Real Estate Marketing & Beyond
Seven miles outside the city center in Asheville, North Carolina a community is developing for all those people who envision a life of convenience and of existential seclusion. Serenity is that place in the deep woods, on that mountaintop, where living coincides with fairytale nature. Here's a look at some of the most appealing properties in the Blue Ridge for those of you inclined toward having it all.
Serenity Asheville
A few weeks back the developers of Serenity held a Grand Opening of a unique, sustainable mountaintop community. Situated on the highest peak surrounding the city of Asheville, this 38 lot residential paradise surrounds a bit of a "Hobbit" of a tree-house village. If you can envision stunning views of North Carolina's Great Smokey Mountains, with amorphous and whimsical tree houses jutting up here and there, then you have a tiny window into Serenity. As you can already tell, describing the protected community up in those clouds is not the simplest thing. Maybe I'll just borrow a bit from the Serenity website:
"Serenity offers unparalleled North Carolina mountain living. Properties within this exceptional community feature breathtaking views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and are surrounded by a massive hardwood forest."
Nope, that doesn't frame Serenity either. Unlike most gated and exclusive communities in the Blue Ridge, Serenity is a near perfect combination of site preparation, panoramic views, unique "place", and immediate surrounds. Developed with all the utilities and infrastructure elements in mind, the visionaries behind the project created Serenity over years of mental preparation. Like all great visions, sculpting the perfect lifestyle community from pristine nature is a long process.
A morning like I describe - Serenity above the clouds
The men possessed of this vision, Mike Parrish and Dale Deines, present something wonderfully unique, as well as intimately familiar. Parrish has lived on this pristine mountain for years before taking steps to develop, and Deines has hiked these ancient hills countless years. The telling feature of Serenity may well be the hundred campfire cookouts with friends and visitors. Or Serenity might be have taken its essence from the blood, sweat, and tears of pining over how best to present the ideal view? Maybe driving a backhoe while looking out over the valley and the towns of Woodfin and Weaverville below, or running a chain saw all day long, or watching the early morning mist appear, has had its positive effects. But you'll want to know some particulars.
Serenity lies within a secluded forest of the Blue Ridge
Borrowing again from the Serenity literature, this mountaintop community may well be the perfect place to raise a family. Owners here have a safe, quiet neighborhood where they can forge their own dream while being just minutes from everything downtown Asheville has to offer. The chic shopping district, health facilities, numerous award-winning restaurants, the renowned school systems, art, music and much more are moments away. The video below from Jeff Stewart's Broker Asheville conveys the essence of conventional Serenity living well.
I have a secret to tell you about Serenity. This fellow Mike Parish is my oldest and dearest friend, and I've spent a lot of time up there in the clouds visiting. The magic of this place in the Blue Ridge is stunning. Since high school, Mike and I talked about such idyllic spots in this world, like most friends do. Let me tell you, I've stirred awake a time or two on top of this mountain, the mystical land of the Cherokee stretched out before me, like something eternal and epic from a Hollywood movie - but real - if you know what I mean. The effect is poignantly memorable. It's fair to say Mike found his paradise on this lofty perch many years ago, and I found mine late in life elsewhere. His and my story are suited to a more appropriate venue, but what's important for the reader is this place, this opportunity to share a vision of mountaintop living. And the lifestyle that only Asheville can provide is fundamental to finding the true weight of this property value.
Via Jeff Stewart's Broker Asheville and Ryan Theede Photography
If you are like me, maybe you will recall your childhood and trips to this part of the United States. Maybe you are like my great friend, a "mountain person" (Me, I am what they call a sandlapper). I know you're curious about the "treehouse" aspect of this community, a village that the DIY Network "Treehouse Guys" featured in one of their episodes. The concept essentially embodies a synthesis of the child in all of us, entwined with a truly unique sustainability mission. The village, which lets treehouse cabins to would-be mountaineers for vacation etc., is a kind of centerpiece of the overall project. The images above and below of the Treehouse Guys build offers clues.
Cabin in the trees via friend Taylor Wilcher
Perhaps your family vacationed in Summer in the cool valleys of the Blue Ridge, in Tennessee or North or South Carolina, even North Georgia where the mighty rapids divide these mountains. If you are reading this, then I am sure you have some connection to Asheville in some way. Wherever your sentiments lie, when you look out from the top of this mountain at daybreak, you get the big "reset". But don't take my word, just contact Serenity when you are in the vicinity. Half an hour could change your vision of the "future".
Way up top, the collective fire pit at Serenity
For more information on Serenity, please visit the official website linked above, or contact the broker via his links. Serenity is not just another over-hyped residential development offering some woods and a view. Visit for yourself, sit at the stone fire pit at the top of the community and look out over the indescribable. The soul of this place will get you, of this I can assure you.
