David Gramley especially likes the mornings at his Living Stone Construction-built home in The Settings of Black Mountain. The first one awake, he makes a cup of coffee and turns to the large windows in the living room. Cradling the steaming cup of joe, he marvels at the clarity of the mountain framed within the view. Sometimes he sees deer emerge from the woods. Wild turkeys strut among the trees.
Shifting his eyes to the mountain range in the far distance, he’s prone to contemplate he and his wife’s move into this house in the winter of 2015. The house suits them perfectly, David said.
“We found that since we moved here, we hardly turn on the TV,” he said. “I’d rather look outside.”
And to find beauty inside, he has only to scan the interior space of his Craftsman-style home. Its large common area flows seamlessly from the living room into the kitchen and dining area. Its spaciousness is graciously proportioned. The airy, open space seems to breath in the mountain air that David enjoys when he steps out with his coffee onto the porch to see what kind of weather the day has brought.
Asheville’s lush, green forests and stunning mountain landscapes have long been a draw for nature lovers seeking to build a home in an unspoiled natural paradise. Sean Sullivan, owner of Living Stone Construction and his wife, Laura Sullivan, owner of ID.ology Interior Design team up to not only help their clients build their dream home, but to ensure that Asheville stays unspoiled for future generations through their green building and design process. North Carolina Design talked to them to hear more about what true green building really entails, and the surprising ways it enriches and enhances the lives of their clients.
By the time you read this, Kip Pritchard and Val Hardin will have been in their new home for just a few months. And they couldn’t be more delighted. About 10 days before they were to move in, they were excitedly talking about the house that Living Stone Construction was building for them in The Settings of Black Mountain.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
On August 3rd 2014, the men of ODA 3131 lost a brother, and the Gass family lost a father, husband, brother, and son when Girard “Jerry” Gass died of a massive heart attack while on a combat operation in Afghanistan. Jerry suffered a heart attack after conducting a helicopter infiltration to secure a highly contested governmental district center in remote Afghanistan. The last thing Jerry did before he died was evacuate a fellow soldier off of the battlefield. 
Being part of a great team can yield wonderful results. No one knows this better than Sean Sullivan, owner of 
This past Tuesday, at the Asheville HBA office, Sean Sullivan (President of Living Stone Construction and President-Elect for the NCHBA), Steven Webb (lobbyist for NCHBA), Caroline Sutton (Executive Officer of Asheville HBA), and 7 others met with Congressman Mark Meadows to examine current and future problems the country faces in the building industry.
During the winter months, many families gather around their home’s fireplace. A fire in the fireplace creates a warm and cozy atmosphere, but don’t expect it to add heat to your home. As little as 10 percent of the heat from a fire in an open masonry fireplace radiates into the house. 
Family households consisting of three or more generations, or “multigenerational households,” have become increasingly popular in the 21st century. According to the most recent Census, approximately 4.4 million American homes had three generations or more living under one roof in 2010, a 15 percent increase from two years earlier. This is 5.6 percent of the total of 76.4 million U.S. households with more than one person.