Text by Bethany Adams
After selling their primary residence in Atlanta, Georgia, Jamie Elliott McPherson and Tra Raines decided to spend the winter at their rental property in Highlands, North Carolina, while they pondered their next move. “In doing so, we actually really got to know the community here and the people in Highlands,” says Jamie Elliott, who had until that point been running his design studio, J. Elliott Style, out of Atlanta. “And we decided we wanted to make a full-time residence out of it.”
Shortly after, Jamie Elliott’s mother followed them, and he set about renovating the guesthouse to create the perfect spot for her to spend her golden years. “This was one of the first projects I did upon moving up here to the mountains, so we definitely wanted it to have a mountain vibe without being too dark,” Jamie Elliott says. “We didn’t want to do a lot of dark stained woods; we wanted to keep it light and bright and have a bit of country-French influence to it.”
They opted for a palette of creams, off-whites, beiges, and splashes of blue, topping it off with dark ceiling beams, rich furs and animal prints, and natural elements like wood furniture. In the living room, antique Black Forest stag mounts accompany a landscape painting by Atlanta artist Donna Hughes. “I typically work with landscapes in most of the projects that I do,” Jamie Elliot says, and the choice is especially fitting in this space.
The cast-stone fireplace from François & Co. echoes the range hood in the kitchen, which Jamie Elliott contrasted with a hand-molded tile backsplash. LEE Industries chairs upholstered in a duo of leather and antelope-print fabric contribute a softening element that, Jamie Elliott notes, continues the mountain theme with a pattern that evokes visions of spotted fawns. “I like mixing styles,” he explains of his approach to putting a fresh twist on the typical mountain aesthetic.
In the bedroom, Jamie Elliott leveraged a soaring vaulted ceiling with a textured wood-look Thibault wallpaper—also used in the kitchen—and an extra-high headboard that he says adds “a lot of softness” to the space in the absence of window treatments. On the wall above, he showcased a collection of carved Black Forest mounts portraying a variety of woodland animals. “It was just one of those great finds I ran across and couldn’t help but get them all . . . and I think they worked out perfectly above that bed,” he says.
The doors lead out onto a private balcony that overlooks a creek, but it’s the covered porch off the living room that offers the home’s most relaxing experience. “It was a pretty straightforward covered porch that didn’t have any architectural interest,” Jamie Elliott says of the space before the renovation. “So, we wanted to give it some more character.”
Now, dark wood railing and elegant corbels enhance the silhouettes of the porch itself, while wicker chairs and overstuffed chaise longues provide space for intimate gatherings or afternoon naps. Inside and out, Jamie Elliott’s technique of incorporating the cozy charm of a European cottage with the natural allure of the mountains makes what was meant to be a temporary getaway a place worth coming home to.
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