Skip to content

Top Navigation

Southern Living Southern Living
  • Food
  • Holidays & Entertaining
  • Home & Garden
  • Style & Culture
  • News
  • Video

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout

More

  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
Login
Subscribe
Pin FB

Explore Southern Living

Southern Living Southern Living
  • Explore

    Explore

    • These Haircuts Are Going To Be Huge in 2021

      The trendy haircuts you’ll be seeing everywhere next year. Read More Next
    • How To Season A Cast-Iron Skillet

      Learn how to season this Southern kitchen staple in five easy steps. Read More Next
    • The Right Way to Heat a Pre-Cooked Ham

      It's so easy, trust us. Read More Next
  • Food

    Food

    See all Food

    Lost Cakes of the South

    These simple and spectacular Southern cakes deserve a comeback
    • All Food
    • All Recipes
    • Holidays & Occasions
    • Quick Fix Suppers
    • Slow Cooker Recipes
    • Desserts
    • Casseroles
    • Healthy Recipes
  • Holidays & Entertaining

    Holidays & Entertaining

    See all Holidays & Entertaining

    70 Wedding Vow Examples That Will Melt Your Heart

    Fight writer's block and find ways to express your love with these romantic, funny, and short wedding vow examples.
    • Christmas
    • Entertaining
    • Thanksgiving
    • Southern Weddings
    • Easter
    • Kentucky Derby
    • Valentine's Day
    • 4th of July
    • Mother's Day
  • Home & Garden

    Home & Garden

    See all Home & Garden

    7 Paint Colors We’re Loving for Kitchen Cabinets in 2020

    ‘Tis the season to ditch your all-white palette in favor of something a little bolder and brighter.
    • Home Decor Ideas
    • Idea Houses
    • Before & After
    • Inspired Communities
    • Curb Appeal
    • House Plans & Builders
    • The Grumpy Gardener
    • Plant Names A-Z
  • Style & Culture

    Style & Culture

    See all Style & Culture

    50 Books Everyone Should Read in Their Lifetime

    Curl up with a classic!
    • Southern Culture
    • Hair
    • Travel
    • Beauty
    • Pets
    • Southern Fashion
    • Healthy Living
  • News
  • Video

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout

More

  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow us

  1. Southern Living
  2. Home
  3. Our Asheville, North Carolina, Idea House Is All Decked Out For the Holiday Season

Our Asheville, North Carolina, Idea House Is All Decked Out For the Holiday Season

By Grace Haynes
Updated December 02, 2020
Skip gallery slides
Save FB Tweet
Credit: Photography: Brooke Fornea Styling: Kendra Surface

There’s holiday cheer around every corner at the Southern Living Idea House. We dressed up our modern farmhouse in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains with festive trimmings to celebrate the season. Find decorating inspiration throughout the home, with twinkling Christmas trees, welcoming wreaths, and dining tables set for entertaining. We didn’t forget about the doghouse, of course, with its own stocking for a very good pup.

The Ramble Farmhouse (SL-2052) is set in a secluded 1,000-acre community called The Ramble Biltmore Forest (part of the original farm founded by George W. Vanderbilt in 1897). It’s conveniently located by the  Biltmore and about a 15-minute drive to buzzy downtown Asheville. A talented team from across the region brought our Appalachian getaway to life: interior designer Lauren Liess, builders Rick Buchanan, Jason Norton, and Rodger Gardner of Buchanan Construction, architects Kate Campbell and Beau Clowney of Beau Clowney Architects, and landscape architect Greg Cloos.

The Idea House is open for tours through December 27, 2020 (find more information for tours and tickets here). Here, a peek of the home’s Christmas decorations to kick off the season.

Special thanks to Balsam Hill/Biltmore Collection;  Southern Living Collection exclusively at Dillard’s; The Home Depot

Start Slideshow

1 of 13

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Come On In

Credit: Photography: Brooke Fornea Styling: Kendra Surface

An oversize wreath from The Home Depot on the front door makes a spirited first impression. We hung a few more wreaths (pre-lit with classic white lights) on surrounding windows for good measure. 

1 of 13

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 13

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Tiny Touches

Credit: Photography: Brooke Fornea Styling: Kendra Surface

Small spaces don’t have to stay empty. Glowing in the windowsills, battery-operated flameless candles from The Home Depot (which can be seen from the street) add a cozy colonial Christmas look.

2 of 13

3 of 13

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Raise the Bar

Credit: Photography: Brooke Fornea Styling: Kendra Surface

The library already feels festive with its high-gloss green ceiling. A twinkling tabletop tree set on the bar cart and magnolia clippings arranged in a vase on the coffee table feel just right.

3 of 13

Advertisement

4 of 13

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

All the Trimmings

Credit: Photography: Brooke Fornea Styling: Kendra Surface

A Biltmore spruce from Balsam Hill twinkles in the bay window of the sitting room. Metallic ornaments from the Biltmore Legacy Ornament Set and a sparkly ribbon cascading from the top help the tree really shine.  

4 of 13

5 of 13

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Twice as Nice

Credit: Photography: Brooke Fornea Styling: Kendra Surface

A pair of pre-lit wreaths hang above the Japanese soaking tub in the main bath.  

5 of 13

6 of 13

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Branching Out

Credit: Photography: Brooke Fornea Styling: Kendra Surface

Evergreen Christmas decorations complement the living room's already earthy palette. A fireplace feels all the more cozy in the mountains, especially with winter-white stockings and garland draped over the mantel. Give artificial tabletop trees a custom look by setting them in one of your own containers. Wispy pine branches clipped from the yard add more natural greenery. 

6 of 13

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 13

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Sweet Servings

Credit: Photography: Brooke Fornea Styling: Kendra Surface

When company comes over, serve holiday treats with festive accessories from the Southern Living collection for Dillard's. 

7 of 13

8 of 13

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Gather Around

Credit: Photography: Brooke Fornea Styling: Kendra Surface

Set the table for Christmas dinner with tableware from the Southern Living collection for Dillard's. 

8 of 13

9 of 13

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Set Up a Second Tree

Credit: Photography: Brooke Fornea Styling: Kendra Surface

Bring the cheer out to the screened porch with a sparkling tree from The Home Depot to admire while curled up by the fire. 

9 of 13

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

10 of 13

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Welcoming Retreat

Credit: Photography: Brooke Fornea Styling: Kendra Surface

A few festive touches like stockings hanging from the bedposts prep the guest room for visitors. 

10 of 13

11 of 13

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Comfort and Joy

Credit: Photography: Brooke Fornea Styling: Kendra Surface

A twinkling tabletop tree and  garland are easy decor additions that go a long way in this cozy bedroom. 

11 of 13

12 of 13

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Seasonal Swap

Credit: Photography: Brooke Fornea Styling: Kendra Surface

Replace the usual vase of flowers on an accent table with a tiny Christmas tree in December.

12 of 13

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

13 of 13

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

House of Good Cheer

Credit: Photography: Brooke Fornea Styling: Kendra Surface

Deck the halls at the doghouse too. Beau Clowney Architects modeled The Ramble Doghouse after the main home (plus, it's a house plan). 

13 of 13

Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Grace Haynes

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook
Trending Videos
Advertisement
Skip slide summaries

Everything in This Slideshow

Advertisement

View All

1 of 13 Come On In
2 of 13 Tiny Touches
3 of 13 Raise the Bar
4 of 13 All the Trimmings
5 of 13 Twice as Nice
6 of 13 Branching Out
7 of 13 Sweet Servings
8 of 13 Gather Around
9 of 13 Set Up a Second Tree
10 of 13 Welcoming Retreat
11 of 13 Comfort and Joy
12 of 13 Seasonal Swap
13 of 13 House of Good Cheer

Share options

Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Login

Southern Living

Magazines & More

Learn More

  • About Us
  • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
  • Books from Southern Living
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Content Licensing this link opens in a new tab
  • Sitemap

Connect

Follow Us
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
Other Meredith Sites

Other Meredith Sites

  • 4 Your Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Allrecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • All People Quilt this link opens in a new tab
  • Better Homes & Gardens this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Insights this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Surveys this link opens in a new tab
  • Cooking Light this link opens in a new tab
  • Daily Paws this link opens in a new tab
  • EatingWell this link opens in a new tab
  • Eat This, Not That this link opens in a new tab
  • Entertainment Weekly this link opens in a new tab
  • Food & Wine this link opens in a new tab
  • Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Hello Giggles this link opens in a new tab
  • Instyle this link opens in a new tab
  • Martha Stewart this link opens in a new tab
  • Midwest Living this link opens in a new tab
  • More this link opens in a new tab
  • MyRecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • MyWedding this link opens in a new tab
  • My Food and Family this link opens in a new tab
  • MyLife this link opens in a new tab
  • Parenting this link opens in a new tab
  • Parents this link opens in a new tab
  • People this link opens in a new tab
  • People en Español this link opens in a new tab
  • Rachael Ray Magazine this link opens in a new tab
  • Real Simple this link opens in a new tab
  • Ser Padres this link opens in a new tab
  • Shape this link opens in a new tab
  • Siempre Mujer this link opens in a new tab
  • SwearBy this link opens in a new tab
  • Travel & Leisure this link opens in a new tab
Southern Living is part of the Meredith Home Group. © Copyright 2021 Meredith Corporation. Southern Living is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporationthis link opens in a new tab All Rights Reserved. Southern Living may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
© Copyright . All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.southernliving.com

View image

Our Asheville, North Carolina, Idea House Is All Decked Out For the Holiday Season
this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.