"Every architect commissioned to design a mountain home that's sympathetic to its setting faces the same challenge: how to come to terms with the peak itself--the rock, the elevation, the climate, the slope, the vista. Despite the inevitable urge to triumph over topography by building at the summit, embracing a more modest accommodation can sometimes be a better path to achieving domestic bliss in the clouds.

Consider the extraordinary house conceived by the New York--based architecture firm Gluck+ in North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains. Situated well below the highest point on the property, at the edge of a sunken meadow ringed by trees and close to a precipice with a hundred-mile view to the bright lights of Charlotte, the residence strikes an elegant balance between exposure and protection, between high-altitude splendor and grounded repose. All of which was accomplished while adhering to environmental standards rigorous enough to earn the project a LEED Silver certification."

[Excerpt, "High Fidelity," Architectural Digest, August 2014]

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