Going Green

With this year’s Cashiers [North Carolina] Designer Showhouse just a month away (it’s being held August 25 through September 5), Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles is looking back at last year’s successful tour, which benefited the Zachary Tolbert House and the Cashiers Historical Society.

Last year’s showhouse saw record-breaking numbers in terms of attendance and fundraising; pent-up demand to see the home was so strong that more than 400 people turned out on opening day. And while proceeds annually benefit the Zachary Tolbert House and the care of its grounds as well as its staff and dozens of community projects—including Pioneer Days, chamber music concerts and symposiums about its curatorial work—last year’s tour allowed the Cashiers Historical Society to make an additional donation of $28,000 to the Cashiers Valley Community Council.

The 2009 home had a “green” theme. Not only did all of the rooms feature eco-friendly design ideas but some of the green movement’s most celebrated players also turned out to talk about eco-friendly lifestyles. Two of Atlanta’s leading ecovangelists, Laura Turner Seydel and Jillian Pritchard Cooke, headlined the first weekend with a green message that has been at the forefront of Atlanta’s design consciousness, but is not yet so evident in the mountains. Celebrated Atlanta chef Ann Quatrano (of Star Provisions, Bacchanalia and Floataway Café fame) created a special luncheon, followed by a presentation about her own farm, its joys as the backbone to her restaurants and the importance of locally grown foods making a quiet footprint as they find their ways to local tables.

The 2010 Cashiers Designer Showhouse, to be held inside the prestigious Wade Hampton golf community, will again feature a top-notch group of Southeastern design talents, including several participants from Atlanta—Bob Brown, Suzanne Kasler, Bill Peace and Carole Weaks. For more information, see the program in next month’s issue of Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles or visit cashiershistoricalsociety.org.