The Holstein’s Story of Building Living Stone’s Skylar Model
It’s not unusual for Bonnie and Gary Holstein to strike up a conversation with another couple. And it’s not unusual for them to become friends with new acquaintances, something that the Holsteins love about Asheville and Southcliff, the community south of town where they live their Living Stone Construction-built home.
“Just the other day, we struck up a conversation with another couple at the Battery Park Book Exchange & Champagne Bar, and they invited us to a concert at their home,” Bonnie said. She spoke as she and Gary were driving home from the Biltmore Estate, where they had exchanged numbers with another couple while taking photos of tulips.
Bulliard on Town Mountain – Inspired Contemporary
Retro+Fit custom designed these plans for Mr. Bulliard's complicated and sloped lot on Town Mountain.
The Transitional Craftsman for George and Stanlee
It’s special, it’s wonderful and I keep pinching myself because I cannot believe that this is our home. Living Stone Construction, headed by Sean Sullivan more than met our expectations. They hit a grand slam out of the ball park. This house is amazing!
Tips on Green Design for Your Home: An Interview with Sean Sullivan of Living Stone Construction, Inc
Published July 14th in NorthCarolinaHome
Living Stone is a Green builder of fine custom, and semi-custom, homes. We offer turn-key services to bring complete value to the client and make the building process enjoyable. Much like sustainability in building, our “Living Stone Difference” process is sustainable. When you work with us, we can help you find land, design your home, build your home (or renovation), prescribe finishes, provide financing, and deliver a home warranty.
3rd Annual Living Stone Construction Home Tour
Oh what a night!
Oh what a night!
Energy Rating our Homes
All of our homes are certified Energy Star vs 3. We hire a 3rd party, independent energy rater to help us at the very beginning of design to ensure we are building our clients a healthy, energy star, green home. Our Energy Rater continues to work with us throughout the building process. She is at this job today for a blower door test, along with the building inspector and the heating and cooling contractor. For more information about our standard of building green and the why please click here.
The Jones’ Story – The Japalachian
Living Stone Construction homeowners Jim and Susan Jones fell in love with Asheville years ago while visiting their daughter, a student at UNC Asheville. The Joneses were living in Greensboro at the time, where Jim had a Chevrolet dealership. He was developing a luxury apartment community there when he and Susan decided to move to the mountains in 2010.
They found a steep lot in The Settlings of Black Mountain, and then found Living Stone Construction. The Joneses asked company president Sean Sullivan to advise them about building on the slope, “and we got to know him and we became friends,” Jim said. “We saw everything Sean built, and that gave us confidence. This is the second custom home we’ve built, so we know how hard it is to find a good builder.”
Asheville Builder & Interior Designer: A Marriage Of Give And Take Ideas Yields Award Winning Results
Being part of a great team can yield wonderful results. No one knows this better than Sean Sullivan, owner of Living Stone Construction, and Laura Sullivan, owner of ID.ology Interior Design, both located in the Asheville area. Not only do Sean and Laura sometimes work together on the same projects – they’re a team off the job site, as well. This happily married couple has managed to strike a great balance that has led to exceptional accomplishments. One such accomplishment is The Rockcliff home – an award-winning Asheville project on which Living Stone Construction served as the builder and ID.ology served as the interior design firm. North Carolina Design talked to Sean and Laura to find out more about this spectacular home, and how their solid teamwork helped them achieve award-winning results.
Go Green, Reduce Energy Bills With Smart Technology
From “learning” thermostats to energy saving smartphone apps, it has never been easier to monitor and control your home’s energy use. While we all love doing our part to help the environment, the real draw here is how these simple green solutions will help you save money by keeping those monthly energy bills low. Here are just some of many easy home energy-monitoring tools that can help your home run as efficiently as possible.
Smart Thermostats
With the dog days of summer fast approaching, many homeowners worry they won’t be able to keep their homes comfortable without their energy bills going through the roof. Luckily, innovations in smart thermostat technology can help you keep your house cool and refreshing without breaking the bank.
Nest Labs offers the Nest Learning Thermostat. This sleek, minimally designed wall thermostat can be adjusted manually in your home or wirelessly from any location through your computer or smartphone. Each time you adjust the thermostat, Nest learns about your temperature preferences and daily life. It then uses this information to help you keep your home at a consistently comfortable temperature while simultaneously saving money on energy costs. For example, it learns to automatically adjust the temperature when you’re away at work, asleep at night or when the weather unexpectedly changes.
Other similar programmable thermostats include the Ecobee Smart Thermostat, the Honeywell Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat, and the Venstar ColorTouch Thermostat.
Raised Garden Beds
A charming landscaping feature that delivers home-grown vegetables, herbs and fresh flowers without a trip to the farmer’s market – it’s no wonder raised-bed gardens are popping up in neighborhoods around the country. A raised garden bed sits above its surroundings in...
