Designing to Suit a Variety of Tastes in this Bustling Metro Area
Charlotte Home Architects
Charlotte home architects are designing for the middle third of the state, in a place rich with history. There is a coastal plain which is the eastern 45% of the state, the central or Piedmont which comprises 35 %, and the mountainous area to the far west of the Appalachian Mountains. Charlotte is the state’s largest city. North Carolina was one of the original 13 states, originally called the Province of Carolina.
A bit of area history for Charlotte home architects.
Spanish military were the first colonists from Europe in 1567 near today’s Morganton. In 1861, the Confederacy in this state seceded from the Union. In 1868, the state was restored to the fledgling United States of America. An understanding of this area’s history can give depth to the creations of Charlotte home architects.
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The Piedmont is a gigantic plateau stretching from New Jersey to central Alabama, and it cuts right through the middle of North Carolina, including the general Charlotte area. This plateau is about 300 miles wide in the North Carolina region. Piedmont means Foot (pied) and Hill (mont) from the French. This region is named after the Italian Piemonte area. The average elevation above sea level varies from 200′ to 1,000′ ASL. Geologists have determined that this area formed from the ancient super-continent of Pangaea, when that broke up and Africa and North America separated, and subsequent continental collisions formed the Appalachians to the west of Charlotte.
Charlotte is the second largest banking center in the USA, only behind New York City, and the 5th largest metro area in the United States. Mecklinburg County has about 900,000 people (2008 census). Surrounding counties nearly double this. Charlotte home architects realize that this is a strong influence on local architecture. The question is whether to provide something in the same vein or designs that are in more of a homier style for upscale houses in suburban areas around Charlotte.
There is a very strong modern architectural theme of highrise buildings in the central business district of Charlotte, referred to by locals as “Uptown.” There is the wonderful Charlotte Overstreet Mall that is really the combination of various restaurants and other mercantile and public facilities within the 2nd levels of the various tall buildings, connected together by steel and glass-walled bridges between the high rises in Uptown. This is welcome indeed during winter, which can be quite cold, and often below freezing with snow and ice in the Charlotte area.
Charlotte home architects and what they are doing.
All of these historical, financial and geological facts are interesting, but what have they to do with Charlotte home architects and what they are tasked with doing? Well, for one, Charlotte home architects are influenced heavily by the strong contemporary urban environment. I should know, I was co-project manager/designer on one of the condominium mid-rises in the 4th Ward in Uptown Charlotte in 2000. I was working with a company in town who had the design contract, called Omni. The project is Jefferson Square. It was a good project and fits in well with the urban character of Uptown Charlotte.
At that time, I lived in Huntersville, just north of Charlotte. It was a nice neighborhood and the homes were fairly bland, with a little red brick on the front here and there and horizontal clapboard siding around the rest of it. Nothing really wrong with these things, just nothing to warm your blood.
Some Charlotte home architects probably wish they had this to work with. This is the site of one of Rand Soellner Architect’s projects near Whiteside Mountain (near Cashiers, NC), the oldest mountain on Earth, according to geologists.
Blue Ridge Mountain Charlotte home architects and a different approach.
But…for those of you that have been to the Western North Carolina area and traveled through the glorious Blue Ridge Mountains and perhaps stayed a night or two to really get a feel for the North Carolina Mountains…didn’t that do something to you? Didn’t it stir your heart and soul? Don’t you have a desire to return there? Wouldn’t you like to live in a piece of those mountains everyday, although you know you make your living in the big city of Charlotte? How could you possibly do that? How could these seemingly different desires and needs be reconciled?
I was approached by one of the most influential real estate brokers from the Charlotte area a couple of years ago. She was working with a developer and they were talking about perhaps doing a community in the Charlotte area based on my company’s designs. My company is Rand Soellner Architect and I design custom homes, quite often for mountainous environments. I live in Western North Carolina, in Cashiers, perhaps some of you have visited our little mountain village. My home designs have had the good fortune to be featured in books and magazines worldwide, including in House With A View, available through Amazon.com. As Charlotte home architects, we are proud to have our work included on the international stage in such a quality publication. Richard Meier, Mario Botta and other substantial architectural firms also have some of their residential designs in this book and I feel proud to be rubbing shoulders with the likes of them. Yes, I live in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and I think I have earned the right to include myself among Charlotte home architects, because of my involvement in significant residential built projects in Uptown, my residency there, and involvement in ongoing and future residential projects in the Charlotte area. I also am a North Carolina licensed architect, registered to practice anywhere in the state on any kind of project. It is my choice that I prefer the design of luxury residential architecture.
Charlotte home architects Rand Soellner create estate homes like this, even around Charlotte, to suit your needs and taste. (C)Copyright 2005-2010 Rand Soellner, All Rights Reserved Worldwide. This project designed by Rand Soellner Architect in the Lake Toxaway area.
Conclusions for some Charlotte home architects – high-tech / high-touch.
So, as Charlotte home architects, what can we do with all of the above to help you achieve your wish to live in a piece of the Blue Ridge Mountains, yet also live near to where you work in Charlotte? Well, the idea the developer and the real estate broker had was for you to engage me to design your home there in the Charlotte area, with me creating a mountain-style home for you, with interior and exterior features and landscaped areas found in Rand Soellner houses from the Blue Ridge, but do this for you on your residential site in the Charlotte area. Now there’s an interesting and original idea. Live in a relaxed elegantly rustic mountain home on a site treated as we do properties in the mountains, so that you feel like your house is in the mountains, or perhaps in the foothills (pied-mont, remember?), and you can still have an easy commute to your job in Charlotte Uptown. Please let these Charlotte home architects from the mountains know if we can help you realize this dream.
Have you ever been to the Biltmore Estate over near where we are now? Well, we also design castles. We also created post and beam homes, and timber frame architecture. And you if aren’t interested in a mansion, we design compact cottages and mainstream homes in the 2,500 to 4,500 hsf (heated square foot) range as well. Please take a look around our website and see if there might be something that appeals to you, perhaps something that stirs your heart and soul, like the mountains around us.
Contact for Charlotte home architects in the Blue Ridge Mountains:
Rand Soellner Architect
www.HomeArchitects.com 828-269-9046
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