Thursday, December 18, 2014

Christmas in Waynesville





If you have ever spent time in North Carolina, you may have heard the tagline "Got to Be NC."  Here in the North Carolina, the moderately temperate climate and the range from warm coastlines to cool mountain ranges means we can grow just about anything. And in December in the mountains, that means Christmas Trees.  Not just any Christmas tree, but the Fraser Fir.  There are no shortage of Christmas tree farms to choose from, but we went to  Mehaffey Tree Farm in Waynesville to pick ours.









Most tree farms in this area are "full service" meaning that you select the tree, but the farm will usually cut it down and bring it back to your car for you, although if you really want to saw it down yourself, you can do that, too.  Some farms will even let you dig your tree so you can take it home to plant!

Although there was no snow on the ground, it was hard to miss it when we surrounded by such breath taking views.








Once we had our tree taken care of, it was time to explore downtown Waynesville.  Although the winter is typically a slow time for mountain towns, Waynesville puts on some great activities for Christmas.  In addition to the monthly "Art after Dark" event, Waynesville puts on a great Christmas parade featuring local businesses, schools, churches, and charities as well as local fire departments and police stations and, of course, Santa.  The town and the businesses along Main Street also do a fantastic job of decorating, making even a simple stroll downtown a festive event.





Downtown Waynesville also puts together an evening even called "A Night before Christmas."  Featuring a horse drawn wagon, wandering carolers, dozens of luminaries lining Main Street, a live nativity scene, and, of course, Santa and Mrs. Clause.

The horse drawn wagon takes passengers up and down Main Street during "A Night before Christmas"

One of the churches puts on an incredible live nativity scene - sample foods from biblical times, learn how to basket weave and see live demonstrations of pottery, wood working, and candle making.  Just stay away from the Romans.

Dozens of luminaries line Main Street

Main Street is closed to traffic, turning downtown Waynesville into a street fair

Groups of carolers make their way up Main Street
A concert held during "A Night before Christmas"



And, of course, never forget the true meaning of the holiday season - peace, love, and beer.



We anticipate reopening the Red Leaf River Inn in the Spring of 2015 and hope you will follow along as we renovate and restore this beautiful property in Waynesville, NC.  Find us on Facebook and Google+, follow us on Twitter @RedLeafRiverInn, or visit us at our website.

This Way to Relaxation

While the Inn has been a bed and breakfast before, we purchased the building, not the business. One of the first things we did after moving in was remove two signs with the old business name.  The sign hanging from the archway was not salvageable, but the one at our driveway is actually a beautifully carved version of the Inn which, despite being a bit weather worn, was still in fairly good condition.  


First, we chipped and sanded away the raised letters that were on the sign, then we cleaned it up and repainted the sign using the same colors we painted the real Inn with.  Since the background of the sign is textured, we were not able to completely remove the old lettering, so we put our hand carved letters onto a small plaque before mounting it to the sign.  The sign looks good as new and we are always happy to be able to preserve a piece of amazing history of this house.



Turn here for relaxation


We anticipate reopening the Red Leaf River Inn in the Spring of 2015 and hope you will follow along as we renovate and restore this beautiful property in Waynesville, NC.  Find us on Facebook and Google+, follow us on Twitter @RedLeafRiverInn, or visit us at our website.

When the Weather Outside is Frightful...



Not only is the Inn flanked by two converging streams, the streams themselves yield not only beautiful river rocks, but chunks of quartz and granite.  These naturally occurring stones are evident through out the building as they were used in the construction of many of the stone walls and pillars in and around the Inn.  So when we decided the drab fireplace needed a makeover, we headed off to the stream to supply a naturally stunning facade.


Although the fireplace is surrounded by a very nice chestnut mantle, the flat hearth in unexciting red tile and the black panels directly around the fireplace made the whole section seem dark and it fails to attract attention to what should be the focal part of the room.  We struck upon the idea of using river rocks set in cement to cover the drab black, so Victor built a mold to pour the cement and set the stone.  He lined the mold with heavy plastic and strengthened the whole structure with rebar.



Next he built a simple rectangular mold to raise the hearth about 2 inches for definition and also shrink the overall size of the hearth.  Once we get around to tiling the floor of the main room, the rest of the hearth with disappear, leaving just the new, raised portion.


Once all the molds were built and in place, Victor began to pour cement.  First the fireplace surround was poured and the rocks and quartz were set in to place, then the hearth was poured.














A few days later, the cement had cured enough to set the surround in place and the hearth was unmolded and finished with large travertine tiles, highlighting what will soon be a cozy spot to snuggle up with a good book or relax with a glass of wine.

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We anticipate reopening the Red Leaf River Inn in the Spring of 2015 and hope you will follow along as we renovate and restore this beautiful property in Waynesville, NC.  Find us on Facebook and Google+, follow us on Twitter @RedLeafRiverInn, or visit us at our website.

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

We're moving!

But thankfully, there is no packing this time!

Come visit us at our brand new site, www.redleafriverinn.com. Get the latest photos and updates on our blog and see the rooms as they are renovated, plus inquire about catering and plan your trip to Western North Carolina.

Keep following us on Facebook, and we're also now on Twitter! Follow us @RedLeafRiverInn.

Thank you for your encouragement and feedback as we keep striving towards our Spring 2015 opening date. We just can't wait to welcome you to the Red Leaf River Inn in wonderful Waynesville, North Carolina.


Friday, November 21, 2014

1964, you can have your sink back now


So you guys may remember a few months ago, we redid the tile in the half bath.  Just to refresh your memory, this is where we started:

I know, I know. I'm not sure what is worse, the sickly green tile, the peeling laminate, or the textured drop ceiling tiles.  Anyway, we started our great tile experiment in this room because the bathrooms in both the Maple and Dogwood room are floor to ceiling tiled in colors that are, shall we say, slightly dated.  Or hideous.  You pick.

Since we weren't sure how the tile painting was going to go (the only thing worse than faded salmon pink tile is faded salmon pink tile with peeling paint over top), we decided to start with the half bath since this could, in the worse case scenario, be locked up, never to be seen again.

Much to our delight, the paint worked, looked decent, and even after a few months, is still holding strong.  It can be scratched - Victor took a gouge out while trying to install the new ceiling - and it is tricky to patch since you have to redo all five layers of paint, but it is a great product considering the price point.  So...here we have a bathroom with nice looking walls, but the same peeling laminate, drop ceiling, and 1964 sink.  We can totally let that go, right?

Hah!  Well, it's a small room, we thought, this shouldn't take too much time or money, right? Right?

Are you done laughing yet?

First things first, Victor took out the old hand sink and we ripped up the laminate.  The floor in that section of the house is slightly bowed, so Victor started off by pouring a floor leveler, then he installed a dark wood style ceramic tile.



Next up, Victor built a new vanity and Frances found a fantastic glass vessel sink for the top.  We painted the vanity dark brown to match the floor.

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Demolition continued with the removal of the mirror and the drop ceiling.  The door was also taken off.  One side was covered with chestnut, so we removed that to use in repairing the walls in the Cherry Blossom room and the door was refinished and painted the same dark brown as the vanity.  Victor cut another of the full length mirrors down and made a beautiful mirror for above the sink, and Georgina made a shade for the window and painted the window trim to match the rest of the room.  Just two months, a new ceiling, some trim and crown molding, and a new light fixture later, and....




 Y'all, this bathroom has gone from being on of the worst rooms in the house, to my absolute favorite.  And for those keeping score, that's two bathrooms down, four more to go, and just five months until our projected opening date.


We anticipate reopening the Red Leaf River Inn in the Spring of 2015 and hope you will follow along as we renovate and restore this beautiful property in Waynesville, NC.  Find us on Facebook and Google+, follow us on Twitter @RedLeafRiverInn, or visit us at our website.




Monday, November 3, 2014

Cherry Blossom


The Cherry Blossom room before renovations
Upon purchasing this property, one of our owners lamented that, despite the large variety of the tree on the property, we did not have her favorite - the cherry blossom.  Much to our delight, spring revealed that we did have two small cherry blossoms blooming at the back of the house.  The main floor bedroom was then dubbed the Cherry Blossom room as it overlooks the hill where those trees grow as well as the stream, pond, and lower lawn.


Sadly, this much neglected room had nearly all of its potential hidden behind carpeting, fabric on the ceiling, random wood paneling,
and an inexplicable pink faux brick wall.
Revealing the wood floors beneath the carpet
An unexpected plumbing emergency had us pulling up the carpet and tearing down the fabric on the ceiling earlier that expected, but the gorgeous wood floor that was revealed gave us the motivation to keep working on this beautiful room.  Victor ripped out the old air conditioning unit and covered the faux brick with new drywall.  We then primed over the pink walls and repainted the whole room in a soft cream. Victor also used the chestnut paneling from a broken door to fill in the missing wall panels
          
Preparing to cover up the faux brick
Plumbing issues and a dated popcorn ceiling
sent us on the search for ceiling options
   
         Painting ceiling tiles in the main room -
          good thing we plan to replace the floor in there
      
                Installing drywall in the Cherry Blossom room

New paint throughout the room
         
Filling in the odd gaps in the wood paneling
We added a panel to the window to even out the frame


Although we were pleasantly surprised by the good condition of the wood floors when the carpet was pulled up, the ceiling was another story (would you like a movie with your popcorn?), so we purchased styrafoam ceiling tiles from antiqueceilings.com and painted them the same cream as the walls.  Once we get the ceiling tiles up, the floor just needs a little sanding and stain and this room will be ready for decorating. Now the bathroom...that's a whole other project.


We anticipate reopening the Red Leaf River Inn in the Spring of 2015 and hope you will follow along as we renovate and restore this beautiful property in Waynesville, NC.  Find us on Facebook and Google+, follow us on Twitter @RedLeafRiverInn, or visit us at our website.