Dream So Real
Alan Fletcher’s American-Style Cottage at Mill House Place
How many times, when we conjure a place in the mind’s eye, whether from reading about it or seeing it in a painting or film, do we wish it were real? Remember the old farmhouse that Bing Crosby’s character converted into a night club in the 1942 movie, Holiday Inn? Who wouldn’t want to live in that clean, airy space, with exposed rafters, gleaming wood floors where Fred Astaire danced, and cozy wood-burning fireplaces?
But—sigh!—such places exist only in the movies.
Or do they? Take a short drive down Winston-Salem’s Robinhood Road past Sherwood Plaza shopping center to a woodsy, gated community called Mill House Place, and you’ll find a similar light and airy place with gleaming wood floors, wood-burning fireplaces, not to mention contemporary comforts and exquisite craftsmanship. Welcome to 1324 Pheasant Lane, an American farmhouse–style cottage built by Alan Fletcher Construction.
The 4,135- square-foot structure took about seven months to construct, says Fletcher, a third-generation builder who founded his company in 1987. “We wanted it to look inviting both inside and outside,” he explains. And certainly, at first glance looking up a hill at the gabled, clapboard house (the siding is actually HardiePlank lap siding and shape siding), you won’t be able to resist the impulse to dash onto the front wraparound porch and ring the doorbell. On the porch you’ll notice two key environmental advantages: a steady breeze that traverses the house when the doors are open and a view of the lake. Then look up at the soft white blue above you—no, not the sky, but an extension of it in the painted porch ceiling. And the doorbell? Press the whimsical shape of a firefly that covers it—to ring it. Clearly, no detail was overlooked in the construction of this charming house, but detail and thoughtful planning are key ingredients to that inviting ambiance and charm that Alan intended.
Once inside, you’ll appreciate the efficiency and casual elegance of the downstairs floor plan. To the right of the main entrance is the dining room with glass-paneled doors opening out onto the lake view; to the left, a study with a vaulted ceiling and yes, wood-burning fireplace; and before you, an open common area off the kitchen that could be used as a den and second fireplace (gas-heated). Beyond it is a screened porch with a slate floor and yet another wood-burning brick fireplace, inspired by the one in Eleanor Roosevelt’s summer retreat, Val-Kill Cottage, in Hyde Park, New York. You could fairly imagine a boisterous family living here, with children and dogs traipsing in and out, or parties where guests mill about, noshing at the dining room buffet, chatting before a fire in the study, or dancing (like Fred Astaire in Holiday Inn, perhaps?) across the four-inch oak floors. “It’s all about the flow,” says Alan. Flow and, again, the details, such as the coffered ceiling in the dining room, the silky Venetian plaster (a multiple application of plaster and glaze) on its walls, the subtly placed stereo speakers in the study’s walls for the room-to-room sound system whose main component is strategically placed in the built-ins in the den, or a neatly carved out home for Fido under the stairs. “That space is often wasted,” Alan observes.
There’s no wasted space here, from the number of pocket doors that recede into doorjambs to the countertop in the laundry room that can double as a makeshift office (and note the raised platform designed for front-load a washer and dryer; “this is a real back saver,” says Alan). Also, consider the granite-topped island in the kitchen: Rather than a narrow bar, it’s a nice big square, where a farm-styled sink—another touch invoking the farmhouse atmosphere—resides. As any cook knows, it’s much more convenient to have a spacious prep area next to your water source rather than across from it. Oh, and that indenture in the counter next to the stove? It’s an egg rest to allow eggs to sit at room temperature prior to baking. Even the space for waste is not wasted: Beneath an attractive hutch by the pass-through to the den you’ll find a drawer large enough to hold recycling containers. “You ask your kids to take the recycling out to the garage, and they never do it, so you can fill these up and then make them take it out,” jokes Debbie Fletcher, Alan’s wife.
In the garage, big enough to accommodate three cars, there is a larger recycling station with separate cabinets for newspapers, magazines, aluminum and glass. It’s one of many features that make this house—surprise!—Green-certified. Another, adjacent to the recycling station, is the sealed, conditioned crawlspace. Not to worry. This area is no dark, musty enclosure that attracts spiders and other creepy-crawlies; instead, it is draped in white plastic, spotless and well-lit. More important, explains Alan, “Whatever the temperature and humidity of the living space above, the area below is within one or two degrees of that.” Similarly, in the attic, the temperature will get no hotter than 82 or 83 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer and no cooler than 60 or 65 degrees in the winter. Why? “Seven inches of seal spray foam insulation,” Alan observes. The puffy white foam resembling cotton candy goes all the way up, preventing bugs and other unwanted guests from entering, and from warm or cool air from leaving. The attic and crawl space are the guts of the house that contain other key energy-efficient features, including the central vacuum system and Rinnai tankless water heaters (fueled with gas heat). These work on demand, so water isn’t heating in a tank all day, even when it’s not being used. Furthermore, “all are within 25- to 30-foot runs,” says Alan. That way, hot water is delivered quickly to the kitchen (with Energy Star dishwasher, of course), half-bath and guest room from below, and to the his-and-hers double bath and master suite from above.
Ah yes! Bedrooms and baths (and closets, too!). There are four bedrooms total, three of which are upstairs, as is a bonus room over the garage (with its own heating system). All have splendid views of the old trees on the Mill House development—including the one in the back yard that Alan carefully avoided when building the brick patio and fountain. Imagine a young girl daydreaming as she gazes at dazzling autumn leaves from her window (and these, by the way, are aluminum-clad on the exterior, wood on the interior). And no child living in this house would have a messy room, thanks to the spacious walk-in closets with ample shelf space for books, toys or sporting equipment.
For dreaming sweet dreams, however, there’s no place like the master suite, situated on the first floor off of the den. Here, after spending a chilly evening on the Val-Kill porch by glowing coals and the gurgling koi fountain on the patio, you’d pad across the Australian cypress and travertine tile in the bath to the enormous closet (as large as bedrooms in some houses) and swap your clothes for a plush robe. After a good soak in the jetted tub you’d retire under a beamed farmhouse ceiling in the bedroom, content and perhaps feeling that you’d stepped into a movie with a happy ending.
But who needs the movies, when there’s the real thing… at Mill House Place?
Alan Fletcher Vendors: Wilson Lighting 765-2912 / Murray Supply 765-9480 / Winston Shower Door 760-0085 / Bobby Teague 768-8540 / Collins Garage 682-8699 Edwards Hardwoods 595-3506 / Sloan Concrete 961-4008 / AV One 399-5163 / Streetscapes & Window Works 946-2164 / Leonard Ryden Burr 779-9200
