen. On a counter in the corner, she’s put an old Dutch spice
Old, new kitchen
rack she got from a friend. A
Years ago, Sally and Bill received china cabinet stores her collection
an old biscuit box as a wedding
of old English plates.
present, and Sally had artist
David Ross of WNC Tile recreate
Lightening up
The extra dishwasher in the laundry room comes in handy, but
perhaps the room’s strongest
feature is all the sunlight that
beams in through a plenitude of
windows. Sally and Bill opted for
as much light as they could get to
offset the dark wood throughout
the house. A pantry beside the
laundry room is designed to
accommodate an elevator to the
bedrooms on the second floor.
Great room
The great room has one of two
gas-burning fireplaces (the other
is in their bedroom). An antique
table with barley twist legs hold
family photos, including one of
Sally’s parents on their wedding
day. Hanging in the powder room
is a 1926 town plan for Biltmore
Forest that shows a proposed
hotel near where their lot is located.
On guard
The sunrise streams into the paladium window in the Habermeyer master bedroom.
A unicorn inspired by the famous The Lady and The Unicorn tapestries fits a niche above the fireplace in the living room.
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In the living room, which has the
most pronounced Olde English
feel in the house, a standing suit
of armor guards a masonry gas
fireplace with a cast-stone façade. The tall, narrow niche above
the mantel perfectly contains a
tapestry that Sally found on eBay.
The bar in the corner of the room
contains a walnut and cherry
sugar chest that is at least 150
years old, Sally said.