right ON!

Leaving aside shag carpeting and copper-tone appliances, a couple embrace the best of the decade for a splendid period house grounded in nature.

- BRIAN D. COLEMAN

Just-right design for a house of the Seventies.

When Chas Fitzgerald and Jack Hammack decided they’d move from Dallas, Texas, to the Black Mountains of North Carolina, they wanted a house surrounded by nature. The avid hikers looked forward to watching the seasons unfold—in a year-round home where work, family, and outdoor pursuits would be in balance.

Fitzgerald, a landscape architect and residential developer, and Hammack, an accomplished painter, had already built a summer home here, an Arts & Crafts cabin. They didn’t hesitate when this Modern home came on the market. Built in 1976, it followed plans from the 1972 House of the Year published by Better Homes & Gardens.

Set on over an acre of woodland with a thick understory of native rhododendron and mountain laurel, the secluded house is approached only by a private driveway off a gravel road. Located in an unincorporated historic hamlet that’s part of Black Mountain, which is just east of Asheville, the property is surrounded by nature preserves and conservation areas abutting the Blue Ridge Parkway, ensuring the breathtaking views would remain.