We had the pleasure of working with Chip Wade, whose project, The Perch at Pinhoti Peak is officially complete! His seamless integration of Modern Flames products into his whimisical project in the Georgia Mountains will delight and surprise adults and children looking to escape into the forest. Read below to hear more about the origins of his concept as well as Modern Flames’ role in helping the HGTV star make his vision come to life.
Can you explain the concept for your project?
This is in the North Georgia mountains, and I just wanted to create something really whimsical that would be fun for adults, but also for kids. So the concept of doing some type of elevated structure, because this is such steep terrain, doing something on grade with a traditional type build on a slab or a crawl space just doesn’t really work well. So I decided to do an elevated structure up on stilts that are, 25, 30 feet up off the ground that allows us to have great views, but also allows us to have outdoor living and entertaining spaces underneath the houses that are really fun. That was the concept.
Your concept is so unique – where do you get your inspiration from?
I haven’t seen anything like it before. It was just a bit of a kind of a ‘from scratch’ concept. I really kind of wanted it to feel a little bit more like a real retreat, like Disney World for adults. It’s also on a national hiking trail. You’re surrounded by tens of thousands of acres of national forest. Just being able to be surrounded by nature, but also have a destination with all the different amenities that you would want for a getaway for family and friends is what we have here.
When you were choosing what vendors to work with, what partners to work with, what were the requirements that you wanted to keep in mind? And how did that lead you to Modern Flames?
I’m always looking for new products and the best products. I’m constantly trying them out, too. That’s one thing that I really pride myself in, is personally trying out all kinds of different installations, different brands, different products, to see what works. I mean, I’m passionate about helping homeowners make educated home purchasing decisions, and a huge piece of that is really understanding what works, what’s great and what’s maybe not so great. And so I actually found you guys at the International Builders Show. There were some great folks there that I talked to, and I just wanted to try it out. So that’s where it began.
How do you feel now that you’ve worked with us and how does Modern Flames integrate into your vision?
So very pleased! The installation was very simple, and it’s exactly what I was wanting to have. I really wanted to eliminate any gas fixturing at all on these structures. Everything is electric. But you also want an authenticity and a great feel for what a fireplace brings, which I feel like we got both of those – very robustly done with the Modern Flames units. So I was able to use a spectrum of different product from the Orion® Slim and Multi units inside and outside.
The way that they were packaged and delivered and installed, the directions, everything was really great. I love the options for color and aesthetic and even some of the TruWood™ accessories that we put in there really differentiate it quite a bit. So whether it’s a master bedroom, an outdoor porch, or a main living room, large and small. We tried them all and were very impressed!