Chestnut Suite Bathroom

We've been slowly working on indoor renovations - most of this has to do with the bathrooms which we estimate we last decorated circa 1964.  The Chestnut Suite bathroom is actually one of the better ones as the tile is at least white, not, you know, salmon pink or mustard yellow.  It could still use a little livening up, though, so we got to work.

First, the before shots.  Well, Victor got a little excited about ripping the old sink out, so these are more like "middle" shots, but you get the idea.

We took out the wall mounted sink, the medicine cabinet with built in lights and the yellowing mini blinds.  The whole bathroom is more or less white at this point.

Victor built a new vanity and a wall shelf as one of the two major problems in this bathroom was storage.  He also cut down one of roughly 73 full length mirrors hung throughout the house and framed it to make a new bathroom mirror.  All the pieces were painted a light violet and then white washed.

Installing the new vessel sink and tearing out the old mirror, which may or may not have involved live wires.

We painted the walls and ceilings the same violet as the base coat on the vanity and shelf and then added a dark brown stenciled border across the top.  The window and door frame were also painted dark brown and the globe for the overhead light was replaced.

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A new mini blind completes the window, and while I would like to say we matched the frame and the shade on purpose, that was complete dumb luck.

We are also going to replace the current doors with sliding barn doors to help open up the space a little more, but this is pretty much completed.  One bathroom down, just four and a half more to go.




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.

A Year from There to Here

A year ago today, we saw the Inn for the first time.

We’d been looking at bed & breakfasts for some time. We knew our combined backgrounds in food, hospitality, service, and business would make us good innkeepers, and we also knew we wanted it to be a family business. Following an eventful scouting trip involving the whole family, we were sure that the Blue Ridge Mountains, and specifically the Asheville area, were where we wanted to be. But with six of us – four adults and two kids, not to mention the dog and two cats – looking for a family home as well as a business, our requirements were pretty specific. From his and Georgina’s home in Virginia, Victor began working with an Asheville realtor, Sandi Moore, who found three likely properties for us. Frances drove from Philadelphia to Virginia, and the sisters were on their way to meet Sandi.

Not unlike Goldilocks, we found the first place to be close, but not quite right; the second place to not be quite comfy enough; but the third place… The third place was just right.

We were enchanted from the start. The short drive off the highway was through homey residential streets and past a meadow with a half dozen black cows grazing. We turned under the soaring iron Chestnut Walk archway and drove slowly down the sloping driveway covered in brown leaves and lined with moss-covered stones. On our left, beyond the fading rhododendrons and fiery burning bushes, we could just make out a creek. On our right, as we crossed a small bridge, more water: a small waterfall rushing to meet the same creek. Ahead, the drive angled up between towering evergreens and horse chestnuts.

The buildings themselves – the carriage house and the main house – had been empty and unloved for some time, and we could see the damage caused by the long neglect. The rooms in the main house – three private bedrooms with en suite bathrooms, plus two suites – were in need of varying degrees of updating and renovation. But even clearer to us was the vast potential – space for our homes here, wedding ceremonies there, receptions and parties spilling from the deck to the yard, shaded by a giant tulip poplar. A hundred flawless photo opportunities presented themselves in the streams, the wooden bridge all but held together by wisteria, the trout pond… Everywhere we looked we saw what we’d been seeking for both the home and business we’d envisioned.

Our tour completed, we stood with Sandi in the driveway, listening to the pure quiet broken only by the sound of flowing water, none of us yet willing to leave the beauty and peace of this place. As we stood silently, a small breeze shook the trees, and a shower of gold and red leaves floated down around us. And we knew – this was home.

In the year that has passed since, we’ve seen many of the challenges of owning a home and building a business, but our family bond has also grown stronger as we navigate these trials and celebrate our successes together. This is and has always been the underlying goal of opening the Inn – to be a family in the face of the many life demands that wear on family time.

One year ago today, we came home. We are glad to have you with us as we see what the next year brings to the Red Leaf River Inn.


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.

Autumn - Blue Ridge Style

Virginia Creeper turns a vivid pink

I was born and raised in the beautiful state of Hawaii, which means the first time I saw an actual fall was when I was 19 years old and living in Ohio.  It was pretty, some red maple trees and all, but I didn't really get the fuss.  Then, last year, my sister and I came to North Carolina in October and fell in love.  If you have every wondered where our name - Red Leaf River Inn - comes from, this is it.

Driving down the Blue Ridge Parkway

The beauty of a Blue Ridge fall isn't just in the brilliant red maples.  It is in the 120 odd varieties of trees that make up the mountain range, each turning its own unique shade of vibrant red, burnt orange, deep brown, or glowing gold.  It is the stark outline of bare tree branches against a vividly blue sky and the rich scent of evergreens.  It is the gentle chill of the coming winter and the brilliance of the sun burning away the fog that clings to the valleys of the mountain range.

So get out and take a drive, or maybe just a step outside and enjoy all the beauty of  a WNC fall!

View near Waynesville from the Blue Ridge Parkway

Sun rising off the parkway

Gold, orange and yellow feature heavily in a Blue Ridge fall

Early morning fog gathers in low spots

Burning Bushes start the fall show at the Inn

Looking down toward the stream

Fall at the Red Leaf River Inn

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.