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Our Visit to Bright's Creek Reveals Hidden Waterfalls, Great Golf & Distant Views

Our recent trip to communities in western North Carolina included visits to Balsam Mountain Preserve, Champion Hills, Cummings Cove, and finally, to Bright's Creek. 

The Tom Fazio course provides striking views.

Set amongst the endless natural beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Bright’s Creek is an emerging 5,000-acre property featuring lofty homesites that offer enthralling views of its Tom Fazio-designed golf course, the surrounding mountains and an amenity-rich mountain lifestyle.

Bright's Creek's Jim Rash (l) with GCH Publisher David Lott.

Our guide through Bright's Creek was the highly personable Marketing Associate Jim Rash whose love for the area and the community was frequently professed and further underscored by his purchase of a lot and construction of a stunning home that is filled with artwork from the local Silver Fox Gallery & Interiors.

Bright's Creek home for sale by Jim Rash.

The interior is filled with artwork.

Jim gave Elise and me a thorough tour of the golf course in which the mountain views were always present. Holes are scuplted into the thickly treed landscape and jump across burbling streams and riveulets.

Streams lace through the property.

Recognized as one of “Ten Courses to Watch” internationally by Golf Magazine, Bright’s Creek is a host course for the BMW Charity Pro-Am Tournament. 

A lovely par-3.

Bright’s Creek also features an award-winning Equestrian Center and Members’ Lodge with plans for two additional Fazio courses, a swim and tennis center, clubhouse and fitness center, extensive hiking trails and a Rod & Gun Club located on the Green River. 

Inside the spectacular equestrian center.

However, you already can see the club's elegant lifestyle coming into focus and homes completed or under construction.

This newly completed home enjoys vast mountain views.

As Jim took us up higher and higher above the property, the views got longer and the opportunities for building more exciting.

Views that will always stir wonder.

One particular homesite not only came with spectacular views, it also had its own waterfall (see below). Homesites generally range from one half acre to five acres, and are sited on ridgelines, along creeks and within hardwood forests. Homesites prices begin at $175,000 and custom homes start in the $900,000s.

High up in Brights Creek is an unusal homesite backed by its own waterfall. 

Once we came back to earth, Jim gave us directions to historic Hendersonville, NC, which is a short drive away. (Asheville is less than an hour’s drive away.) So we left as the sun was setting behind the Blue Ridge and took the quick hop to Hendersonville, where we found a quaint litte tea shop and sat down to reminisce about what had been a truly memorable visit.

 

Cumming Cove's New Mountain Top Neighborhood Offers 50-Mile Views & Value

The story of our western North Carolina mountain community travels continues  with our visit to Cummings Cove, Hendersonville. A gated 650-acre private golf community in a protected microclimate within the Blue Ridge Mountains, Cummings Cove offers a championship golf course by architect Bob Cupp which won "Best Renovation of the Year” award for 2006. 

We were met by Lorraine Nash, the community's hard-working, multi-tasking marketing director and Roger Hill, one-time developer at Cummings Cove and now one of its top salespeople.

Mountain views and a mountain course.

Real estate is very affordable here, especially since lots had just been reduced 10% on May 1 to reflect the current economy. Lots now go from $127,200 to $240,000. Lots in the new Mountain Top neighborhood range from $200,000 to $225,000.

We visited the newest and highest neighborhood,  Mountain Top which offers homeowners 50 mile views of valleys and mountain along with a view of Mt. Mitchell, which at 6,800 feet is the highest peak east of South Dakota.

Newly completed spec home at Mountain Top.

Lorraine gave us the cook's tour of a newly completed spec house in the Mountain Top neighborhood by Mike Mathews (see above photo). The home featured multiple levels, two-car garage, top-grade appliances and conveniences including high-speed internet, and, of course, the 50-mile views. Cost: $1.2 million.

Fifty-mile view from the back deck of the $1.2M spec home.

At Mountain Top neighorhood, lot and view are available.

Next stop was the stone and timber clubhouse where we had an enjoyable lunch. Set on a high knoll overlooking the course, lakes and mountains, the clubhouse offers dining, lounge and golf shop.

Lunch was served in the clubhouse's Golfhouse Grill & Lounge.

Lorraine spent some time talking enthusiastically about the town of Hendersonville, an active cultural haven of just 15,000 residents which supports an 80-piece symphony orchestra. Nearby is Brevard and the Brevard Music Center, a summer institute and festival which serves 400 students, 75 guest artists and faculty members. The center puts on more than 80 public concerts each year, presenting major orchestral, chamber, and operatic programs.

Overall, we felt Cummings Cove offered excellent value for your money and that its future was personified by its Mountain Top neighborhood where the views and the homes will be spectacular. Eventually the neighborhood will have its own road so that you won't have to drive through the community to get to your home--a fast track that will add even more privacy to your perch.

For more information, call 1-800-958-2905, or request more information here.

Champion Hills & Its Tom Fazio Course Is Next Stop on Our North Carolina Mtn. Trip

The next stop on our recent western North Carolina mountain trip was Champion Hills in Hendersonville.

A home hidden in the trees on the edge of the course.

A well-established, proven, private equity community with all its infrastructure in place--clubhouse, tennis, pool, fitness center & more--the club was turned over to members in 2000 and as proudly confirmed by General Manager Saeed Assadzandi, the club has no debt, a real plus in today's economy and a solid confidence builder for incoming members.

Publisher David Lott w/ General Mgr. Saeed Assadzandi (left).

Covering 727 acres, we were told that of the 477 lots available for building, about 130-150 remain. In many cases, buyers have purchased more than one lot to create buffer zones. One well-known member of the club is local resident Tom Fazio, the course designer who also calls Champions Hills his home course. 

We were enthusiastically introduced to the club's magnificent Fazio layout (rated No. 5 in NC by Golf Digest) by Don, the starter on the course for the past 15 years.

Don gives his starting tips exhibiting his usual enthusiasm.

Tools for ensuring golfers get going on time.

The green on the Par-4 12th hole. Note the stone bridge.

Homes and homesites at Champion Hills are tucked along the hillsides, overlook forests, fairways or mountain ridges. Landscaping is picture perfect.  Existing homes include cottages, villas and single-family residences. Wooded homesites offer a mountain setting with native mountain laurel, rhododendron and dogwoods and range in size from a half-acre to more than two acres with golf course or mountain views.

A stunning new home overlooks the 13th fairway, $1.2 million.

We stopped for a moment to look at a newly completed home that a foursome passing by declared as one of the nicest at the community. Offered at $1.2 million, its new owners will have an enchanting bird's eye view of the 13th fairway from most of the rooms in the house.

This is the view the home looks out on.

Couldn't resist a shot of ourselves, the 13th in the background.

Landscaping and planting were perfect everywhere.

We concluded that Champion Hills is an ideal community for the buyer who wants no surprises in terms of club amenities and direction--all are well established--and is comforted by the fact that the bulk of the building is done. Champion Hills is ready for you right now and is certainly a must-see for the avid golfer. For more information, call 1-800-633-5122 or 1-828-693-0072, to order a free, full-color brochure, or to set up a visit.

Balsam Mountain Preserve the First Stop on Our Tour of Mountain Golf Communities

A wedding at the Duke Chapel in Durham, NC, last weekend gave Elise and me the perfect opportunity to visit some mountain golf communities in the Asheville area. Balsam Mountain Preserve, Sylva (just west of Asheville), Champion Hills, Hendersonville; Cummings Cove, Hendersonville; and Brights Creek, just east of Hendersonville in Mill Spring, made it on to our agenda.

Balsam Mountain, a Chaffin/Light community, was our first stop and we were treated royally by Marketing Director Bruce Fine. We stayed in the Larkspur cabin, one of 10 one-bedroom mountain camp homes that are available for vacations and for purchase as a fractional. At $250,000 for a share of 8 weeks, they make an ideal entry point into the community, and even better, wth fractional ownership comes club membership.

Larkspur cabin--simple in appearance, but very accommodating.

The cabin was cozy and an immediate relaxer. We ate at the Boarding House a short walk away which is serving as a clubhouse and gathering place. Dinner was served family style and delicious and the staff members couldn't have been nicer.

The next day Bruce gave us a complete tour of the community and its magnificent golf course. 

GolfCourseHome Publisher David Lott (right) with Balsam Mountain Marketing Director Bruce Fine.

What struck us most about Balsam Mountain was the you had to look hard to see the homes. It is the lowest density private club community in the mountains of Western North Carolina and only 354 homesites will be placed in this 4,400-acre private community, an average of one home for every 12 acres. Preservation is top of mind here.

Custom home under construction.

We were also impressed with the focus on the family with an active Nature Center, Activities Director and special activities and camps for kids. We met a warm and friendly family at the pool and snapped a picture of their three children just as they had come out of the pool (below).

Construction of the homes was impressive, especially the LEED compliant home below. Dry stacked stone was used everywhere--as supporting posts, in walls, foundations and in stairways.

LEED home nearing completion.

Custom home.

Fran Luker is a glowing and knowledgeable presence in the Equestrian Center

After a full day at Balsam Mountain, we headed east towards Asheville and Hendersonville and Champion Hills. More on that in the next installment.