| Secluded Asheville area mountain vacation rental |
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Special Features of this Mountain Home
Complete kitchen, microwave, washer/dryer, telephone with credit-card (800) long distance access, 3mbs wireless DSL Internet, satellite TV with CD, DVD and VHS in the living room and a second TV in the basement bedroom with satellite and VHS. An initial supply of soap and paper products sufficient for a few days. Books, games and movies for children and adults. The deck is 12 feet wide and wraps around three sides of the house with chairs, tables, and several riding toys for small children. The Jotul wood stove has a generous viewing window for the ambience of a fireplace with the efficiency of an excellent wood stove. Firewood is provided. The floors have radiant heat for cozy, foot-friendly winter warmth. Bedroom Configuration The master bedroom on the main floor has a queen size bed. The upstairs bedroom has a king and a twin. The daylight basement bedroom has a queen and a twin. The loft, which is a balcony area overlooking the living area, has a couch that unfolds into a comfortable double futon. Electrical Power Here is your chance to try off-the-grid living without serious hardship. The home is completely off the commercial power grid; the power lines do not even come that far up the mountain. Standard 120 volt AC is supplied via an inverter from a battery bank of 16 deep-cycle six volt batteries arrayed into a 48 volt DC system. Power to charge the batteries comes from three sources: solar, mini-hydro, and a backup generator. Primary power comes from two 1,200 watt solar panel arrays. The secondary source is a mini-hydro unit which is installed at the home of our daughter a little way down the mountain. The hydro unit runs 24/7 and for much of the day it produces more power than is needed for her home, so the excess is sent up the mountain to our system. Backup power comes from a quiet, highly reliable, propane-powered, 15 kilowatt, water-cooled, low (1,800) rpm, 2007 model Kohler generator. The system has proven to be much more reliable than commercial power usually is this far out in the mountains, since it is unaffected by the thunderstorms that often interrupt commercial power. The only disadvantage is that the primary and secondary power sources can generate only a limited amount of power for continuous use. The use of electric stoves, ovens, and air conditioners is not feasible at all, and prolonged use of smaller heat-producing appliances like toasters and hair dryers will cause the generator to kick on. We make a kind of game of it. We watch the battery voltage and conserve if it is getting low. If we hear the backup generator come on, we've lost the game. It's not a big deal, though. If you really need to dry your hair then go ahead and do so. We use LP gas to cook, dry clothes, and heat water for household use and for the radiant-heat floors in the winter. Water Supply Water for our home comes from a spring on our property several hundred feet above the house in elevation. It's a great system. The water is caught before it ever comes out of the rocks and piped to a 1,000 gallon holding tank and then down the mountain to our homes. We have it tested and it always tests out as pure, clean spring water, the kind you pay premium prices for in bottles in the grocery store. However, western North Carolina, until very recently, has had the worst drought in over a hundred years. This drought has reduced the flow of the spring and everyone needs to observe a few common-sense conservation measures to make sure we don't run out.
The driveway to our home comes at the end of about a half-mile of county-maintained gravel road.The driveway is unpaved, about three-quarters of a mile long, and was put in by a man who has been building roads in these mountains for over 50 years. We have our own tractor and keep it in good shape. It is pretty steep in a couple of places, but most people don't have any trouble with it. Several local trade, service, and delivery people have commented that it is a very good road. Four-wheel and all-wheel drive are perfect for it, of course, and front-wheel drive also works well because of the weight of the engine on the drive wheels. Rear-wheel drive requires a little more attention to driving technique. You need to carry enough momentum into the steep places so that you don't have to step too heavily on the accelerator on the upslope. The only people who have had trouble are those with rear-wheel drive who are so timid that they back off on the accelerator, or even stop, on the upslope. Eventually they have to add power to start moving again and the rear wheels lose traction and start spinning. Please note, this does not mean you have to drive fast, and you should not do so. People walk the road and with the blind curves you should not exceed about 10 mph. Just keep a steady foot and apply a little more accelerator as you ease into the upslope. |
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