Wisteria Walk

Cashiers, North Carolina

1993

            In 1993 a realtor friend in Cashiers asked me to design a small complex of rental shops for his property, which was right at the crossroads, an important location. It was to include a special real estate office for his company, which would be connected to an existing building. It was also to have a bakery/coffee shop and a trellised entry structure/sign facing the crossroads.
            There were a dozen large Maple trees scattered over the rear of the property, and it was a priority to keep and feature them. That resulted in a geometric clustering of multiple sizes of rental spaces that would appear to grow out from large boulders and piles of rock. A low flat roof would hover above, covered with Wisteria. Metal clad angled gables would rise out from the low roofs below, all in the shade of the great Maple trees.
            The intention was to create an organic mystique that would evoke a sense of curiosity and discovery. The project was more than a little ahead its time, and did not get off the ground.