Capital at Play February 2019

Paul Heumiller Dream Guitars p.16

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Escape Rooms in Western North Carolina p.57

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A look back on Real Estate in Western North Carolina. p.37 February 2019

A happier & healthier community is a better place to live.”

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That’s what community is all about. People sharing the best they can do, so we can all be the healthiest and happiest we can be. | February 2019 2HAPPYWITHPARDEE.ORG

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Editor’s Thoughts

T

his time around I’d like to get a bit more personal than usual.

Our family moved to Asheville in the spring of 2002, not long after my kid turned one; I probably don’t need to tell you that we were drawn to Western North Carolina, in general, for the quality of life, and to Asheville, specifically, for the school system. We had an excellent run here, then in 2012, our jobs took us to Raleigh and the Triangle, where we also seemed to prosper.

Yet, ultimately, we missed the mountains, so we wound up returning in the summer of 2015. The day we arrived, driving on I-40 past Old Fort, over the big hill, and then down towards Black Mountain and Asheville—and with WNCW-FM now greeting us over the U-Haul truck’s radio, like the warm, sincere embrace of a dear old friend—all I could think to myself was, “Damn, this does feel like home, after all.”

Hindsight can be so perfect, it’s maddening. In 2012 we had no way of knowing we would be returning to Western North Carolina. If we had even thought that was a possibility, we would have hedged our bets and not sold our house in Asheville; at that point there was already a steady influx of transplants to the city and surrounding area, so we would have had no trouble whatsoever renting it, probably banking enough to cover the mortgage and have some pocket change left over each month. I’m not Nostradamus, though, and anyway, we needed the dough from the sale of the house to enable us to buy one in Raleigh.

And then, upon returning to Asheville, we quickly learned that during our absence, home prices within the city limits had spiked to such a degree that even if our old place was up for grabs, there was no way we could afford it. I mean, c’mon folks—what did you do to my cool little mountain town in the space of just three short years?!?

As it turns out, my question would subsequently get answered many times over. It seems like a week doesn’t go by without a media outlet reporting on the area housing crunch, which of course is accompanied by rising housing prices, all brought on by the steady influx of new arrivals lured by the aforementioned quality of life that the mountains offer. (Since I lived here for 10 years, took a hiatus, then came back, I—cough—continue to claim “honorary native” status and am therefore blameless for all the attendant density issues such as traffic congestion.)

And each year, Capital at Play publishes our annual real estate report, which additionally puts the situation in up-close-and-personal relief. Hence, the February issue you now hold.

I hope that this year’s report offers more than just the usual snapshots of the Western North Carolina housing market from the year prior. Instead, think of it as a kind of user’s guide with which you can glean more than just dollars and data: We want you to come away with a sense of why certain trends have unfolded, where some of those trends might be headed, and what you might be advised—or at be least prepared—to do in terms of your own plans, lifestyle, and resources.

A huge thanks, then, to Bill Fishburne, of Beverly-Hanks Realtors, who has been authoring our real estate overviews year after year. He brings a straightforward approach to a complicated subject for us every February, and his efforts are genuinely appreciated.

Sincerely,

Fred Mills

February 2019 | capitalatplay.com

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Fred Mills briefs and events editor

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Evan Anderson, Bill Fishburne, Emily Glaser, Anthony Harden, Bill Kopp, Marla Hardee Milling, Joanne Morgan art director

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Emily Glaser

Dasha O. Morgan, Brenda Murphy

Information & Inquiries Capital at Play is Western North Carolina’s business lifestyle magazine. It embodies the idea that capitalism thrives with creativity—that work requires an element of play. Exploring everything from local industry to the great outdoors, Capital at Play is inspiration for the modern entrepreneur.

In every edition we profile those who take the risk, those who share that risk, and those who support them—telling the untold story of how capitalists are driven by their ideas and passions.

We cater to those who see the world with curiosity, wonderment, and a thirst for knowledge.

We present information and entertainment that capitalists want, all in one location. We are the free spirit of enterprise.

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Editorial content is selected and produced because of its interest to our readership. Editorial content is not for sale and cannot be bought. Capital at Play is financially sustained by advertisers who find value in exposure alongside our unique content and to the readers who follow it.

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| February 2019

This magazine is printed with soy based ink on recycled paper. Please recycle.

Copyright © 2019, Capital At Play, Inc. All rights reserved.

Capital at Play is a trademark of Capital At Play, Inc. Published by Capital At Play, Inc. PO Box 5615, Asheville, NC. 28813

Capital at Play is protec ted through Tr ademar k Regis tr ation in the United States. The content found within this publication does not necessar ily ref lec t the views of Capital At Play, Inc. and its companies. Capital At Play, Inc. and its employees are not liable for any adver tising or editor ial content found in Capital at Play. The ar ticles, photogr aphy, and illus tr ations found in Capital at Play may not be reproduced or used in any fashion without express wr it ten consent by Capital At Play, Inc.

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Capital at Play has partnered with Bclip Productions to bring the pages of each edition to life, just for you. Featured at Capitalatplay.com and our Facebook page, we give you exclusive interviews and insider info on the people, places, and faces of Capital at Play has partnered with Bclip Productions to bring the pages of each edition to life, just for you. Featuring a new enterprise throughout Western North Carolina. Visit us on social media or at our website to see the latest 60 Seconds at Play.

second video every two weeks, we give you exclusive interviews and insider info on the people, places, and faces of enterp throughout Western North Carolina. Visit us on social media or at capitalatplay.com to see the latest 60 Seconds at Play NOVEMBER VIDEO

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At Bclip we do more than tell your story. Our business-first mentality and c creativity set us apart from other video production companies. It’s our mis help our customers sell their products, train their staff, and entertain custo video. We strive to eat, sleep, and think like the wonderful companies we w

on the cover : ELISE OLSON, working on new lingerie designs, in her West Asheville space. photo by Evan Anderson thi s page : A FEW OF THE dreadnought guitars in, Dream Guitars' Show Room. photo by Anthony Harden

w 60 prise y.

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F E AT U R E D vol. ix

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MUSICAL MATCHMAKER PAUL HEUMILLER

ed. ii

76

IT’S WHAT’S ‘ON THE INSIDE’ THAT COUNTS ELISE OLSON

February 2019 | capitalatplay.com

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C ON T E N T S f e b r u a r y 2 019

photo by Anthony Harden

37

lo c a l i n d u s t r y

Western North Carolina Real Estate Year in Review2018

insight

57

l e i s u r e & l i b at i o n

Escaping the Everyday Escape Rooms in Western North Carolina

colu m n

12 D argan Landscape Architects

Hugh & Mary Palmer Dargan

72 A Perfect Union

Creating Landlord-Tenant Agreements For Commercial Leases.

briefs

30 Carolina in the West 52 The Old North State

Written by Joanne Morgan

p e o p l e at p l ay

90 2019 Asheville Restaurant Week Kickoff

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| February 2019

events

92 Sustainable Farming. Owl Prowling. Business Marketing. And‌ Classic Rock-N-Rolling?

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nsight

photo by Sarah Valentine

THE

Art of Flourishing Mary Palmer Dargan talks about her and husband Hugh’s long, storied career as landscape architects.

I

f you have ever spent even just a little amount of time watching the HGTV cable channel, or picked up the occasional home and garden magazine, chances are pretty good you know the names Mary Palmer Dargan and Hugh Graham Dargan. Their garden and landscape work has been celebrated consistently over the years for its innovative style and philosophical approach—“a timeless quality” is a refrain you’ll frequently hear in reference to the Dargans. For them, the idea is to nurture and coexist with our environmental surroundings rather than simply alter those surroundings to suit our immediate needs, be they aesthetic or utilitarian. Their goal, says Mary Palmer,

12

| February 2019

is to design places “for people to flourish in their home environments… [It] is our passion!”

Hugh Dargan founded Dargan Landscape Architects in 1973 in rural South Carolina, subsequently moving to Charleston, then marrying Mary Palmer in 1984. (They trained together in England on their wedding trip and wound up doing a pair of projects for The British National Trust.) Later, they would base their business in Atlanta, but in recent years they found their way to Western North Carolina and now live in Cashiers. And during their life journey they have earned multiple awards from the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), the

institutional banking, wealth management1 and insurance1 services are why customers have trusted us with their financial well-being for well over one hundred years.

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American Horticultural Society, and the Garden Club of America. Mary Palmer has also applied her botanical knowledge and experience to the academic world as a professor of landscape architecture at Clemson University (2000-2005), where she founded a certificate course in landscape design for homeowners while also teaching students. Additionally, the Dargans have written several bestselling books about landscape design and landscape history, and Mary Palmer does the “Timeless Landscape Design” podcast about wellness and landscape design, which now has 5500 downloads in 12 countries.

“When fitting a landscape to a lifestyle like a glove, the proper customization of a home environment is not to be taken lightly.”

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828.280.1167 Asheville,�NC�28801 over 828.280.1167 one hundred years. barry.kampe@firstcitizens.com barry.kampe@firstcitizens.com Headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, First 1 Wealth management and insurance services are not available in all areas. Consult with yourfi local banker. rstcitizens.com Investments in securities, annuitiesfamily-controlled and insurance are not insured bybank the FDIC orin any federal government agency; may lose value; are not a deposit or other obligation, or guaranteed by, any Citizens is the largest bank or affiliate; and are subject to investment risks, including possible loss of the principal amount invested. the United States. of our heritage, we Member FDIC. Equal HousingBecause Lender .

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I n shor t , t he D a r g a n s re a l ly know their plants and how to shape outdoor spaces where people want to live; they are careful stewards of the environment of individual home owner’s properties and recommend permaculture principles. What, then, does Mary Palmer feel is the source of their acclaim—what sets them apart from other landscape architects?

“When fitting a landscape to a lifestyle like a glove, the proper customization of a home environment is not to be taken lightly,” she notes. “Our design philosophy springs from our book Timeless Landscape Design: The Four Part Master Plan, the universal language of the land of approach and arrival sequence, the hub of the house, perimeter spaces, and linkages to destinations. To embrace wellness, another book, Lifelong

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insight

Landscape Design: Environments for Health & Longevity, offers eight key components to designing a wellness garden at home.”

She also reflects on their milestones to date and some of the challenges they’ve faced along the way, saying, “Our projects on the West Coast in California and Washington and those in coastal Florida and St. Croix provided a diversity of landscapes that honor environmental challenges. I served three years as zone representative as the National Affairs & Legislation and Conservation Representative for the Garden Club of America and received the zone Conservation Award in 2016. We have survived four recessions in 45 years, wrote four books, and watched a small business thrive in Charleston, Atlanta, and

MARY PALMER DARGAN with their Boykin Spaniel, Henry.

“Our projects on the West Coast in California and Washington and those in coastal Florida and St. Croix provided a diversity of landscapes that honor environmental challenges.”

Cashiers, while remaining digitally and physically nimble. The hurdle of finding talented staff had me turn to teaching at Clemson in order to understand ‘what in the world schools were teaching these days!’”

Mary Palmer is equally enthusiastic about their current base, saying, “Summering in Cashiers and wintering in Asheville is the perfect mix. Mother lives at Deerfield Episcopal Retirement Center, so we loved the flexibility of moving to Crowfields in Asheville to enjoy her company. The Garden Talk Salon, a lecture series on landscape design and horticulture, is held at Dovecote, our office property in Cashiers, weekly from mid-May until mid-October. We are [also] very involved with the Cashiers Historical Society. Teaching courses in wellness garden design across the United States is on the horizon, too, so I love having the convenient airport here!

“We are inordinately proud of our Boykin Spaniel, Henry, who is garnering advanced titles at hunt tests. Our life list of places to hike, our 2018 camping expedition to Gregory Bald in the Smokies to see the ‘swarm’ of azaleas in full bloom was extraordinary! We love the NC Arboretum, the WNC Herb Festival in late April, plus Organic Growers School courses.

“And in a practical vein, our community garden plot at Crowfields brings us endless pleasure!”

Spoken like a true Western North Carolina acolyte.

HUGH DARGAN at the Gregory Bald Trail

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| February 2019

To see more of the Dargan Landscape Architects work visit www.facebook.com/darganlandscape.

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THE SHOW ROOM STOCKED with over 150 of the world's finest Guitars.

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| February 2019

MUSICAL Matchmaker

written by bill kopp

|

photos by anthony harden

Paul Heumiller, of Weaverville-based music store Dream Guitars, doesn’t consider himself a salesman—he’s a sherpa.

February 2019 | capitalatplay.com

17

A

PAUL HEUMILLER

DEALER IN THE HIGHEST OF HIGH-END acoustic guitars, Paul Heumiller is in many ways an unlikely entrepreneur. While his company, Dream Guitars, sells fine handcrafted acoustic instruments from the world’s most highly regarded luthiers, he doesn’t even consider himself a salesman. Instead, he’s a guitar sherpa serving up metaphysical soul food.

Heumiller’s interest in music came naturally, and at an early age. The youngest of nine children growing up in Freehold, New Jersey, Paul watched several of his older siblings play instruments—keyboards, drums, and guitar—and caught the bug. “I started playing when I was young,” he says. “I took over my sister’s nylon string folk guitar and all of her Alfred’s [Basic Guitar Method] books, and just went through them.”

Then his older brother gave Paul an electric guitar. “That, of 18

| February 2019

course, changed my life,” Heumiller says, with a chuckle. By age 13 he was serious about the guitar.

“I started taking lessons then,” he says, “and to this day I still take lessons.”

He continued to improve his playing—mostly in the rock ‘n’ roll and blues idioms—and soon became active on the live music circuit in New Jersey. “Since the very beginning, I wanted to be a rock star,” he says, laughing. But by his mid-20s, Heumiller came to a realization. “After trying to be a rock star for a number of years, I found out it’s hard to eat,” he admits. “So, I took a break from that and got into the real world and capitalism.” Through his interest in MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) technology, he had discovered the world of computer programming, so he pursued a career as a programmer.

“But I soon realized the corporate world was not for me,” he says. “That selling-your-soul thing, wearing a suit and tie,

PAUL'S CUSTOM Jordan McConnell guitar

LARRY DOLAMORE packaging a guitar for shipping.

cubicles, and long commutes… I had some horrible commutes.”

Heumiller’s time in the corporate world did help him develop some skills and knowledge he would eventually put to use in his own endeavor, but as a whole, the experience wasn’t one that fed his soul.

Daring to Dream As the 20th century drew toward its end, Heumiller took part in something that changed the direction of his life.

He signed up for a music camp in New York City called International Guitar Seminars, hosted by famed musicians Woody Mann and Bob Brozman. On the very first day of camp, he met award-winning English guitarist Martin Simpson. “I heard his music,” he recalls now, “and fell in love with his tone, his approach to music, and his arrangements.” The

two became fast friends and soon began working together on an informal basis.

“At Martin’s encouragement, I got the best possible guitar I could afford,” Heumiller says; he bought a Stefan Sobell instrument. “And then I couldn’t walk by it without grabbing it. My playing [ability] went through the roof thanks to that great guitar.” And that planted the first seeds of an idea in his mind.

“I was doing website work and training [Simpson] how to be better at business—which most musicians need—and he was training me in guitar,” Heumiller recalls. The two would meet on weekends, either in New Jersey or at Simpson’s place in New Orleans. Eventually the two began traveling together, putting on guitar workshops of their own. “That was a business idea I gave him,” Paul explains.

Working with Simpson, Heumiller became quite familiar with some of the instruments the guitarist was using. “He had a lot of February 2019 | capitalatplay.com 19

“I’ve learned a lot about how a pro—versus an amateur— tests out a guitar. And they’re totally different things.”

20

| February 2019

great guitars by custom builders,” Heumiller says. “We would stop and visit their shops, too. There was a point at which I decided to start a website offering guitars, and Martin encouraged me: ‘Do just the very best. Just offer handmade because there are so many shops that do everything else.’” From that idea, Dream Guitars was launched in 1999.

Heumiller’s new venture was initially a part-time endeavor. “I was phasing out of programming,” he says. “A big contract I had as a programmer ended, and I realized, ‘I don’t think I’m going to get another one.’

And then I sort of took a leap of faith.” He soon embarked on another leap: moving from New Jersey. “This was a move I was making completely with my gut and my heart,” he says. Having visited many cities and towns up and down the East Coast, he thought he knew what most places had to offer.

“I was tired of that rat race, and I wanted my kids to grow up somewhere a little slower, with a little bit more meaning,” he explains.

He visited a now long-defunct website, Findyourspot.com; there, the results of an online quiz offered users suggestions on places potentially best suited for them. He eventually moved his family and business to Weaverville, North Carolina, a bedroom community some 20 minutes north of Asheville.

It was there in his new home that he first opened a physical location for Dream Guitars.

Heumiller’s business foundation would be built more upon common sense than on any kind of formal training. “I’m very much an organic businessman,” he says. “I was brought up in a family of hardworking folks and got a good work ethic from my mother, father, and brothers.” Having worked for a brother when he was young, Paul witnessed good business practices firsthand. “I recognized what it would take to be a good business person: Do a lot of good customer service.”

The most important lesson Heumiller learned early on was a simple one: “Shut up and listen.” He put that into practice when he started Dream Guitars. “My customers were smarter than me,” he says, “but I was smart enough to listen and hear what they said about builders, guitars, why they’re collecting this kind of thing or that kind of thing.” And when he would meet professional musicians, he paid special attention. “I would listen and February 2019 | capitalatplay.com

21

learn what a pro looks for in a guitar,” he says. “I’ve had a chance to do that for 20 years; I’ve learned a lot about how a pro—versus an amateur—tests out a guitar. And they’re totally different things.”

The Inspiration of Handcrafted Instruments Heumiller explains the inspiration that guides him: “It’s a combination of things,” he says. “Of course, there’s my love of guitars and music, and how much guitar affected my life.” And he relishes the opportunity to match players with instruments.

“I just had a 14-year-old classical prodigy in here; I helped him and his mom find a guitar,” he says. “That’s why I do this.”

But he suspects there’s an inherited dimension to his inspiration as well. Paul draws a line back to his grandfathers, both of whom were born in Germany. “One worked at Steinway Pianos in New York City,” he explains. “And my other grandfather was a metalworker in Germany. I’ve always loved metal shop, wood shop; for years I used to put together my own electric guitars.” While he insists he shouldn’t be classified as a luthier, Heumiller acknowledges that he has received training in the art of guitar building. “So, from that side, I totally appreciate what it takes to build one of these things.”

That appreciation extends to a kind of reverence for custom guitar makers themselves. “Even now when I meet builders and see how passionate they are, I really love being able to help them,” he says. “They’re just awesome folks; it’s a great community.” Ultimately, Heumiller is more a matchmaker—bringing together musicians and custom guitar makers—than a dealer or middleman. Spending time with him, one gets the feeling that he’d do this even if it wasn’t his livelihood.

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When talking about the experience of guiding a player toward the selection of a custom guitar, Heumiller often uses the metaphorical phrase “soul food” to describe the end result. And he has no end of anecdotes that illustrate the idea. “One of my favorite clients is a 72-year-old guy,” he says. “He called me up and said, ‘I put off learning guitar my whole life. I had my kids, they grew up, and I had to help them. Now I’m going to play.’”

The man bought an instrument from Dream Guitars. “He called me up six months later,” Heumiller says, a warm smile on his face. “He told me, ‘I’m in a guitar orchestra now!’ I want to be part of helping people do things like that.”

Some two decades after starting his business, Heumiller remains happy that he has taken Martin Simpson’s advice about focusing only on high-end instruments. He expresses boundless admiration—awe, really—for the care and effort that goes into the making of a handcrafted guitar. “Somebody spends 100 or 150 hours making them,” He says. “I’ve been in shops where they’re deciding, ‘Do I take one more pass of the chisel to get the most tone, or do I leave it alone?’” He says that approach stands in sharp contrast with the factory method: “Cut it the same way, glue it the same way, stamp it out.”

Heumiller emphasizes that one can see and hear the difference between a fine, handmade guitar and a mass-produced one.

Waving his hand in the air to draw attention to the instruments

DREAM GUITARS' recording studio

PAUL STARRING in videos showcasing guitars.

on the walls of his showroom, he says, “I’ve had people crying in here. I hand them a handmade guitar, and the price doesn’t matter.

I hand them something that is so open and so moving that they literally well up. These guitars are different. And you can’t do that at a thousand-dollar price point. You just can’t.”

Most of the guitar makers with whom Heumiller works make as few as 10 to 20 instruments a year. “That’s about all you can do when you’re building by hand,” he explains. “Most guys make one or maybe two at a time; it takes months for those to be done, then they move on. And if there’s any kind of inlay or artistry, that takes another 100 hours.” That extreme high-end, labor intensive process helps explain the lofty price of the guitars Heumiller has on offer. “Some guitars have to be $20,000, $30,000, $40,000,” he says. “Because it takes [builders] so many hours of time, and so many years before that figuring out how to do it.” He makes the added point that most handcrafted guitar makers only see a profit in the last five to ten years of their career. “It takes a long time for a builder to get on the plus side of things; it’s a big learning curve.”

Dream Guitars’ stock consists of a few hundred guitars from high-end builders, plus occasional trade-ins. And Heumiller often serves as a liaison between builders and clients wanting a special, built-to-order instrument. “That’s a big part of what we do,” he says.

Considering the price point of these fine acoustic guitars—it’s rare to find an instrument at Dream Guitars priced under $5,000—the February 2019 | capitalatplay.com 23

demographic of Heumiller’s clients is primarily in the 50 to 70-year old range. “They’re people who have either played guitar their whole life, or who are getting into it later in life,” he says. His clients are a mix of professionals, semi-pros, and collectors. “As logic would dictate,” Paul adds, “younger clients—age 30 to 50—are buying from the lower end of what we offer.”

Most everything about Dream Guitars’ approach is the opposite of the customary retail method of selling musical instruments. Volume dealers—both of the brickand-mortar variety and their online counterparts—may sell good quality guitars, but the primary focus is on moving inventory. “On the business side, I’m where I want to be,” Heumiller says. “I don’t want to sell even 500 or 1,000 pieces a year.” He says that in a typical year, Dream Guitars might sell 200-300 instruments. And the timeline from initial inquiry to the guitar finding its way into the client’s hands often takes several weeks.

“We want to help you find the guitar that’s going to motivate you and make you want to play,” Heumiller says.

“I think that’s our reputation.”

It’s fair to wonder why a prospective buyer might not simply go direct, cutting out any middleman. Heumiller smiles knowingly at the suggestion. “The first reason is that we’re the same price,” he says. “Many people think we add on to the builder’s price, but we don’t.” Dream Guitars takes a commission from the sales, and builders are happy to have Heumiller and his team do all the marketing and support work. “We’ve built a machine for representing builders’ work at the highest possible level,” he says, noting that Dreamguitars.com received nearly a quarter-million visitors last year.

The other reason clients come to Dream Guitars is for the expertise. “We want to help you find the guitar that’s going to motivate you and make you want to play,” Heumiller says. “I think that’s our reputation.” He says that many prospective clients are looking to be educated.

“They know there’s this world of custom builders; they have an idea that those instruments are better than the factory guitars they’ve been playing for the last 20 years.” An initial phone call starts the education process.

“There’s a lot of back and forth. Like, ‘Who is Bill Tippin?

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EMPLOYEE, Logan Wells, enjoying the beauty of the stock.

Who is Jordan McConnell? Who is Ervin Somogyi?’” Paul notes that Dream Guitars’ website features a demonstration video— featuring high-definition audiovisuals created in the company’s Weaverville studio—for every guitar in stock.

Life and Livelihood Entwined With success, the demands of running Dream Guitars grew over the years; Heumiller loved the work, but found that his life/work balance wasn’t what it should have been. A few years after relocating to North Carolina, he attended a real estate buying seminar (“a momentary dabble of mine,” he says, with a chuckle) and found himself struck by a point the presenter made. “There were about a hundred people in the room,” he recalls. “The guy said, ‘If you work for yourself, raise your hand.’ We all did. Then he asked, ‘If you walked away from your business for two years, would it grow?’ Everybody’s hands went down. He told us, ‘None of you owns a business. You own a job.’”

Heumiller pauses, savoring the memory. “He was completely right. And that made me reevaluate everything.”

If he needed further encouragement along that path, he soon received it. Heumiller recalls a discussion with a yoga instructor during private sessions focused not only on physical movement but on way-of-life issues. “I was complaining about running Dream Guitars,” he says. “Honestly, I was getting burnt out on 26

| February 2019

the business because I was fighting it. And he stopped me in my tracks: ‘What about your business is not yoga? What about your business is not pure joy?’ And that really made me reflect on everything I do.” By focusing on the idea that his work is service, Heumiller achieved a different perspective. “Before I would answer a phone call, I would breathe and think, ‘How do I serve this person?’ It completely changed my interaction with everybody. And ever since then, I’ve had so much joy.”

Heumiller also set about developing a very small yet highly skilled staff to help him with the business. Today, the “Dream Team” includes eight people, handling everything from marketing to video production to routine business matters. And their enthusiasm absolutely radiates. Scott Bresnick works in both marketing and operations at Dream Guitars. He views his work as an opportunity to be “right in the middle of what I consider the Golden Age of Lutherie.” That kind of passion means that even when Heumiller’s not in the shop, Dream Guitars is well looked after. “So now, I’ll go for builder training for a week, or a ten-day meditation, or whatever,” Heumiller says. And the business is in good hands: “We don’t miss a beat.”

For his guitar business, Heumiller draws much wisdom from yoga. An experienced practitioner himself, with extensive experience teaching yoga and meditation, Heumiller brings the lessons of yoga to his work matching people and instruments. “It’s about service,” he explains. “Everybody I deal

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with—whether it’s a builder or a client—I ask myself, ‘How do I serve them best?’ That’s how I try to approach everything. And if you’re coming at it from that angle, the rest kind of works itself out.”

Today, the Weaverville house is primarily used for Dream Guitars; the showroom, photo booth, audiovisual recording studio, and shipping/ receiving areas take up much of the available space. Heumiller lives nearby, in a small, remote mountain cabin, some 4,500 feet above sea level. “I’m a morning person,” he says. “Every day for me is total joy; I’m happy to get up every day to experience life, interact with people, and be a part of this wonderful world.” Having achieved a balance, he doesn’t feel the need to draw a line between his life and work. “Because I enjoy my work so much, it’s no different than me sitting at home with friends, being with my son, reading a book, or playing guitar,” he says. “My whole day is full of joyous stuff.”

Several times each year, Heumiller takes week-long classes in yoga; he’s currently in the middle of a 1,000-hour program. “That’s just for my own growth,” he says. “I don’t need to have any certification in that regard, but I just enjoy it. He also launched a yoga program for inmates at the Buncombe County jail a few years ago. And he rides his Triumph motorcycle whenever he gets the chance; the mountains of Western North Carolina are ideal for such a pursuit, but he sometimes ventures farther afield. “I like to travel, and often I’ll combine it with business. I’ve motorcycled in about ten countries,” he says.

Heumiller is motivated in all things by what he describes as oneness.

“I’m really of the mindset that we’re all one, and this whole world is one big thing that we’re all part of. I’ve learned to try to be my best self and my highest self; that’s where the service part comes from.” That philosophy informs his day-to-day life. “If we’re each true to ourselves, then the whole thing will work perfectly well. It took me a long time to learn that, but that’s where I’m at.”

That sort of measured approach to life—one that places focus on the things deemed important, and away from stress-inducing activities— characterizes Heumiller’s daily existence. “I can do my part of the business anywhere I am,” he explains. “Other than shipping or touching February 2019 | capitalatplay.com 27

the guitars, we can do everything else that the business needs remotely. And that’s very much by design.” Paul’s an early bird: His day usually starts by 6:30AM. “My clients will tell you that by seven, they’re already getting emails from me. I tend to work long hours, but it will be at my own pace. I might take an hour off and exercise; I might go take guitar lessons.”

Service Brings a Smile Asked what he enjoys most about his work, Heumiller has a ready answer. “It gets back to that idea of service,” he says.

“But really, it’s that look when we hand somebody a guitar, and we know that’s going to change their life.” He admits that phenomenon doesn’t happen with every single buyer and guitar.

But it does happen a lot. “The guy is sitting there playing the guitar, and that look comes over his face,” Heumiller says. “And I just know: He’s done. I always tell people, ‘When you get it home and you can’t walk by it without grabbing it and playing it, that’s a good guitar.’ The rest of it is all superficial. Will it make you play and make music? Buy it. You’re done.”

For clients, the experience of choosing a guitar—whether it’s from Heumiller’s small and carefully curated inventory,

or the result of a custom build—is a highly personal one.

“What makes Paul special is his motivation to get the right guitar in a client’s hands,” says Tony Russo, a longtime client.

Another client, Henry Welt, echoes that sentiment: “Unlike a conventional relationship between buyer and vendor, I consider my relationship with Paul to be a friendship with a trusted advisor.”

The service Heumiller provides includes asking the client— via phone, or more often online video chat—a lot of questions.

“I’m asking them, ‘What are you playing? What genre? What guitars do you love? What players do you love? What would you like to play five years from now?’” With that information in mind, he can make specific recommendations.

“Then,” Heumiller continues, “it gets down to start talking practical. ‘What do we have in stock? Are you willing to wait and order one? I have two in stock.’ So, I’ll play those for them.

They’ll say they like the sweet or warmer tone versus brighter, and then I can play those two.” When a final selection is made, Dream Guitars ships the instrument, providing a three-day trial period. “I’d say that 80-plus percent stick,” Heumiller enthuses.

“That’s because I care enough, because we ask a lot of those questions, and we don’t rush it.”

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Not every inquiry leads to a sale, of course. And because Paul doesn’t think of himself as a salesman, he’s okay with that. “There are some people who are just looking for a deal,” he says. “If it’s too business-y, I’m not interested. If

stopped ringing in ‘08 and ‘09,” he admits. “Even people who were quite wealthy weren’t spending it.” And since that time, American buyers—Dream Guitars’ primary clientele—have become a bit more fiscally cautious. Fifteen years ago, Heumiller wouldn’t have been surprised to have a client tell him, “Hey, I’m getting a home equity loan. I want to buy a $10,000 guitar.”

“Now,” says Heumiller, “they’re more like, ‘I’ve got to sell one before I buy one.’”

One thing that pleasantly surprises Heumiller is the constant reminder he gets regarding just how important music is to people. “They prioritize music as ‘soul food’ in their lives,” he says. “Maybe they’re making a lot of other sacrifices everywhere else in their life, but they’re going to have that one guitar that gives them an hour of total peace at night, or whenever they get a chance to play.”

Heumiller re-emphasizes his main point. “I’m not really selling anything; these guitars sell themselves.” He laughs and says that he considers himself a kind of sherpa. “If I get you the right one in your hands, you’re going to know, and you’re going to fall in love. And that’s it.”

“Maybe they’re making a lot of other sacrifices everywhere else in their life, but they’re going to have that one guitar that gives them an hour of total peace at night, or whenever they get a chance to play.” it feels like a sale—if it feels like I have to try—it doesn’t feel good to me.”

Since the worldwide Great Recession of a decade ago, Heumiller has seen some changes in the rarefied marketplace of handmade acoustic guitars. “The phone completely

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CAROLINA encourage hosts to work with online platforms that don’t share their databases instead of Airbnb. It was also suggested that the city could pass an ordinance allowing homestay owners to advertise only with agencies that share their databases with the city. The Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority estimates homestays accounted for 392,482 room-nights in 2017, bringing $53.8 million to the area in accommodations bookings alone.

is apparently considering Madison County for an asphalt plant in space leased from McCrary Stone Service. No applications for permits have been submitted, but petitions requesting a show of support for the facility started showing up on customer counters in businesses along US 25-70 in Marshall.

French Broad, a family business operating in Madison County for 30 years, argues the nearest operating asphalt plant is in Black Mountain, over an hour’s drive from many destinations in Madison County.

To persuade government, the paving company argues that a Madison County plant would save businesses hauling time, generate local taxes, and create local jobs.

Opponents argue that the plant would be bad for health and the environment and bring down property values. The plant would be located in an industrial zone, outside Marshall and not visible from the highway. It would be near a concrete plant, a landfill, and a plastics manufacturer.

Better Place to Build

Flight of the Snowbird

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In Buncombe County, pig farms, asphalt plants, and concrete plants were the three excuses often cited for why County Commissioners implemented countywide zoning. As a result, French Broad Paving

Robert Rankin sounds like he doesn’t want to wake from the dream, but says, “It’s time to pass this treasure on.” Rankin has owned and operated the Historic Snowbird Mountain Lodge for 25 years.

in the

WEST [

news briefs

Moving with the Times buncombe county

Jackson Tierney, organizer of the Homestay Network and a homestay permitholder himself, has invited representatives of Airbnb to come to Asheville to explore options for changing the way the city defines homestays and to come up with better enforcement strategies. The city currently pays Host Compliance $30,000 a year to hunt down homestays operating without a license.

Other than that, it enforces its homestay ordinances on a complaint-driven basis.

While Airbnb accepted the invitation, city representatives responded that they had no interest in revisiting ordinances or policy. One major item of discussion will be whether or not Airbnb will share its database with the city. That would simplify enforcement, but it would

]

A Unique and Independent Real Estate Company since 1979 30

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52 the old north state

At 3,000 feet, it sits on 96 unrestricted, largely undisturbed acres of forestland and mountain views. The inn was built in 1941, but it has been completely renovated and brought up-to-code. Just last month, Rankin repaved the driveway, replaced the roofs, and overhauled all the bathrooms. The 23 guestrooms are rustic, cozy, and elegant, all with private baths; and the common areas sport vaulted ceilings for panoramic, four-season views.

The guest business is described as robust, both for overnight accommodations and prestigious gastronomy. The business, including the restaurant, staff, and liquor license, is included in the for-saleby-owner asking price of $6,250,000. At the end of the Cherohala Skyway, eleven miles from Robbinsville, the location is described as 30 minutes from the Western Carolina Regional Airport and minutes from nationally-acclaimed drives in the motorsports world.

More Age-Appropriate mitchell county

The Mitchell County Community Alternative Program (CAP) will now be administered by Hospice and Palliative Care of the Blue Ridge. CAP had been operating out of the county’s Department

of Social Services (DSS) since 1990, and it didn’t seem the best fit, since DSS was dealing mostly with foster children. CAP is the state’s in-home healthcare alternative to nursing home placement for Medicaid-eligible adults. It covers costs of house calls, as well as adaptations to the home that promote safety and independent living. The transition was reportedly smooth, since Hospice agreed to keep the program’s existing structure and staff. Due to an existing symbiotic relationship, staff in both organizations were already acquainted with each other and familiar with operations. Clientele will also be able to keep the caseworkers and in-home aides with whom they have already built trust. Paula Holtsclaw, who had just submitted her resignation as DSS director, was selected to lead CAP in its new home. Holtsclaw described CAP as her first love.

Taking Responsibility swain county

The Great Smoky Mountains Association (GSMA) pledged to provide funding to maintain basic visitor services at the park’s facilities in the event of a government shutdown. GSMA CEO Laurel Rematore acknowledged national parks support

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a strong tourism industry, and many visitors were expected over the holidays.

Those visitors, in turn, were needed to keep hoteliers, restaurateurs, and others in the hospitality industry in business.

GSMA employees would staff information desks, stock flyer kiosks, clean restrooms, and haul trash. The only catch was the GSMA did not have enough funds to justify extending those services beyond January 1, after which time visitor traffic would taper off. Rematore said GSMA had the resources to keep park services open as long as it did thanks to a good fiscal year.

During those ten days, park access was shut off at times due to harsh weather, but on the days when the roads were clear, Rematore said visitor levels were as anticipated. She doesn’t think she will ever know how much the volunteer service contributed to the local economy, but she says it was worthwhile just to give visitors a clean and hospitable experience.

Trail Retail jackson county

Black Balsam Outdoors is now open.

The outdoor gear and lifestyle store was named after the top-of-the-world Black Balsam Knob. Founders Georganna and Logan Seamon are outdoors

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enthusiasts. Both alumni of Appalachian State University, they met in Alaska.

Since then, they’ve hiked the entire Appalachian Trail, the Colorado Trail, and more. In 2010, they started working at Mountain Crossings at Walasi-Yi in Blairsville, Georgia, and three years later, they bought the store. Just in time for Christmas this year, they opened the new store at the former location of the Blackrock Outdoor Company in downtown Sylva. Rather than emulating the big-box model of retail, they hope their store will be a place hikers will come to feel at home and share stories. While the store features gear for backpacking, camping, hiking, and trail running, it also offers outdoorsy décor accents, jewelry, and other gift items. The Seamons are also open to expanding their inventory by stocking items brought to their attention by customers.

Dancing in the Streets swain county

While watching the 2018 London New Year’s Parade with friends, Dawn Arneach, executive assistant for the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, thought it would be nice if the Warriors of AniKituhwa, the official cultural ambassadors for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), could participate in the tradition. Her friends encouraged her to walk in the moccasins of Pouting Pigeon and Stalking Turkey, who visited King George III in 1762. One year later, the Warriors and other representatives of the tribe, like Principal Chief Richard Sneed, ended up making several appearances in London. They danced in the parade, performed in Trafalgar Square, and were interviewed for BBC-TV. The delegation traveled in native costume, except for Charlie Rhodarmer, executive director of the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum. He dressed as Lt. Henry Timberlake, the man who escorted the tribal representatives in 1762. Tighe Wachacha and Mike Stephen from EBCI Communications were on hand to take photos and make 32

| February 2019

video recordings for a documentary they plan to make of the excursion. The Warriors made a great impression and were invited back for the 2020 parade and to another event in Rome.

Want to Be in Asheville henderson county

While the City of Asheville is fighting hard to prevent hotel proliferation, the City of Hendersonville is challenged to recruit just one hotel to its downtown area. Two hotel developers answered a request for proposals that went out October 11. Hendersonville leadership wanted to build a hotel on the cityowned parking lot at Church and Fourth.

They envisioned a multistory hotel with 80-120 rooms and meeting space with a capacity between 150 and 300. The city would sell the property to the hotelier and invest the proceeds in a parking facility that would replace public parking spaces lost from the development. One of the proposals, from Charlotte-based developer Catellus, proposed a 5-story, 120-room hotel, with 247 parking spaces and meeting space for 150. The other, from Fletcher-based Blue Star Hospitality, proposed a 6-story, 88-room hotel with 244 spaces, 9,000 square feet for stores and shops, and meeting space for 200. Neither proposal calls for any destruction of neighboring buildings on Church and Washington. City Manager John Connet said both proposals were “high quality,” and negotiations will continue until the winning bid is selected.

Sounds Good to Moog cherokee county

G over nor Roy C o op er ’s of f ic e announced a $50,000 performance-based grant from the One North Carolina Fund could be paid to Moog Components Group in Murphy. To release the funding, Moog need only meet targets of investing $1.8 million in the community and adding 20 jobs paying an average

salary of $30,420, which is slightly below the county’s median. Moog manufactures electrical components whose output changes with the relative angle of subcomponents. Examples would include synchros, resolvers, and rotary variable differential transformers. The components are used in the healthcare, aerospace, defense, and manufacturing industries. The Murphy plant is but one in Moog’s extensive international presence, which manufactures and develops a wide range of components and systems for conventional and customized manufacturing processes, propulsion modules for satellites, and motion sensors for military target-seeking. The company was founded in 1951 by Bill Moog, a developer of flight control systems for aircraft. The company is not affiliated with Asheville’s Moog Music, but Bill and Bob Moog were second cousins.

Food Trucks Go Solar watauga county

Students from Appalachian State University’s Sustainable Technology program, with leadership from professors Chris Stevens and Brent Summerville, equipped Betty’s Biscuits’ food truck with solar panels. Betty’s Biscuits is owned by Tina Houston, who also owns Reid’s Café in Banner Elk. She was already providing a cafeteria and catering, so the food truck, to her, was a logical extension. Houston grew up in California with parents who owned and operated a business that sold geodesic dome homes. They worked with Buckminster Fuller, and his passion for renewable energy and intentional living was an inspiration to her. Until recently, it had been difficult to install solar panels on food trucks; space was at a premium, and storage cells were large.

Then, lithium iron phosphate batteries that could provide adequate voltage using smaller, lighter cells became available.

Solar power is a good fit for food trucks because it’s good for the environment, it’s less noisy than conventional generators, it allows the truck to travel farther without

Don’t stop now

turning off appliances, and it opens access to venues where hooking up is not an option.

Takin’ It to the Trails western

An ambitious 2-year, $1.7 million project, Growing Outdoors (OutdoorsWNC. com), was announced in late 2018, aimed at taking a region-wide approach toward growing our outdoor industry. With project collaborators including Mountain BizWorks (as the lead), Outdoor Gear Builders, Western Carolina University, Southwestern Commission, Mitchell County EDC, Burke Development Inc., Natural Capital Investment Fund, Graham County Economic Development, and NC Outdoor Recreation Industry Office, it plans to tap the area workforce and resources while boosting job creation, investment, and entrepreneur engagement throughout the rural areas.

One emphasis is to support regional communities that have lost jobs due to coal industry declines, with projected outcomes of 150 jobs created, 65 jobs obtained, 275 workers trained, 35 businesses started, new investments totaling $4 million, and increased sales of $5 million. Key objectives will include: Workforce Development; Entrepreneurship and Access to Capital (“supporting innovation and the next generation of outdoor entrepreneurs”); Growing Markets through branding and marketing; Connecting the Cluster (“developing the cluster, building the regional supply chain and establishing cross-sector partnerships”); and Economic Development by partnering with relevant businesses.

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Consolidation Continues caldwell county

Hamilton Square, which was purchased by Samson Investment Holding in 2013, has purchased real estate formerly owned by Heritage Home

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Group. Heritage is selling assets as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding.

For $175,000, Hamilton purchased a plant that used to supply case goods for Broyhill, Thomasville, and other companies. The deal included two parcels totaling 31.6 acres and over 800,000 total square feet in several facilities that were used for production, warehousing, and distribution. At $4.75 million, Hamilton was also the successful bidder on a Heritage upholstery plant that supplied the same brands. Heritage’s intellectual property and brands were not included in either deal. Those properties were acquired by Authentic Brands Group and SB360 Capital Partners, an affiliate of Schottenstein Group, soon after the plants closed. Production ceased at the facilities in early November, with many of the 712 displaced workers finding employment with Century, Hickory Chair, and Hancock & Moore.

they said he should offshore his manufacturing to achieve a workable price point. McCall was a construction worker and a Navy veteran. His town had been hit hard by multiple factory closings. “I want to help my family and my investors financially,” he said, “but also my church, community, state, and country in any way that I can.” He left the show without a deal, but after the episode aired, all 300 Invis-A-Racks McCall had in inventory sold. He also had a call from a truck accessory manufacturer in Des Moines, Iowa, who said there was “no reason” for him not to be able to make the rack cheaper than a Chinese factory.

The Invis-A-Rack now retails for $733.95 on DeeZee’s website, and McCall is president of Perrycraft, a family-owned manufacturer and wholesaler of car and truck accessories in his hometown.

Racking the Sharks

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alleghany county

Donny McCall invented Invis-A-Rack, a collapsible, clamp-on cargo rack for trucks. In 2012, he appeared on ABC’s Shark Tank to offer a 10% interest in his company in exchange for a $100,000 investment. The investors liked it, but

Fees Three Times Tuition Costs of attending Western Carolina University (WCU) are expected to increase only slightly for the 2019-2020 school year. The NC Promise Tuition Plan requires the school to keep tuition rates flat, at about $1,000 a year for in-state students, with the General Assembly taking responsibility for any necessary

cost recovery. The school is making up for differences with increases in fees and charges. The state capped fee increases at 3%, and WCU will only impose an overall 1.7% on mandatory fees. For example, the athletic fee will increase $26; the student activity fee, $14; and the health services fee, $8. All told, mandatory fees will cost an in-state student $2,788 a year, and proceeds will go primarily to support personnel not paid by the state. The cost of meals and housing will increase about 4%, and parking rates will increase up to 25%, depending on class. All told, undergraduates living on campus can expect to pay $13,178 next year. Out-of-state costs will run around $17,178.

A Grammy for Europe? madison county

David Gilbert, a working musician with a flair for African-American cultural history, and a history professor at Mars Hill University, has been nominated for a Grammy Award. Up for the Best Album Notes category is his production, The Product of Our Souls: The Sound and Sway of James Reese Europe’s Society Orchestra. Gilbert says Europe’s orchestra was one of the most well-known and sought-after bands in New York City from 1910 until World War I. His book of notes

®

828-254-6141 mbhaynes.com

PROUDLY EMPLOYEE OWNED

QUALITY COMMITMENT CHARACTER 34

| February 2019

since1921

contains remasters of all 8 recordings of Europe’s orchestra made in 1913 and 1914 and 12 other Europe compositions performed by other bands. The former are believed to be the first recordings of an African-American band in United States history. Gilbert teaches courses in post-Civil War intellectual, social, and cultural history; his favorite topics being the history of capitalism and the history of jazz, blues, rhythm and blues, and hip-hop.

business with a limited selection, having plans to grow organically with demand.

In addition to carrying cures for a number of ailments, she also sells health and beauty aids, like soap, shampoo, and biodegradable toothbrushes. Most importantly, she provides on-site consultations, sharing time and expertise to help customers make informed decisions.

No Shortcuts to Wellness

henderson county

polk county

Laura Polanco, who opened her art and yoga studio in Saluda in the spring, is now launching a line of herbal goods.

Polanco, a certified herbalist with roots in Colorado and 40 years’ experience, disagrees with the way modern medicine is practiced. Saying it takes a Band-Aid approach to fixing problems that can often be avoided through a lifestyle of commitment to healthy choices and habits. Polanco says it’s never too late to follow one’s dreams. She began painting at age 57, using acrylics in limited colors to create abstract landscapes. Her gallery, which also displays the jewelry she makes, serves as the backdrop for her personal training and yoga instruction.

Polanco is starting her herbal remedy

Egolf on the Move Egolf Motors on Spartanburg Highway has purchased the Mitsubishi inventory from Skyland Automotive in Asheville, and it will now be known as Egolf Mitsubishi and City Tire Service. Egolf will still sell Ford vehicles out of its Brevard dealership. Dealer Jay Egolf said price and reliability are key concerns of his customers, and Mitsubishi has what he considers the best warranty in the business. His promotions emphasize the 10-year, 100,000-mile powertrain and 5-year, 60,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty. Egolf acquired about 100 vehicles right at the end of the model year, so he was offering sales like $6000 off the manufacturer’s suggested retail price, 2.9% interest, and 0% interest for the first three months. Most vehicles were priced in the low $20,000s, with

financing starting at $299 a month. Egolf has been serving Western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina since 1972, selling new and used cars and operating a full-service department.

Quitting Qualla swain county

The Cherokee Tribal Council made progress in voting to replace the Qualla Housing Authority with the tribe’s Division of Housing for the purpose of administering federal Housing and Urban Development funds. The tribe will now assume responsibility for all assets and liabilities of Qualla. Final dissolution of Qualla, however, remains pending approval of an ordinance to amend tribal law to redefine Qualla’s responsibilities.

Qualla came under federal investigation for, among other matters, suspected mismanagement of federal dollars, failure to keep important financial records, exceeding allowable loan caps, and broadly interpreting its mission. A forensic audit discovered questionable business trips, suspicious charges, and poor internal controls; and a 2016 Federal Bureau of Investigation raid, following reports that documents ordered preserved were being shredded, confiscated enough documents to warrant two U-Hauls.

deltechomes.com 828.253.0483

February 2019 | capitalatplay.com

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36

| February 2019

local industry

REAL ESTATE Year in Review

photo cour tesy Adobe Stock : Sunset in the Smokies By eduard4us

2018

Treading Water

We present our annual overview of real estate in Western North Carolina for the year just finished, additionally taking note of how our region fits into some significant market trends that will be operative during the year to come.

written by bill fishburne

February 2019 | capitalatplay.com 37

local industry

W

hile running for Vice President in l992, Tennessee Senator Al Gore famously stated that, “Everything that ought to be down is up.

Everything that should be up is down.”

Twenty-six years later, what should be up is up and what should be down is down. Mostly down. (Mortgage rates are climbing slowly as are all the rivers, creeks, and ponds in our area. But that’s another story.)

Overall, the residential real estate market was good in 2017, better in 2018, and will continue to be good in 2019. Local trends are positive for stable unit sales, dollar volume, and home value appreciation. The Asheville area continues to gain in population; business and industry are expanding; the arts are growing; and real estate prices have increased at a steady rate every month since April 2013.

Residential home sales, including single-family homes, townhouses, and condominiums, declined slightly in 2018 in the regions of interest to most Western North Carolina residents, but were still very strong.

Buncombe County sales wrapped up the year with 3,868 units sold vs. 4,074 in 2017. That is a decline of 5.1%. Haywood County unit sales dropped 3.3%, to 1,091 units; while Henderson County unit sales increased 1.8%, from 2,054 to 2,091.

The WNC Regional Multiple Listing Service defines the term “Asheville Region”1 to include all the counties in Western North Carolina. A separate measure, the Asheville Metro Area, cuts that down to just Buncombe, Henderson, Haywood, Madison, and Transylvania counties—those where Asheville is considered the economic, cultural, and social hub.

Our region’s relatively flat sales mirror the Realtors Confidence Index - Six Month Outlook, which registered 49 for detached singlefamily homes at year’s end. A score of 50 or higher indicates market conditions are expected to improve. The outlook for townhomes was 42, indicating a more difficult sales market, while condominiums scored 40 on the chart. All three numbers are in keeping with previous outlooks on this charting tool.

Days on Market Another great tool in a tight market is Median Days on Market.

Nationwide, properties were typically on the market for 33 days this past year, compared to 37 days in 2017. Going deeper for our area specifically, the median figure is 37 days in the Asheville Region, 24 days in Buncombe County, 20 days in Henderson, and 39 days in Haywood. Almost all counties in the area reported properties were selling briskly and not sitting on the market as they did during the 2008 recession. (Editor’s Note: For the purposes of this report, the “Asheville Region” will henceforth be referred to here simply as the “Region.”)

1 The Asheville Region includes the following counties: Buncombe, Madison, Haywood, Swain, Henderson, Jackson, Transylvania, Yancey, McDowell, Rutherford, Polk, and portions of Burke and Mitchell. Major population centers include Asheville, Hendersonville, Waynesville, and Brevard. For more information contact the author or another local Realtor.

38

| February 2019

26 YEARS BY

THE NUMBERS All Numbers, unless otherwise stated are National Averages HOME PRICE 1992

$105 K

2018

$255 K

ANNUAL APPRECIATION 1992

2018

2%

8.05%

GDP GROWTH 1992

2018

3%

3%

UNEMPLOYMENT 1992

7.5%

2018

3.9%

RATE OF INFLATION 1992

2018

3%

3%

GALLON OF GAS 1992

2018

$1.10

$2.25

Median Days on Market asheville region

buncombe county

haywood county

henderson county

160 140

MLS structure designates a new "Asheville Region." The Asheville Region includes the following counties: Buncombe, Madison, Haywood, Swain, Henderson, Jackson, Transylvania, Yancey, McDowell, Rutherford, Polk, and portions of Burke and Mitchell.

120 100 80 60 40 20

1-2015

1-2016

1-2017

1-2018

the asheville region & buncombe county & haywood county & henderson county: single-family & condo-townhome. each data point is 12 months of activity. data is from january 1, 2019. data supplied by carolina multiple listing services, inc.

The controlling factor in sales in a Seller’s Market is inventory.

In 2018 the availability of stand-alone houses, condos, and townhouses in the Region decreased by 4.7%, following a 12% decline in 2017. Buncombe County had a slight 1.6% increase in 2018—a difference of 1,444 available homes in 2017 vs. 1,467 at the end of 2018.

Continuing strong sales combines with a flat to declining inventory to reduce the number of months a house sits on the market prior to selling. The Months Supply of Homes for Sale in Buncombe was essentially flat, at 4.3 months at the end of 2017 and 4.4 months in 2018. This chart is calculated by dividing the units for sale by the sales per month. Six months of inventory is considered to be a balanced market, where buyer and seller have equal desires to buy and sell. Neither side has a negotiating advantage and multiple offers sometimes occur but are unlikely.

When available inventory drops below the six-month level it starts to become a seller’s market, and vice-versa: when there is more than a six-month supply, it starts trending towards a buyer’s market.

New listings in our area remain strong. There were 13,780 new listings in the Region in 2018, but Buncombe was flat with 5,519 in 2017 vs. 5,451 in 2018. Haywood County listings were flat at 1,460; while Henderson County showed a market 10.1% increase, to 2,817 new units in the MLS. Pending sales at years-end were 9,652 for the entire Region, 3,914 in Buncombe, 2,110 in Henderson, and 1,077 in Haywood—all essentially the same as in 2017.

Median sales prices continued a five-year climb, wrapping up with a 6.5% increase in Buncombe County at $293,000; an 8.3% increase to $260,000 in Henderson; and a whopping 13.1% increase in Haywood to $217,500. The Region overall came in at $255,000, a 5.4% increase. These figures represent continuing strong Annual Appreciation, as charted by the Federal Home Finance Agency.2

2 Federal Home Finance Agency charts are at www.fhfa.gov.

February 2019 | capitalatplay.com 39

local industry

December Closed Sales asheville region

10K

buncombe county

haywood county

9,618

9,538

henderson county

9,547

8K 6K 4,169

4,074

4K

3,868

2,141

2K

1,128

1,030

0

2,091

2,054

+0.8%

-2.3%

2016

+9.5%

1,091

-4.1%

-0.7%

2017

-5.1%

-3.3%

+1.8%

2018

the asheville region & buncombe county & haywood county & henderson county: single-family & condo-townhome. each data point is 12 months of activity. data is from january 6, 2019. data supplied by carolina multiple listing services, inc.

New Home Sales New Home Sales represent about 5% of total sales in the Region. There were 458 New Home Sales in the Region in 2017, with a 10.6% increase to 507 in 2018. New home subdivisions are selling out quickly again, but the high cost of building materials and scarcity of skilled tradesmen to do framing, drywall, electrical, and roofing work have taken their toll.

Homebuilders find it increasingly difficult to accurately forecast costs and meet forecasted completion dates.

As a result, we are still drawing down on the last bits of oversupply inventory from the 2008-2013 recession. Many of these homes need remodeling, and those tasks are going to handymen where possible or are being done by homeowners themselves. The shortage of new construction has contributed to tight inventory in the low-to-mid price ranges ($200,000 to $400,000). Since this is also where the bulk of sales are happening it is no wonder prices have appreciated at a far faster rate than the historic average of 3-6% per year.

Haywood County continues to offer the most affordable housing in the Region, with a median sales price of just $217,500 and a median distance of 22 miles to downtown Asheville. With gasoline now hovering just over $2 per gallon, Haywood is a 40

| February 2019

good location for young buyers just getting a toehold in home ownership. Along those same lines, there are many mortgages available that offer financing between 97% and 100% of the purchase price.

The second most common question put to Realtors is, “Are we in a bubble market? Is real estate going to crash again?”

Here’s the data: CoreLogic, a California-based financial services company, sees 2019 as a period of modestly increasing sales with a cooling off of price increases nationwide. So do the Fed, the National Association of Realtors, and every other analyst we could find in researching this article. For example, CoreLogic says: “The CoreLogic HPI Forecast 3 indicates that home prices will increase by 4.8% on a year-over-year basis from November 2018 to November 2019… On a month-over-month basis, home prices are expected to decrease slightly by 0.8% from November 2018 to December 2018.”

What that means is home values will continue to rise, but not as strongly (month over month) as in 2018. Real estate will continue to be a good investment according to the current indicators.

3 CoreLogic, Inc.: Corelogic.com

Months Supply of Homes for Sale asheville region

buncombe county

haywood county

henderson county

17.5

15.0

12.5 10.0

7.5 5.0 20

1-2015

1-2016

1-2017

1-2018

December Homes for Sale asheville region

6K

buncombe county

5,394

haywood county

4,880

5K

henderson county

4,642

4K 3K 2K

788

1K 0

781

610 -9.5%

2016

1,467

1,444

1,413

669

+2.2% -22.6% -14.3%

2017

527 -4.9%

+1.6% -13.6%

681 +1.8%

2018

the asheville region & buncombe county & haywood county & henderson county: single-family & condo-townhome. each data point is 12 months of activity. data is from january 1, 2019. data supplied by carolina multiple listing services, inc.

February 2019 | capitalatplay.com 41

local industry

December New Listings asheville region

15,000

buncombe county

13,887

haywood county

henderson county

13,780

13,372

12,500 10,000 7,500

5,519

5,494

5,451

5,000 2,828

2,500

2,817

2,558

1,589

1,481

0

-3.7%

2016

+0.5%

-6.8%

1,460 -9.5%

+3.1%

2017

-1.2%

-1.4%

+10.1%

2018

December Pending Sales asheville region

10K

buncombe county

haywood county

9,635

9,601

henderson county

9,652

8K 6K 4,178

4,094

4K

3,914

2,170

2K

1,137

1,041

0

+0.4%

2016

2,110

2,028

-2.0%

+9.2%

1,077 -6.5%

2017

+0.2%

-4.4%

-5.3%

+4.0%

2018

the asheville region & buncombe county & haywood county & henderson county: single-family & condo-townhome. each data point is 12 months of activity. data is from january 6, 2019. data supplied by carolina multiple listing services, inc.

42

| February 2019

The Cost of RENTING vs. BUYING Percentage of Income Needed to Afford Median Rent HISTORICALLY:

NOW:

25.8%

28.4%

Percentage of Income Needed to Afford Median Home HISTORICALLY:

NOW:

21.0%

17.5%

If you are renting and think you can't afford a home, think again! info from chart by: pulsenomics

Why Buy? Isn’t it Better to Rent For a While?

Not in most circumstances. Renting achieves none of the renter’s primary objectives in life. It is literally money down a hole and a far-from-optimal environment in which to raise children. Home ownership has been described as a uniquely American goal or ideal. Countries with a history of serfdom, collectivism, or other non-investment housing scenarios also have the highest incidences of privation, starvation, and revolution, especially when it is government housing. Those depersonalizing environments and lack of lifetime equity are difficult to overcome.

The Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University recently produced a study on Reasons to Own a Home: PRIVACY: Having a space that is wholly your own.

FAMILY: Putting the needs of your family first.

STABILITY: Having control of your future direction and security.

FINANCIAL INVESTMENT: Having the opportunity to grow your assets and wealth.

PHYSICAL COMFORTS: Having amenities and features that enhance daily experiences.

February 2019 | capitalatplay.com 43

local industry

December Average Sales Price asheville region

buncombe county

haywood county

henderson county

400K

$358,268 $338,087

$310,361

300K

200K

$304,978

$289,990

$266,139 $207,832

$286,250

$274,642

$239,397

$247,035

$222,412

100K

0

+9.0%

+8.9%

2016

+7.0% +14.7%

2017

+5.2%

+6.0% +11.1%

+4.2%

2018

the asheville region & buncombe county & haywood county & henderson county: single-family & condo-townhome. each data point is 12 months of activity. data is from january 1, 2019. data supplied by carolina multiple listing services, inc.

PERSONAL EXPRESSION: Ability to display your unique personality, desire, and interests.

ACCOMPLISHMENT: Ref lection of your efforts and success.

CREATIVITY: Opportunity to create, build, and grow things.

COMMUNITY/NEIGHBORS: Being part of a broader community and society.

FRIENDS: Entertaining and sharing with friends.

Few of these objectives, really, can be reached while living in someone else’s building. Or in your parents’ basement.

So, while it is clear that private home ownership in a huge goal in life, it tends to decline when the costs exceed that of reasonable rents. We’re not in a declining market today.

In August 2018 the percentage of income needed to afford a medium-priced home was 17.5% of a buyer’s annual income.

At the same time, those who rent needed to apply 28.4% of their annual income for median rent. The cost of renting has 44

| February 2019

historically averaged 25.8% of total income, while the cost of buying was close behind at 21%. Today’s figures are more than 10% points apart and it can honestly be said there is no reason not to buy a home if you can meet the basic mortgage criteria of debt to equity ratio, net cash flow, credit history, and stable employment. Mortgages with no down payment such as VA loans are still available, even during the “government shutdown” that was happening as this Capital at Play report was being written. Consult a qualified mortgage broker to start the process, even before you pick out a house.

US News & World Report recently reported it would be a better to sell your house now than wait until 2020. The report bases this on the facts that new buyers are still entering the market, interest rates are still low-ish, and homeowners today probably have high equity. Which bring us to the next topic…

Net Worth In part because buying is less expensive than renting, plus the equity growth of the home investment, a home owner’s net worth is typically 44 times greater than that of a renter,

Annual Appreciation: Asheville, NC

RECENT QUARTER APPRECIATION

1985-2018 Home Price Index

14%

3Q'18

1.88

2.82

data reported: 11/26/2018, source: www.fhfa.gov

according to the latest Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances4 (2013-2016) in which they collect data across all economic and social groups.

The median net worth of a homeowner at the end of the threeyear survey period was $231,400—a 15% increase since 2013.

At the same time, the median net worth of renters decreased by 5% ($5,200 today compared to $5,500 in 2013). Why the divergence? Appreciation vs. increasing costs for landlords, and, of course, increased rents.

Simply put, home ownership is a form of “forced savings.”

Every time you pay your mortgage you are contributing (everso-slightly in the early years) to your net worth by increasing your equity in your home. For the fifth year in a row, Gallup reported that Americans picked real estate as the best long-term investment. This year’s results showed that 34% of Americans chose real estate, followed by stocks at 26%, and then gold, savings accounts/CDs, or bonds. The Fed also reports that 65% of Americans now think home ownership is a good investment, compared to just 60% who felt that way in 2017.

4 Source: Federalreserve.gov/econres/scfindex.htm

8.18%

8.05% 2018

7.21% 2016

2017

7.23% 2015

2014

-1.84% 2012 2013

-3.71% 2011

-2.91% -4.99% 2010

2008

2007

2006

2004 2005

2001

2000

1999

1998

1997

1996

1995

1994

1993

1992

1991

1990

1988 1989

1987

1986

1985

-4%

2009

-0.82%

2.78%

5.13%

5.83%

-2%

-6%

2Q'18

3.15

10.12% 5.47% 2003

7.36% 5.42% 2002

6.79%

6.67% 4.75%

4.96%

6.18% 4.35%

4.55%

6.03%

8.84%

0%

3.35%

1.78%

2%

2.82%

4%

6.36% 4.97%

6.74% 5.24%

6%

8.26%

Yearly Appreciation Rate

10% 8%

1Q'18

1.52

12.47%

12%

4Q'17

(*Note: 2018 Appreciation Rates based on Jan-Sept data)

Housing Affordability Going in to 2019, houses are very affordable. Affordability is measured by cost of housing divided by disposable income.

A family with a 142 index can afford 42% more house than the current median home price (100). In simpler terms, ask yourself, “What is the percentage of your mortgage versus your disposable income?” At the peak of the housing bubble of 2008, that number was nearly 100% nationwide, meaning nearly all of a family’s disposable income was eaten up by their mortgage and associated expenses.

The National Association of Realtors Housing Affordability Composite index for the Southeast was 151.6 at the end of October 2018, a declining trend from 162.7 posted a year ago.

Much of this change was due to price increases. Higher numbers are better, as previously noted. (Sources: NAR and CoreLogic.)

Mortgage Rates CoreLogic recently shared that national home prices have increased by 5.6% year-over-year in many areas of the February 2019 | capitalatplay.com 45

local industry

country. Over that same time period, interest rates have remained historically low, which has allowed many buyers to enter the market.

As a seller, you will be most concerned about “short-term price”—where home values are headed over the next six months.

As a buyer, however, you probably are not overly concerned about price, but instead about the “long-term cost” of the home.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae all project that mortgage interest rates will increase by this time next year.

The Federal Reserve reports housing mortgage debt continues to decline, while the value of the real estate it covers continues to increase by an inflation-adjusted 3.6% over the last year.

Folks who were under water on their mortgages just five years ago (before the 2013 bottom) have in many cases gotten their noses—indeed, their whole heads—above water.

Short sales and foreclosures in the Asheville Region of the MLS have declined steadily, from 423 in 2013 to just 114 in 2018, out of 9,512 total sales for the year. At some point we stop blaming the economy or the lenders and just accept the fact that unfortunate situations occur and there will always be some defaults.

The Market in 2019

One indication of residential sales is buyer traffic (open houses, showings, appointments made) in homes that are offered for sale. The Realtor Buyer Traffic Index registered 45 in October 2018, down from the high of 60 in October 2017. That decline of 25% is a worrisome indicator for sales that would have been booked in November and December. The actual closed sales figures for the year6 did not reflect anywhere near that big a drop, reflecting mostly the continuing shortage of inventory in the bell-weather Buncombe-Henderson-Haywood market.

We might add, in defense of all Realtors, that the Asheville Region is right in line with the national averages of between 12 and 14 showings before a property goes under contract (at which point it is classified among the Pending Sales). That period stretches longer or shorter, but is roughly 30 days in the same region. Higher priced properties might sell with fewer showings; but they also might take much longer to sell because the buyers in those ranges are few and far between. Sellers should check a lot of comparables and absorb a lot of data before setting a price. There’s nothing worse than a property that sits and sits on the market. It’s said that property isn’t really in the market—it’s just listed.

Housing Price Indices

Characteristics of Buyers and Sellers

Regarding the homeowner’s growth in home equity: There is a misconception that your actual equity falls when prices dip. That may not be the case as your mortgage balance declines through the years. Even if prices remained stagnant

First-time buyers are about 31% of the market, compared to 32% in 2017. That is expected to increase in 2019 as more jobs are being created and the United States continues to experience a low unemployment rate (as of this writing, 3.9%).

Sellers should check a lot of comparables and absorb a lot of data before setting a price. There’s nothing worse than a property that sits and sits on the market. your percentage ownership would increase. But real estate prices have not remained stagnant. In 2017 we surpassed the home values achieved just before the bubble burst in 2008. Folks who were upside-down on their home mortgage but held onto the property anyhow got right-side-up again and in many cases substantially so. The Federal Reserve Annual Appreciation Report5 charts housing appreciation by quarters and the Asheville Metro area shows a cumulative 8.05% home price appreciation for the past four quarters, which comes on top of an 8.18% appreciation for the same period one year ago.

5 Source: Federalreserve.gov, Annual Appreciation, Asheville, NC 46

| February 2019

Retirement buyers contributed to a 3% increase in cash sales in 2018, up to 23% total, an increase from 20% in 2017.

Also in 2018, 18% of sellers offered incentives such as providing a homeowner’s warranty (8%), paying for closing costs (also 8%), and undertaking remodeling (3%).

One of the hallmarks of a good real estate transaction (and of your Realtor) is the ability to manage the process so the transaction closes on time. Between August and October 2018, 74% of contracts settled on time (73% in October 2017). Delays are most often incurred when something upsets the mortgage process. Buyers who celebrate their soon-to-be purchase by buying a new car, opening a new credit card, or doing 6 Source: Carolina MLS. Exact figures will vary from those shown which were accurate as of January 1, 2019.

$260K

Median Sales Prices

asheville region

$240K $220K

$200K $180K

$160K 1-2008

1-2009

1-2010

1-2011

1-2012

1-2013

1-2014

1-2015

1-2016

1-2017

1-2018

the asheville region: single-family & condo-townhome. each data point is 12 months of activity. data is from january 1, 2019. data supplied by carolina multiple listing services, inc.

December Median Sales Price asheville region

300K 250K 200K

buncombe county

$215,000

henderson county

$293,000

$275,000

$253,300 $223,000

haywood county

$240,000

$242,000

$260,000

$255,000

$217,500

$194,000

$180,000

150K 100K 50K 0

+8.5%

2016

+8.6%

+7.8%

+11.6%

2017

+5.4%

+6.5% +12.1% +8.3%

2018

the asheville region & buncombe county & haywood county & henderson county: single-family & condo-townhome. each data point is 12 months of activity. data is from january 1, 2019. data supplied by carolina multiple listing services, inc.

February 2019 | capitalatplay.com 47

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Median Percent of Original Price asheville region

buncombe county

haywood county

henderson county

98%

96%

94%

92%

20 1-2015

1-2016

1-2017

1-2018

the asheville region & buncombe county & haywood county & henderson county: single-family & condo-townhome. each data point is 12 months of activity. data is from january 1, 2019. data supplied by carolina multiple listing services, inc.

something else that hits their credit report should just wrap it up by shooting themselves in the foot. Everything matters in today’s heavily regulated financial world. Lenders don’t have the latitude they had in 2007. Plan for it.

Understanding the Due Diligence Period If you haven’t closed a real estate transaction in North Carolina in the past few years, you might not know about the Due Diligence period. This was introduced by the North Carolina Real Estate Commission in 2011 in an effort to protect consumers—specifically, buyers who might have difficulty reclaiming their earnest money when a contract does not go through.

Prior to 2011 the only money a buyer had at risk, and the only security a seller had regarding the buyer’s intent, was the 48

| February 2019

earnest money. There were specific conditions under which the earnest money would be returned when a contract fell apart, but all too often a situation would occur that led to complaints and court cases trying to unravel the mess.

So, the Real Estate Commission included the new Due Diligence period in the 2012 contracts to clarify the earnest money return policy and added a separate, generally smaller, Due Diligence fee. The Due Diligence period in North Carolina real estate, just as in business mergers and acquisitions, is a period of time in which the buyer will investigate all aspects of the transaction, from house inspections to arranging the mortgage. The actual time allowed for all this normally ranges from two weeks to six or more depending on the transaction.

There is no set time. It is negotiable between buyer and seller working with their experienced Realtors.

National Data for Winter of 2018

+1.9%

-7.0%

MONTH - OVER - MONTH

$$$

YEAR - OVER - YEAR

Sales are at an annual pace of 5.32 million

sold in less than a month

UP 4.2% FROM NOVEMBER 2017

Inventory Levels Remain Low Due to High Demand

DISTRESSED SALES

down to

$257,700

42

HOMES SOLD IN 42 DAYS

43%

MEDIAN PRICE

2%

3.9

from 4% in November 2017

- UP -

MONTH SUPPLY

$

4.2%

FROM NOV 2017

SOURCE: NAR EXISTING HOME SALES REPORT 12/19/18

$$$

The dollar amount of a Due Diligence is also negotiable, with no limits or guidelines. Again, this is where the advice of an experienced Realtor can be invaluable. The thing about the Due Diligence fee is that it is non-refundable when a contract is cancelled, but it is applied to the contract price if the closing does occur. It is considered compensation to a Seller for taking the property off the market while the contracted buyer does his Due Diligence research, inspections, etc. It can be a very useful negotiating tool, especially in a multiple-offer situation, and it places near-total control of the process in the hands of the buyer.

During this Due Diligence period, then, the buyer may choose to back out of the contract for any reason or no reason at all, and the intent is that the earnest money will be fully refunded. Check this topic with your Realtor and get a copy

of the North Carolina Real Estate Commission’s booklet7 to read more about it.

Finally, on this topic, buyers complete their inspections in the Due Diligence period and request repairs with yet another Real Estate Commission form called the Due Diligence Request and Agreement. While complex, the 2012 contract changes do seem to have reduced legal issues regarding earnest money deposits.

Home Ownership Demand It is worth noting at this point that one of the big reasons why inventory has remained so low for so long is that an entire 7 Due Diligence information can be downloaded from Bulletins.ncrec. gov/due-diligence-questions-and-answers February 2019 | capitalatplay.com 49

local industry

generation of home buyers is finally buying! The millennial generation (ages 19-35) has been the driving force behind bidding wars in many areas of the country as they ditch their renter lifestyles and put down roots in new communities.

Financial services company First American recently released a study entitled “How ‘Renter’ Millennials Will Transform the Housing Market.” In their study, they explained that: “…As more millennials age into their early-to-mid-thirties, decide to and get married, have children, and form traditional households, they will continue to be the primary drivers of home ownership demand.

“Because of this, it is safe to say that one aspect of 2019’s housing market that WILL NOT slow down is the demand for housing from young renters who are no longer satisfied living in someone else’s homes.”

Suggestions for 2019 Real estate is normally the biggest investment you will ever make. People buy their first house when they are young (starter houses) and roll that investment forward through larger homes as their family situation changes. When I see folks socially and they tell me they’re going to have a change in their life with

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| February 2019

a baby coming along (1st, 2nd, etc.), I know they’ll be back in the housing market very shortly. Dittos at the other end when the last kid heads off to find his or her own dream, be it work, college, the military, or marriage. These are life-changing moments and downsizing might soon follow. It happens about every seven years8 despite plans to be in your “forever” home.

Life happens. Things change. It pays to stay in touch with, and pay attention to, the market.

Another great piece of advice (in addition to “Cleanliness”) is to re-invest your home equity in additional real estate. Don’t take out a home equity loan to pay for Christmas or something that doesn’t last. I suggest you consider (with your financial advisor or Realtor) buying a rental property every few years. The stock market goes up and down. Mutual funds wax and wane and new ones come along. But as NASCAR founder Big Bill France once told me, God isn’t making any more real estate. If you’re seriously considering how to pay for a kid’s college education, wouldn’t buying that newborn child a rental house be a good idea?

Consider that the equity will build, and that the rental income will pay the mortgage and other expenses. My personal opinion is, don’t manage it yourself. You already have a job.

8 Source: National Association of Realtors.

Pay a professional property manager to look after it, including maintenance and repairs, upgrades, finding new tenants, and collecting rent. For most people the professional manager will

The millennial generation (ages 19-35) has been the driving force behind bidding wars in many areas of the country as they ditch their renter lifestyles and put down roots in new communities. do a better job based on experience and a certain hard edge that is sometimes necessary when dealing with itinerant dwellers.

And finally, unless you build a heck of a rental property portfolio, you need to keep your day job.

Another thing is to pay the mortgage down as quickly as is practical for you. Your objective is to have a salable, debt-free property in 15 to 20 years that is in good condition, reasonably upgraded, and will sell for enough to pay for your kid’s college education or other nest egg. And no, I cannot tell you what four years of college will cost in 2035. The median home price in 2000 was $119,000 vs. today’s $255,000. Apply that to the buying price of your rental property and you begin to see the logic of real estate investment.

Bill Fishburne is a Realtor with Beverly-Hanks & Associates in Hendersonville, North Carolina. He is a two-term president of the Henderson County Board of Realtors and was named Realtor of the Year in 2014.

Contact editor@capitalatplay.com if you would like to reach him.

DATA FOR CHARTS SUPPLIED BY CAROLINA MULTIPLE LISTING SERVICES, INC. Provided by Bill Fishburne of Beverly-Hanks & Assoc.

Named Outstanding Chamber of the Year by

www.ashevillechamber.org February 2019 | capitalatplay.com 51

THE OLD

NORTH

STATE [

news briefs

Dolls with Drive waxhaw

Sydney Satalino, a 13-year-old, has produced her first doll for what she hopes will be a line of dolls with disabilities.

“Elliana Ellington” is an 11-year-old with a prosthetic arm. She likes coding and robotics and 3D-printed her own arm.

Satalino likes American Girl dolls and blogs about them; American Girl makes crutches, wheelchairs, and diabetes kits for otherwise perfect dolls, even making some without hair. But Satalino wanted to be more real. She noted 15% of American children live with one or more disabilities, and the population of dolls wasn’t representative. Satalino suffers diabetes, Aspergers, and scoliosis.

The first three dolls she designed were Elliana; “Jennifer Taylor,” a 10-yearold gymnast with a prosthetic leg; and

]

“Katrina Miller,” a 12-year-old diabetic who produced a film on the illness. The dolls each come with an e-book that will have new chapters added frequently.

Presales for Elliana, who retails for $89, are delivered in about two weeks.

Let No Good Deed … morganton

Following December’s snowstorm, the cutest little dog was found in a ditch riddled with gunshot wounds to his head, eyes, ears, and neck. Gerry and Janet Lott took the animal inside and tried to warm him until the roads cleared. In the meantime, their daughter, Christie Fries, located the owner on Facebook, and the dog was returned. The next day, Lori Rice of A Better Life Animal Rescue, braved

the snow to take the dog to a veterinarian. Upon learning the extent of the dog’s wounds, the owner, Edith Pritchard, thought it best to euthanize him, but then she was told he could recover and lead a happy life in spite of it all. The animal was then in the care of A Better Life, and that decision was theirs to make. A Better Life decided to pay for the dog’s rehabilitation with funds from its Family Assistance Program. When the dog was returned to Pritchard, Pritchard found she was not well enough to provide the level of care he required, so A Better Life placed the dog with a foster family, with Pritchard retaining visitation rights.

Not knowing any of this, Fries and her husband, Brandon, started a GoFundMe campaign and quickly raised $10,000, which A Better Life could not accept because of a technicality. The Fries then reworded the page to direct funding to Pritchard, who was no longer caring for the dog. That left the Fries figuring out how to refund all the money.

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indicated scores on the math test administered for certifying elementary and special education instructors were not indicative of whether or not candidates would make effective teachers. Three years ago, the state changed the test administered to aspiring teachers from the ETS Praxis exam to one created by Pearson Education. The new test had three parts: one on reading, a second on math, and a third on a variety of subjects. The first year, 65.1% passed the math portion, the second year, only 54.5% passed, and results in the current year were even worse. Applicants pay $139 to take the test, and they may retake it as often as necessary if they pay $100 a shot. They may also take tutorials for $150 each. Instructor candidates preferred the Praxis test, which 90% of students typically passed. The commission approved returning to that test, and a final decision is expected from the state board of education in February.

Hill, is developing a diagnostic tool called Redbud Posts, and it has raised $7 million total to date. CEO Richard Spero came up with the idea for something that, under a microscope, looks like artificial turf. The flexible microposts are made of low-cost, biocompatible materials, whose chemistry and size can be altered for specific purposes. They’re magnetic, so they can be made to sway in accordance with time-varying fields. Acting like cilia, the microposts may be used to mix or pump microliter samples, moving fluids with little shear and minimal damage.

The mixing method works with a variety of analytical instruments and in a wide range of temperatures, and the technology is scalable. Redbud owns several patents and reserves exclusive rights to develop associated technologies. One possible application would be for blood coagulation assays.

A Epic Success A Small Mix-Up research triangle park

Redbud Labs has raised $400,000 toward a $1 million goal in their current equity round. Redbud, a spinoff from the University of North Carolina at Chapel

cary

“A source with knowledge of the business” reported Epic Games grossed $3 billion in 2018. The success is attributed to the e-publisher’s most-popular game, Fortnite, which alone grossed $2 billion.

Fortnite is free to play, making money

the old north state

off status-symbol “skins” sold to players for their characters. Epic Games has been successful since it was founded in 1991, selling hits like Gears of War; but Fortnite was the most popular game in the world last year, with 200 million players. In October, Epic Games raised $1.25 billion in a single funding round. That was more than any other company raised in one round in 2018, Uber and Juul being the only others to crack the $1-billion mark. Epic Games took on its first outside investor in 2012, when the Chinese company, Tencent, acquired a 40% stake for $330 million.

Epic’s CEO, Tim Sweeney, said he saw the industry shifting away from big-box retail releases, and so the company began developing live games for a wide range of platforms, while remaining an independent, self-publisher. Tencent provided both capital and expertise to make the transition.

Off the Board wake forest

One day, Brian Joiner’s dad was caught by the absurdity of everybody in the home seeming addicted to their devices, so he told everybody to unplug, or the family was going to go off the grid. About

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10-15 minutes later, nine-year-old Brian came back downstairs announcing he had invented a new board game that he called “Off the Grid.” It starts with a deck of 42 activity cards from which players randomly select five. The activities are interactive, designed for ages 4-11, and often require physical activity. Examples include indoor bowling, Concentration, guess-the-drawing, and more unconventional ideas. Instructions are simple and leave leeway for kids to be creative. Brian’s parents specialize in project management, so they’re familiar with navigating the details of starting a company. The original game was played with paper cards, so one of the first steps was hiring a graphic designer. Following several iterations of prototyping, Off the Grid is now sold on Amazon and in the Teach Me store. A special feature of the game is it encourages families to forego using elective electricity in their homes for 24 hours and donate the $1 they save to a charity of their choice.

Know Your Roots durham

Hi Fidelity Genetics has raised $8.5 million in financing in its first round of venture capital fundraising. The round was led by Fall Line Capital and Finistere Ventures. Hi Fidelity uses artificial intelligence to select plants for breeding hardier strains. It is particularly interested in corn and cotton, and it is focused on root structures. Cofounder Philip Benfey, a professor of biology at Duke University, said volatility in access to adequate water is the main driver of crop failure. Large agribusinesses are already trying to breed strains with longer, stronger roots, but they have had few options, other than destructive analysis, for examining root structures.

Hi Fidelity plants wireless sensors in the ground that feed data to the company’s software, RootTracker, to map root growth and identify parents for breeding. RootTracker is used with software, Luther, which matches phenotypes with

genotypes best-suited for a particular region. Benfey believes the software has already identified competitive breeds of corn with stronger root systems.

A Live-Work Tower charlotte

Dominion Realty Partners broke ground for the first live-work tower in Charlotte. The 29-story, $129 million building will be located on what is now a surface parking lot between Bank of America Stadium and BB&T Ballpark.

It will feature 196 luxury apartments, 156,500 square feet of office space, 2,300 square feet for retail, 8 stories of parking, and a pool deck. FNB Corporation, the parent company of First National Bank, will be the anchor tenant, occupying the first floor, and it will consolidate its Charlotte operations in the building.

The parking garage will be immediately above the first floor. The design, which will qualify for unspecified green-building certifications, is classy and glassy, boxy and articulated. The mixed-use purpose follows Millennial demand for opportunities to live and work in the same building to cut down on commuting time. Dominion announced plans to construct a similar building for FNB in Raleigh in 2017.

A Market in Mayberry mount airy

Mt. Pilot Mayberry Mystery Healing Salve is now available for sale from Mayberry Markets & Souvenirs. Robert Atkins, now 91 years old, found the old family recipe in 2009 in an unopened batch of his mother’s recipes. It had been lost since his father died in 1950.

His father obtained the recipe in the 1920s from a doctor who had compassion for the family and wanted to give them a source of income after a farming venture in Indiana went bad. The salve is described as pungent, sure to clear the sinuses, and good for whatever else ails

you. Atkins says people continue to tell him about off-label cures as well. The salve is made of all-natural ingredients, listed on the label and not a mystery at all. The potions are cooked stovetop by Atkins and members of his family in the basement. The panacea was originally called Atkins Mystery Salve, but it was rebranded in its revival to cut a deal with its first wholesaler, Mt. Airy Drug. Atkins also had to remove the devilweed, cut the oil of camphor to 3%, and replace the red pepper with mustard oil to get FDA approval. Like many apothecaries, Atkins feels pinched by the rising costs of quality herbs and barriers to entry for big-box resale. Mayberry Markets, in business since 1991, sells paraphernalia with an Andy Griffith Show theme. While that TV program was filmed in Atlanta, on the old set from Gone with the Wind, the Town of Mayberry was based on Andy Griffith’s hometown, Mt. Airy.

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Smoothie Moves greensboro

Although The Healthy Boro smoothie bar and health club has been open for several months, it announced a grand opening for January 8, just in time to help people with their New Year’s resolutions.

Some of the smoothies are rather decadent, overflowing with rich chocolate; but they’re made of nothing but natural plant ingredients, like cane sugar, and provide only about 250 calories each. The business plan is to sell smoothies and green teas while providing free workouts and free personal coaching. The program starts with a free wellness evaluation, where club members define goals and elect strategies.

Co-owner Allen Sainato lost 70lbs and has since had a passion for helping others do the same. He believes consistency is one of the greatest challenges of weight loss.

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NIGHT OUT FOR FOUR AT THE CONUNDRUM Including a blind tasting for 4 and their new experience Who Whacked Wiseguy for 4.

Read more about The Conundrum and other local Escape Rooms starting on the next page!

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| February 2019

PUZZLE FROM an 828 Escape room. photo by Tiffany Eagleman of Eagleman Photography

leisure & libation

Escaping

the Everyday written by emily gl aser

It’s a far cry from the bouncy rooms of youth— or is it? The Western North Carolina escape and puzzle room industry is keeping people boxed in—and deeply entertained.

February 2019 | capitalatplay.com 57

A GROUP PREPARING to enter The Conundrum. photo by Anthony Harden

leisure & libation

T

here’s a brewery in the basement of the Battery Park Hotel. You won’t find its ales reviewed on beer blogs or its bottles on grocery shelves, but according to legend, WunderBrugghen’s Brewing Co. is the maker of the best beer in history.

Descend the bowed stairs at the front of the hotel, and you’ll be met not with the reclaimed doors and cast aluminum signs we’ve come to recognize as hallmarks of Asheville’s regional brew industry, but, instead, by a hulking metal door crowned with a creaking peephole through which porters review visitors and pester them for passwords.

If you’d like to tour the brewery, you’ll pass first through the Roaring Twenties era speakeasy, then into a holding room where you’ll receive ghastly news: The recipe for WunderBrugghen’s signature beer has gone missing!

A nd this —not a taste of that renowned WunderBrugghen brew—is what you came for.

Together with your team of sleuths, you’ll canvass the brewery for clues and try to piece together a series of pertinent puzzles to solve the mystery of the missing recipe. The clock is ticking, counting 58

| February 2019

down the 60 minutes before disaster strikes, but your friendly guide is a quick call away should you need guidance. Even with her help, it’s unlikely you’ll succeed—only about 25% of participants do—but the titillating adrenaline rush and brain-wracking teamwork is enough to satiate your quest for fun.

Of course, this isn’t actually a brewery at all; it’s The Conundrum, one of Western North Carolina’s half dozen privately owned escape rooms. The Conundrum, along with their riddle-peddling compadres, represents the current-day culmination of decades, if not centuries, of experiential entertainment, spurred by the compulsory hankering of our kind to blur the boundaries between fact and fiction. It’s in these rooms that thrill-seekers find the kind of heart-thumping excitement we adults haven’t felt since the promise of a bouncy house or our first topsy-turvy turn on a rollercoaster. It’s all the more exciting for its immersiveness, especially at an enterprise like The Conundrum, where seasoned actors oversee the experience and proffer clues. For gamers and daredevils, team builders and tots, escape rooms offer intellectual stimulation, blood-pumping fun, and an escape from reality.

The Evolution of the Escape Room Escape rooms and puzzle rooms are the apex of an evolution in escapism that can be traced back to the early days of the novel, or to Shakespeare’s engrossing stage acts, or to the performance of coliseum-packed Greek tragedies. As the public refined its palate for immersive entertainment, entertainers—first in the form of writers and playwrights, then movie-makers and game designers—elevated the experience, nudging the boundary of fiction closer and closer to reality. Movies gained sound, then color, bigger screens, and 3-D glasses. Games evolved from pixelated starships to hyper-realistic, adaptive gameplay that appeals to all the senses just short of smell. Theme parks and haunted houses plunk guests into the heated storyline of an alternate reality, as do virtual reality experiences like Better Than Unicorns (“Operation Simulation” April 2018 issue of this magazine).

But for all of these immersive experiences, there’s long been an unnavigable handicap: the literal involvement of participants. Through the subtle sweep of thumb joints or optical illusions we impact the mirage, but it’s in escape rooms alone that players employ all of their acumen and senses to impact the gameplay. They aren’t just watching the set; they’re part of it, in all their physicality.

“I believe it’s the logical next step from things like haunted houses, video games, and even movies,” says Shaun Cardwell, owner of Boone’s Mysterium Escape Adventure. “I think we are moving past just being in the audience and watching. This is living those scenarios and enjoying it with friends, family, and coworkers.”

It’s a common sentiment among escape room enthusiasts and owners, like Ferrin Cole, who co-owns Asheville’s FOXN-OTTER Adventure Puzzle Rooms with his wife, Julie, and who notes, “Instead of going to the movies and sitting in a row in the dark with no participation behind watching the main characters go through the incredible story, everyone in our games gets to experience an amazing storyline where they are the main characters!”

Involving the audience in the storyline isn’t necessarily an innovation in itself (interactive theatre gained popularity at the turn of the 20th century), but the totality of escape rooms and the commonality of the games’ structure is unique, with a fairly short and easily traceable history.

It was in 2004 that the genre of escape games was popularized in Asia with Toshimitsu Takagi’s video game Crimson Room, following lesser-known point-and-click computer games with similar premises that preceded it. To capitalize on the increasingly popular medium, investors adapted the concept to live escape rooms, first in Japan, then across Asia, Western Europe, and finally Eastern Europe and the United States.

Here, the concept found fertile ground, fructified by a dynamic video game industry and a hearty population of daredevil profligates tired of seeking adventure in movie theaters and theme parks.

A ROOM SETUP. photo courtesy A-Escape

A GROUP striving to solve some puzzles. photo courtesy FOX-N-OTTER

PASSWORD? The peephole to get into The Conundrum, photo by Anthony Harden

February 2019 | capitalatplay.com 59

leisure & libation

FIND THE RECIPE for the beer at The Conundrum. photo by Anthony Harden

Our communal enthusiasm for the new entertainment has stimulated a veritable boom in the industry: In 2014, there were some 22 escape rooms in the country; today, there are more than 2,000. Major cities boast the businesses by the dozen, and even smaller towns like our own Maggie Valley, Sylva, and Black Mountain host homegrown operations. Escape room enthusiasts track their goings-on with apps, discuss the merits of rooms in Facebook groups, and plan cross-country treks to rooms like Baton Rouge’s 13th Gate Escape.

The foundational concept of most escape rooms—the launching pad for distinct storylines—remains largely unchanged from their forebears and across independently owned and corporately franchised ventures alike. The premise is fairly simple: A group of two to eight (or, if you’re feeling really brassy, one) friends, family, colleagues, or even strangers band together their forces to unearth a trail of clues hidden within the escape room or rooms, solve associated puzzles (often to find keys, unlock safes, or proceed to the next room or puzzle), and beat the clock—usually set at an hour—before simulated disaster strikes. A game master oversees their progress from afar via surveillance equipment and is available for additional assistance through walkie-talkies, intercoms, or telephones installed in the room. Waivers are signed and

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THE VIEW FROM THE TOP, watching a team solve an escape room. photo courtesy FOX-N-OTTER

cell phones surrendered before players begin, and escapees and prisoners alike emerge at the end of the experience to a photo opp.

It’s predictable, but no less thrilling because of it, in large part because of the do-it-yourself independence of the privately-owned ventures that, at least in Western North Carolina, largely outweigh their corporate, franchised brethren, a fact that encourages and capitalizes on unique permutations.

The USP Of WNC Escape Rooms Within the standard, replicable escape room structure, ingenuity, invention, and creativity have bred a spectrum of experiences. In our region alone, escape and puzzle rooms range from family-friendly and funny to hauntingly spooky or whodunit mystery. Each room in each business (most local enterprises offer one or two experiences, though a few have up to four) establishes a unique plot at the outset that envelops participants and serves as the foundation for the ensuing series of puzzles and brainteasers. These stories—in the case of our local independent enterprises, conceptualized by the owners and designers of the rooms—vary from fantastic to blithely hokey: you’re a test subject at a Biotech company where things have gone terribly wrong; you’re competing for an explorer’s

ANOTHER INTERESTING ENTRANCE photo courtesy Black Mountain Escape

inheritance; you’re tasked with solving a murder or tracking down a missing moonshine recipe. Sylva’s 828 Escape, for example, capitalizes on local lore to set the tone for their rooms, populating their tales with figures like bootleggers

that surrounds these enigmatic plot lines is as variable and adaptable as the stories themselves.

Take the way the story is introduced, for example: The Conundrum employs experienced actors to preface players’ entrance to their room, while Mysterium—like most escape rooms—plays a video at the outset that sets the scene. A-Escape operates somewhere in between: “Employees of A-Escape greet players, run through the rules with them (because people can get ‘creative’ when locked in a room for an hour), show them how to work some of the lessfamiliar locking mechanisms they may encounter in the room, and answer any questions players may have before entering the room,” explains Kyle Tharrington, who co-owns the business with his partner, Ashley Fox. With unique puzzles, stories, and structures, each business offers a totally different experience, but they also foster a unique selling proposition (USP), a technique or advantage that sets them apart from the competition and appeals to a distinctive customer base. At The Conundrum, it’s their cast of actors who serve as employees. “We’re not the only escape room anywhere that employs an actor base to further the storyline, but we are kind of the only

If you were to attempt the same room three different times with three different hosts, the puzzles and clues would be the same, but the guidance you receive could vary greatly, as would your experience. and the ghost of Boone Harper. Other themes, like pirates or Jazz Age thrillers, are universally popular and readily adaptable to the model.

The stories that animate the rooms are unique by necessity (though you can buy room kits, complete with storylines, online), as are the methods the businesses employ to tell those stories, so that the entire structure

February 2019 | capitalatplay.com 61

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A SECRET BOOKCASE entrance into a room at The Conundrum. photo by Anthony Harden | February 2019

one in this area that I know of,” says Cary Nichols, manager of the downtown Asheville biz, pointing out a slew of directors, comedians, and costume designers who have been part of The Conundrum team since they opened some three years ago.

“Here we refer to ourselves as hosts because we host them for the room, we’re all actors, and we all have a character.”

At The Conundrum, the variety of actors employed cultivates a variety of experiences within the singular storyline of each room. In “The Attic,” for example, the character of the host is dependent on the actor who’s working that day. Cary Nichols plays a Scottish housekeeper, while another actor hosts as a personal assistant, and yet another employee performs the same role but as a real estate agent. If you were to attempt the same room three different times with three different hosts, the puzzles and clues would be the same, but the guidance you receive could vary greatly, as would your experience.

While owner Shawn Verbrugghe and Nichols boast their talented workforce as the hallmark of The Conundrum’s success, other escape rooms work in direct contrast. “While that may be fine for others, we believe (especially in team building) that participants won’t act as they normally would with a stranger in the room,” says Jason Henry, co-owner of 828 Escape, of employing actors in escape rooms (wife Tiffany co-owns the enterprise). Instead, the distinguishing factor of 828 Escape is increased interaction with participants in advance of their escape experience. “We get to know them before the game begins, and that gives us a little knowledge that we can use later in the game,” he adds. Game masters adapt their hints and directions to the players based on insights gleaned through their thorough introduction.

A-Escape’s Tharrington’s perspective aligns more closely with Henry’s. “We go through great lengths to make sure our experiences are as immersive as possible by not breaking that fourth wall between the players and the employee running the game,” he says. Rather than deliver clues and assistance over walkie-talkies, loudspeakers, or via actors, Tharrington builds hint delivery into the room with technology like A-Escape’s very own Zoltar Machine (yup, like in the movie Big). “Our hint systems are built into the rooms and the stories themselves,” he explains, of A-Escape’s USP. “While from the player’s perspective, they feel they’re communicating with Mission Support or a fortune-telling Machine, they are in fact still receiving help from an employee—the fourth wall just isn’t broken.”

Whereas Tharrington relies on seamless technology to accomplish the illusion of reality in the rooms, others, like Maggie Valley Puzzle Rooms, instead avoid technology entirely.

“We do not have actors in our rooms, nor do we have electronics in our rooms. We want people to work together and ‘escape’ the everyday reality of computers, cell phones, etcetera,” says Patty Carter, who co-owns the business with her husband, Myron.

FOX-N-OTTER Adventure Puzzle Rooms, in South Asheville, also bucks increasingly stereotypical technological conventions, as well as many of the other standards of escape rooms. “While

GUESTS POSING TO show off an escape time. photo courtesy A-Escape

everyone else is becoming a generation 2 room with electronic sensors and locks and lights blinking and sounds beeping, we are offering greater backstories, deeper connections, and revising puzzles to tell a tale that tickles your timekeeping and tantalizes your taskmasters,” says co-owner Ferrin Cole (his wife, Julie Cole, is co-owner and puzzle designer). Rather than capitalize on now-traditionally popular horror themes or investing in hyped-up technology, FOX-N-OTTER stands alone in a growing field of escape rooms by prioritizing thrills over fear and storyline development over distracting technology.

Another USP of FOX-N-OTTER is the way they design the puzzles: “We are the only escape room we know of in the entire United States that designs our rooms around human growth and development stages,” Cole continues. “Our puzzles fit specific stages of development, and we have mile-marker challenges that highlight the abilities and perspectives of our players. That means the games are not about intellect as much as they are perspective and ability to do abstract puzzles.”

Though singularity is the name of the game in independent escape rooms, there are franchises across our region that capitalize instead on standardization. Whereas smaller models find success in the irregular or eccentric, it’s in consistency that franchises find success, like with Breakout, an international chain that includes a location in downtown Asheville. “Any time you have a process for everything you do, it’s efficient, so they figured out a model that works,” says

PHOTOS OF successful clients at the Mysterium. photo courtesy Mysterium

The Conundrum’s Verbrugghe, of Breakout. “We have a model that it would be hard to duplicate because it’s so erratic, but it does work.”

Online kits or franchise opportunities would arguably make opening an escape room easier—but most of our local businesses have chosen to forgo that route, choosing instead to craft their own clue-ridden rooms from scratch. Who are these people, and how do they do it?

Escape Rooms’ Proprietors, Catalyst, & Creation Perhaps the best person to ask for insight regarding the impetus for opening an escape room is someone who’s currently in the throes of it.

AJ Stewart and Jon Brooks have partnered up to open Black Mountain Escape, set to open in the spring of 2019.

Stewart’s reason for opening an escape room, like many of his contemporaries’, lies in a different industry entirely. “Jon and I both come from a background in the summer camp industry, having worked largely with youth and young adults for many years,” he says. “We have found that escape rooms offer some of the same opportunities as summer camp: a chance to be fully engaged with those around you, problem solve with your peers, and use your imagination!”

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leisure & libation

It’s often owners’ histories that serve as the foundation for their future in a new venture. For Stewart and Brooks, it’s their experiences not just in summer camps, but in design and construction, and even Brooks’ time as a stage illusionist that all set the figurative stage for their literal one in the form of Black Mountain Escape. Mysterium’s Cardwell, on the other hand, launched his business using his extensive background in film and haunts, special effects and set building. “This is a business that encompasses so many of my interests that can be open year-round,” he adds, of his interest in opening Mysterium. Myron Carter exercises his knowledge gleaned from years as a theater arts, visual arts, and English teacher to create the storylines and props in Maggie Valley Puzzle Rooms, a retirement project for himself and wife Patty.

For The Conundrum’s Verbrugghe, it was his experience with another local, unique attraction— the Pubcycle—that inspired him to open The Conundrum. With the Pubcycle rolling along after three years in business, Verbrugghe got restless; friends from around the world had suggested opening an escape room, so Verbrugghe and his

open his business when his family tried an escape room on vacation and it broke the spell of his kids’ occupation with technology.

Armed with passion, patience, intellectual ingenuity, and more often than not, a lot of sweat, strength, and demolition, these local entrepreneurs painstak ingly build elaborate puzzles and multifaceted sets to house them. The challenges of such an endeavor are many, beginning with searching for the space to house it. “While first scouting for locations to build our rooms, we ran into a lot of landlords in downtown Asheville that were very averse to the concept (none of them had heard of an escape room at the time, and it sounded dangerous or unsure to them),” remembers A-Escape’s Tharrington. “They didn’t want us putting even the smallest of nails into their units, much less making secret passages.”

Once their space is secured, they can begin to build the rooms—but not before the concepts are conceived, a convoluted, knotty process that begins, more often than not, with an idea for a story, like the missing moonshine recipe or the fight for the baron’s inheritance. The designer then brainstorms

The spectrum of folks who decide to own or operate escape rooms—illusionists and retirees, costume designers and summer camp counselors—is indicative of the broad appeal of escape rooms. team from Pubcycle decided to check out the closest enterprise, then in Knoxville: “We were like, ‘We can take this idea and take it to the next level, because we have a super creative team’—Pubcycle was all comedians, actors, stuff like that, so we started building it out.” Based on their experience with interactive attractions and actor entertainment, Verbrugghe and his team transferred those skills to the new platform.

Like Verbrugghe, most escape room owners also cite a personal experience in an escape room as a stimulus for opening their own venture. With a glint in their eye, they describe the pulse-pushing rush of their first puzzle, an experience they now try to replicate for customers every day. Mysterium’s Cardwell was “hooked” after trying his first escape room, whereas 828 Escape’s Henry was inspired to 64

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a series of puzzles, their clues and conclusions, and how they’ll fit into the room and shepherd players into their next challenge.

The limitations and requirements of this series of puzzles are boundless: Are the clues too easy or too hard? Can the puzzles be solved within an hour?

Will experienced escape room enthusiasts find them challenging enough, and will novices find them easy enough? Do they fit into the theme? Is the series of puzzles sensical?

“What you do,” the Conundrum’s Verbrugghe laughs, “is you design a whole bunch of puzzles— theoretically these things are awesome—and then you start building them into the room (a lot of ours are built-ins). And then you realize that nobody could ever figure this out, only my own mind. And then we sit down and figure out, ‘Okay, how could

photo courtesy Black Mountain Escape

FINDING THE RIGHT KEY to a lock is one of the many puzzles one may have to figure out. photo courtesy FOX-N-OTTER

you make this puzzle work, or how can you take a little bit from this puzzle and add to this one to then make it flow.’”

Building the rooms and the puzzles within them isn’t just a mental quagmire, but a physical one as well. For most local escape rooms, the construction of hidden doors and secret passages, submarines and speakeasies, falls entirely in the hands—literally—of owners. “We build everything ourselves and hire local artists, electricians, IT support, and work almost entirely with reused, refurbished, recycled, and repurposed items,” says FOX-N-OTTER’s Cole. “We strive to find amazing project furniture pieces at used thrift shops, the scrap yard, and antique malls in order to find those unique pieces a story can spring from or be supported by.

Every single item in the room needs to be relevant to the environment or story. We design, create, wire, manipulate, fix, and prepare every prop, furniture piece, shelf item, switch, lock, and door to work correctly.”

This tendency for DIY is retained throughout the local escape room community; even 828 Escape, which started with two purchased themes, has since transitioned to building their rooms from scratch.

Rooms built and puzzles set, designers and owners then invite friends and family or test groups into the rooms for alpha-beta testing—and then usually return to the continued on p. 68 February 2019 | capitalatplay.com 65

leisure & libation

THE KEY TO ESCAPES These escape rooms aren’t just a matter of “who’dun’it,” but also “why’do’it” and “which’one”?

Break down the “wheres” and “whys” of the rooms in this article and prepare to break out.

> >828 escape room WHERE: Sylva BRAINS BEHIND: Co-owners Jason and Tiffany Henry OPEN SINCE: October 2017 USP: The Henrys offer truly adaptive gameplay by getting to know the players beforehand and adjusting their guidance as a result of their inquiries.

321 Jackson Plaza Sylva, NC 28779 (828) 586-1828 828escaperoom.com

USP: The founders are planning next-level set design and “extended play” add-ons for those who want an additional challenge.

103 Black Mountain Ave Black Mountain, NC 28711 (828) 989-4916 blackmountainescape.com (opening Spring 2019)

> >conundrum escape adventures

WHERE: Asheville (Downtown) BRAINS BEHIND: Owner Shawn Verbrugghe OPEN SINCE: 2016

> >a - escape WHERE: Asheville (West) BR AINS BEHIND: Co-owners Kyle Tharrington and Ashley Fox OPEN SINCE: 2015 USP: Seamless technology that fits into the story and integrates clues and guidance into the room without the blatant interaction of hosts. Their rooms are all private, so you won’t have to worry about playing with strangers.

12 Balance Lane Asheville, NC, 28806 Suite 20 (The Red Door) (252) 621-0341 a-escape.com

USP: The talent! The Conundrum uses actors as “hosts” rather than traditional game masters, who maintain a truly immersive experience while offering guidance. The Conundrum is also unique in its auxiliary programming, which includes beer and wine pairings in the dark, a speakeasy style bar, and the new experience: Who Whacked Wiseguy.

1 Battle Square, Suite 2B Asheville, NC 28801 (828) 214-7824 entertheconundrum.com

WHERE: Black Mountain BRAINS BEHIND: Owners AJ Stewart and Jon Brooks OPEN SINCE: Slated to open this spring 66

| February 2019

3749 Sweeten Creek Road #2 Asheville, NC 28704 (828) 585-4302 escaperoomsasheville.com

> >maggie valley puzzle rooms

WHERE: Maggie Valley BRAINS BEHIND: Owners Myron and Patty Carter OPEN SINCE: June 2016 USP: These low-tech rooms help players escape not just the mundane everyday, but the stresses of a 21st century life, too.

20 Kyles Way Maggie Valley, NC 28751 (828) 558-1511 maggievalleypuzzlerooms.com

> >mysterium escape adventure

WHERE: Boone BRAINS BEHIND: Owner Shaun Cardwell OPEN SINCE: 2016

> >fox- n - otter adventure puzzle rooms

WHERE: Asheville (South)

> >bl ack mountain escape

and thrills over fears. The puzzles are thoughtfully designed around human growth and development stages.

BR AINS BEHIND: Co-owners and puzzle designers Ferrin & Julie Cole OPEN SINCE: July 2017 USP: Puzzle rooms that prioritize storyline over bells and whistles, wit over tech,

USP: In a college town and tourist mecca, Mysterium appeals to teens and families alike, including discounts for kids 12 and under and college students (and no scary parts).

743 West King Street Boone, NC 28607 (828) 865-0009 mysteriumboone.com

SEARCH

UNLOCK

ESCAPE

WANT MORE? Here are a few more escape rooms in Western North Carolina, not profiled in this article.

> >breakout games 60 Patton Ave Asheville, NC 28801 (locations also in Greenville, Greensboro, & Charlotte) (828) 201-2600 breakoutgames.com/asheville/

> >escape out asheville

(2

locations)

1987 Hendersonville Road Suite I, Asheville, NC 28801 12 Lawyers Walk Asheville, NC 28801 (828) 505-2498 escapeoutasheville.com

> >xscape bryson cit y 96 Greenlee Street Bryson City, NC 28713 (828) 488-5333 xscapebrysoncity.com

> >great southern gothic : apothecary & escape room 103 N Jefferson Ave. West Jefferson, NC 28694 (336) 846-2410 facebook.com/greatsoutherngothic/

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leisure & libation

THE CONUNDRUM photos by Anthony Harden

drawing board, perfecting puzzles and tweaking layouts to ensure the experience will be immersive and engaging for paying players. When the doors to their business finally open, it’s to an array of customers with a series of objectives.

Who Dun’it: Who Plays & How The spectrum of folks who decide to own or operate escape rooms—illusionists and retirees, costume designers and summer camp counselors—is indicative of the broad appeal of escape rooms.

Unsurprisingly, the players themselves are an even more motley crew: international enthusiasts, ardent gamers, befuddled tourists and their gaggle of kids, Fortune 500 employees, and everyone in between.

Age is just a number, even in escape rooms: Mysterium’s Caldwell has had players ranging from 4-5 to their 70s; Maggie Valley Puzzle Rooms’ Carter, from 7-95 (“The 95-year-old loved it!” she adds). Some escape rooms like Maggie Valley’s include rooms specifically designed for younger crowds, while others like the Conundrum adapt gameplay to different audiences via their hosts.

And why do these diverse people play? Those reasons are multifarious as well. For kin, escape rooms provide a platform for familial bonding that’s tech-free and interaction-mandatory. Considering our region’s broad tourist appeal, escape rooms are the perfect family-friendly, rainyday alternative to tubing and trails. For couples, escape rooms offer a date spot that’s outside the ordinary. Local ventures have seen players enter their rooms shaky with both first date jitters and pre-proposal nerves.

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MYSTERIUM'S ENTRANCE photo courtesy Mysterium

For friends, it’s an experience that brings everyone together without a beer glass or restaurant table. “We, as adults, still want to have fun, we still want to do exciting things with our friends,” says the Conundrum’s Nichols. “It can’t all be about going to dinner or a movie. You want something where you can be engaged with your friends.”

Then there’s the team building crowd. Corporate enterprises and small businesses alike embrace new experiences where their team can come together and improve their relationships.

Tired of ho-hum ropes courses or banal games, escape rooms afford a refreshing and genuinely effective alternative. Explains The Conundrum’s Nichols, “As more people know about escape rooms, they’re always looking for something new and different to do for team building—not every corporate group is gonna go do a ropes course or zip lining. This gives them something that’s a little bit calmer but still a lot of fun and actually requires team building skills, and we are able to give them actual feedback.”

At The Conundrum, they’ve built on the team-building training of past employees; and at 828 Escape, Henry and his wife, Tiffany, employ their significant experience in both corporate team building and facilitation to plan specific events for groups.

At FOX-N-OTTER, they take team building a step further by offering a birds’ eye view to supervisors. “We are the only [escape room] that allows and encourages parents and supervisors to watch game monitors live as kids and employees play together without supervision in the room,” says Cole. “We do an entire walkthrough of the psychology behind problem solving and the puzzle structure… When you play here, you get a collective feedback and response to your gameplay.”

It’s that specialized offering—yet another USP—that’s brought corporate teams from various Fortune 500 companies to FOXN-OTTER, notes Cole. “We love doing cooperative problem solving with company teams, debriefing leadership styles, engaging with manager training, and providing key feedback to companies wanting collaborative feedback.”

Regardless of if they’re in the room for pleasure or practice, every player solves the puzzles differently—and that’s what makes escape rooms both fun and feasible. “We understand that compound logic solutions require multiple perspectives,” Cole explains. “In fact, one person may see a lower case ‘b,’ another person may see a ‘9,’ and another person may see a ‘d.’” It often requires the uniting of these adverse perspectives to solve the puzzles.

FOX-N-OTTER explains it (and their name) as such: “We believe everyone solves problems either like a fox or like an otter. The fox is intellect-based, plan-making, an administrator type, big-picture oriented, and sees how all the pieces fit together… [Otters] tend to solve problems with [their] hands, work through situations with trial and error, bounce off obstacles and difficulties, pressing forward with creative solutions… It takes both approaches to be successful at cooperative problem solving!”

Call it foxes and otters, or left-brained and right-brained, or type A and type B—players are generally most effective in an

LOBBY OF 828 ESCAPE ROOM. photo by Tiffany Eagleman of Eagleman Photography

escape room when they are diverse. At The Conundrum, for example, Nichols remembers a group of med school students who attempted one of their rooms, but because they were all of similar minds, couldn’t escape. “When you’ve got a group that is well-mixed in how they think, those are the people that you can see flying through it and getting out. Because as soon as you realize one thing isn’t working, then somebody else in the group looks at it and says, ‘Hey, turn it this way!’”

Even the most miscellaneous of groups, however, is doomed to failure without effective communication. “Communication is absolutely key! If a participant finds something important but doesn’t inform the rest of the group, that could mean a lot more time to solve a puzzle or even a fail,” says Mysterium’s Caldwell. “Someone could have an idea that could lead to solving a puzzle, but if they don’t say it out loud again it could cost the team time.” That’s why escape rooms are so great for team-building, family-bonding, and romance-kindling alike: They require different kinds of people to come together and communicate well, and if they do, a triumphant, rousing escape awaits.

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Fads, Failure, and The Future of Escape Rooms Immersive entertainment is a fickle industry, with constant innovations that outpace their predecessors and a hearty dose of outright flops, which begs the question: Are escape rooms merely a fad?

With adaptation, likely not. “I think eventually there will be fewer escape rooms in the sense that we know of them now, but that the concept will give way to more unique experiences that will keep the industry fresh and a serious contender in entertainment as a whole,” argues A-Escape’s Tharrington.

After all, it’s already an anomaly that our local escape rooms find success, and most—including A-Escape—are already evolving to include not just new rooms, but new kinds of rooms. The Carters of Maggie Valley Puzzle Rooms create new rooms when they note a decline in bookings to give players new, engaging experiences, and A-Escape has similarly swapped out rooms (they’ve had seven in total).

Others, like FOX-N-OTTER and The Conundrum, haven’t changed out rooms, but added new rooms and experiences to their lineup (including The Conundrum’s tastings and pairings in the dark).

BEING MORTAL

“Hope i

The evolution of local ventures will continue, with FOX-NOTTER opening a sci-fi room this year and the arrival of Who Whacked Wise Guy at The Conundrum. “The premise here is an escape room and a murder mystery had a baby and it was raised by Al Capone,” Verbrugghe says excitedly. Players will enter a room, don their Twenties garb, and play the roles of characters in a murder mystery. “It took us a good year to figure out what our next experience was, because we were like, ‘We’re not gonna make something half-assed, it’s going to be groundbreaking,’” he adds.

Those who aren’t groundbreaking, who fail to adapt or evolve, pivot or revise, unfortunately fizzle (one could point to old Asheville ventures, Escapism Asheville and Escape Out, as examples). “I don’t know any successful location that operates the same way it did when they started!” says FOX-N-OTTER’s Cole. Escape rooms fail when they don’t adapt—not just their experiences, but their business practices, like their hours of operation, to the wants of their players. The Conundrum claims that 75-80% of their customers are tourists, and points out that peak hours are in the evenings and on weekends and holidays, so they’ve adjusted their hours to these customers.

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Care Navigation Home Care Palliative Care Hospice Care Bereavement Support Clinical Research

Most escape room proprietors also agree that there is strength in numbers. Stewart and Brooks may be the new kids on the block, but they’ve already found support in other ventures, and even a mentor in FOX-N-OTTER’s Cole. “We want to see others succeed, and there’s actually less competition than you might think,” Stewart says. “In fact, competing escape rooms often have a more positive impact on each other than a negative one. For instance, if a group had a great time at Black Mountain Escape, we would gladly give them information on some of the other venues in the area for them to try next, and those others would do the same for us.”

That’s the rationale behind FOX-N-OTTER’s plans for an exchange program. “We are hopeful for more creative collaboration with the pioneering rooms that remain successful in the Asheville area by offering exchange experiences, maybe a passport program with incentives to finish all local rooms,” Cole says. When players catch the

escape room bug, they hanker for the unique experiences available at each venture—and they’ll find them at Western North Carolina’s various enterprises.

When players catch the escape room bug, they hanker for the unique experiences available at each venture—and they’ll find them at Western North Carolina’s various enterprises. ***

So, are these escape rooms a fad, a mere peg in a long ladder of immersive experiences? Or are they an adaptable trade that could buoy the mercurial entertainment industry?

The ticker is set, the clues placed, and the puzzles primed, and it looks like this group of innovative entrepreneurs, of foxes and otters, will work together to beat the clock.

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column

A Perfect Union

Creating landlord-tenant agreements for commercial leases.

S

J

joanne morgan

is an Asheville native, and an attorney with Ward and Smith, P.A.'s Asheville office.

IMILAR TO A MARRIAGE, IN WHICH

t wo parties come together to enter into a legally binding agreement, a commercial lease symbolizes a forged relationship between parties that can be enduring and rewarding, or shortsighted and emotionally and financially taxing.

In preparing and negotiating commercial lease agreements on behalf of my clients—either as landlord or tenant—I’ve come to understand that the most reliable predictor of a healthy landlordtenant relationship is setting clear terms for the arrangement up front, long before the tenant “moves in.” Entering into a clearly drafted lease agreement at the outset helps to set expectations, which minimizes the possibility for disagreement on how to handle a challenge when it arises.

In the interest of keeping your professional and contractual relationships healthy and fruitful, here are a few key elements that are oftentimes left unaddressed in commercial leases. When considered by the parties ahead of time (and usually with the guidance of effective brokers and attorneys) they lend a hand in creating a happy marriage between a landlord and a tenant.

Maintenance, Repairs, and Replacements A common misconception between landlords and tenants is that defining a lease agreement

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as a “triple net” or “NNN” lease clearly defines the maintenance and repair obligations of both parties. In many leases, a tenant pays rent to the landlord, and the landlord pays the real estate taxes, property insurance, and capital improvements costs associated with the building. A triple net lease, on the other hand, requires a tenant to pay rent as well as their share of real estate taxes, insurance, and common area/building maintenance charges.

That being said, without clearly pronounced terms, a triple net lease agreement won’t stop confusion or arguments from arising, even in the most common of scenarios. Take the following examples: Three months into a lease agreement, the HVAC unit in the building dies, and the roof begins to leak; or, two weeks after executing the lease, but before rent obligations become due, a tenant’s engineer discovers that the building’s foundation cannot support the construction buildout that the landlord is allowing the tenant to pursue at tenant’s cost, and that the septic field on the property is not of a sufficient size to handle the tenant’s business operations and will need to be expanded. Who is responsible for addressing these issues with

J their time and money? Hopefully, the answer lies within the four corners of the lease agreement, so that the parties don’t have to argue or litigate with one another once they are bound by a legal contract.

Parking For some reason, something as important as a tenant’s access to parking on the property is often overlooked a nd u naddre s sed i n commercial lease agreements. The parties focus on defining the leased space in terms of its legal address and square footage, but neglect to talk about whether the tenant will have on-site parking for its employees,

THE WORST THING THAT EITHER PARTY CAN DO IS MAKE ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT PARKING NEEDS OR ACCESS.

customers, deliver y vehicles, or none of the above. If the tenant does have access to parking rights, is it limited to a certain number of parking spaces? Are those spaces reserved and labeled or unreserved?

Does the tenant have the right to put up signs letting its customers know that they can park there without concern for being towed or ticketed?

Does the tenant have to pay extra for its parking spaces? Sometimes, the parking area is so large (or nonexistent) that this just isn’t a concern.

But most of the time, a parking lot of some size is available on the property, and the worst thing that either party can do is make assumptions about parking needs or access.

February 2019 | capitalatplay.com 73

column

Permitted Use A commercial lease’s permitted use provision describes what type of business or operations a tenant can conduct on the

shouldn’t leave much to the imagination, either. For example, as a landlord or tenant, you might feel satisfied that your draft lease states that tenant can operate a “restaurant” at the leased premises; but does this allow the tenant to sell alcohol and

EFFECTIVE BROKERS AND AT TORNEYS WILL HAVE SEEN SO MANY OF THESE BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS AND LEASES THAT THEY WILL BE CAPABLE OF REMINDING THE PARTIES TO THINK OF THINGS THAT ARE OTHERWISE INNOCENTLY OVERLOOKED AND IGNORED. property. It can seem like such a simple matter, and therefore can catch landlords and tenants off guard. First, regardless of what the parties agree to, hopefully one of them (or their attorneys) has confirmed that the tenant’s business operations will not conflict with the building’s existing zoning classification.

Next, the permitted use doesn’t need to be so detailed as to describe the tenant’s day-by-day business operation, but

retail merchandise? Does it permit tenant to operate a brewery?

If tenant operates a brewery, and the building has co-tenants, will the water bill be apportioned amongst tenants based upon the square footage of the building each tenant occupies, or will the brewer tenant need to install a separate water meter to keep up with its spike in water usage? If the permitted use is “office space,” do the tenant’s 85 part-time home-health aid

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employees come in and out of the building? Or will that much activity create a burden on the parking lot and elevators?

I think you see where I’m going with this: A lease agreement is a “living, breathing” document that can be molded to fit the specific parties’ needs, and a lease agreement worth its weight (and cost) will address these issues before they become vastly more expensive issues.

Personal Property, Subletting Rights, Required Hours, Building Rules, Rights of First Refusal, and the list goes on.

As you can imagine, there are countless other considerations that landlords and tenants can take into account, which will allow them to serve as better landlords and tenants to one another. Good communication and a thorough commercial lease agreement will get them there. Effective brokers and attorneys will have seen so many of these business relationships and leases that they will be capable of reminding the parties to think of things that are otherwise innocently overlooked and ignored, such as: At the end of the lease term, what personal

property items can the tenant remove, and which ones have become “fixtures” and must remain on the landlord’s property?

If the tenant realizes in year 3 of 10 that it doesn’t use all 3,000 square feet, can the tenant sublease 1,000 of those square feet to a separate business to run a coffee bar, and can the sublease be profitable to the tenant or must tenant turn over any rent monies collected to landlord? Does the building have overarching building “Rules and Regulations” applicable to all tenants, that require a tenant to abide by certain mandatory hours of operation? If the landlord wants to sell the leased space in year 3 of 10, does the tenant have the first crack at purchasing it? Can the landlord lease space in the same building to an unrelated party that runs the same kind of business operations as an existing tenant?

All of these questions can be addressed with creative thinking, clear communication, and experienced brokers and lawyers leading the parties to consider issues beyond lease term, rental costs, and security deposits. Ultimately, good communication and a thorough commercial lease agreement will lend the relationship a solid foundation from which to build upon—and hopefully the landlord and tenant will live happily ever after.

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February 2019 | capitalatplay.com 75

It’s What’s ‘ON THE

INSIDE’ That Counts

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| February 2019

THE VIEW FROM above Elise's work area.

When she took the leap and transformed her lingerie-design hobby into a full-time career, Elise Olson discovered a deep, satisfying passion.

written by marl a hardee milling photos by evan anderson February 2019 | capitalatplay.com 77

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ELISE OLSON | February 2019

E

ON THE INSIDE'S store in West Asheville.

Elise Olson built her business around the idea of comfort. She designs and produces custom lingerie crafted out of soft, sustainable materials like bamboo and organic cotton. She wants her clients to experience unparalleled comfort while wearing sexy, lacy underthings that make them feel really good about themselves.

As her business, On The Inside, has grown over the years, her external surroundings have morphed into a more comfortable working environment. In her latest move, completed in October 2017, she opened the doors of an expansive retail shop/production area at 842 Haywood Road in West Asheville.

Previously, she created her garments in the River Arts District (RAD), starting out at the Phil Mechanic building then, after a few years, transitioning to The Hatchery.

While she loved the camaraderie of working in close access to other creative minds, moving to her own space has delighted her soul in new ways. She has room to display finished garments, including offerings from other brands, and space for fitting rooms. And then there’s the light—it spills into her production area through big windows. She says some of the studios she worked in at the RAD had tiny windows located very high.

Now she can sit at her sewing machine and glance outside and continue a connection of sorts with the natural world.

Along with an eye for design, Elise is one of those people who has a green thumb. She loves working with plants and focused on plant chemistry and botany in college. The Maryland native first moved to North Carolina to attend UNC-Asheville and then she moved to Washington to finish her degree at Evergreen State.

“Right after college I was doing landscape design. I’ve always liked design and color. I’ve never had any formal training in any of this,” Elise says, spreading her hands out to the lingerie in progress at her sewing table, “but I have been sewing since high school.”

She moved back to Asheville and began plotting with another local designer, Maya Hubbell, to create sexy and comfy bra and panty sets. They worked together for about a year and sold to small shops. Maya ultimately decided to focus on her own clothing line, and Elise moved the lingerie business to the next level.

February 2019 | capitalatplay.com 79

Leap and the Net Will Appear As Elise pursued her stake in the lingerie industry, Etsy. com was just coming on the scene. Etsy, of course, is an online marketplace that sells a variety of handmade items as well as vintage objects. Sellers set up an online store and post photos and descriptions of their items and then mail direct to the buyers. It’s a system similar to Ebay.

“At the point that I started, Etsy was still a little baby,” says Elise. “I hired a photographer and got some pictures taken and I started selling on Etsy. It changed everything. All of sudden I had this big market.”

Elise designed and crafted lingerie while maintaining two side jobs and caring for her two young daughters. (She was

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pregnant with her second child when she and Maya had begun On The Inside.) For her two part-time jobs, she worked at the School of Holistic Herbalism and she also catered weddings.

“I’m extremely versatile,” she says, with a smile.

Then a pivotal moment came a couple of years later. She realized she could either go all-in on the lingerie business, which continued to climb the growth chart in terms of sales, or she could continue to treat it as a side hobby.

She quit both part-time jobs on the same day and made the leap into running On The Inside as a full-time career.

“It was terrifying,” admits Elise. “I knew I had to either commit and go for it and give it everything I had, or it would just stay something I did for fun. I jumped and it was terrifying, but it has fully supported me ever since. And it gave

me flexibility, being a mom, to be able to do what I needed to do.”

“I got a studio in the River Arts District,” she continues. “At that time, the Phil Mechanic building was vibrant with creative energy. Everyone was supportive and creative. I would wheel my mannequins into other people’s studios and say, ‘Look what I’m working on,’ and they would do the same. It was this awesome community. I was there for five and a half years and really perfected my designs and tried a lot of stuff. I got really good at what I was doing.”

Her online sales soared, and she found herself working 50-to-60-hour weeks to keep up with orders. “I would work all day and then go home and work at night, but it was amazing,” she says.

The working environment, however, became a growing concern. After spending a few cold, drafty winters in the Phil Mechanic building, she decided to make a move. “It’s really big and I would have heaters flanking me and I would have on gloves while I was sewing. In the summer, I would be sweating,”

Practical Moves She moved to The Hatchery and was there for three years before she yearned for a different experience: “I was kind of getting a little bored sitting in a studio by myself and selling online. I’d been doing it for about 10 years, so it was time for a change. I started looking at retail spaces.”

February 2019 | capitalatplay.com

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ELISE MAKING a new piece at her trusty sewing machine. | February 2019

The West Asheville building her store is located in was actually the first place she looked at. “The guy who owned it was just renting this floor. When we showed up we found that he was a really old friend of my husband’s from about 20 years ago. Jokingly, he said, ‘You guys just want to buy the building?’

We were like, ‘That’s hilarious, hahaha,’ and then we went home. That afternoon we wrote him and said, ‘Yeah, we do,’ so we actually bought the building. It’s a 104-year-old building, and we’ve worked on it a lot.”

“I don’t know the early history,” she continues, “but what everyone remembers about this building is that it used to be the Christian Book Shop for 30 years. It was crumbling and almost got condemned. Then this man bought it. He fixed the foundation. He fixed all the major stuff and then he sold it to us. My husband re-shingled it and painted it. The upstairs is an apartment and we rent it out. That helps pay the mortgage.”

She says this area of Haywood Road doesn’t see the foot traffic that stores a little further down the road do, but she’s enjoying a healthy share of visitors. Some will spot it while passing by

Elise doesn’t foresee a time when she will turn over her production to someone else.

“This is my baby,” she insists. and stop to check it out, but most of the time customers find her online and then seek out the shop.

Before opening the store, she really didn’t have to think too much about advertising or sales strategies. “I never had to market when I was on Etsy because it was such a machine,” says Elise. “I have been doing some local advertising and I started doing Instagram when I opened this shop. It’s really effective.

People will walk in and say, ‘Where’s that thing you put on Instagram?’ and I’ll be like, ‘Ohmigosh’, really? I also do events every few months and those are really good for marketing. The last one I did was a [one-year] anniversary party in November. A local distillery—Oak and Grist—made cocktails for the event.

I had a big sale and we had cocktails.”

This location of the store is also perfect since Elise and her family live just a mile away. She shares her home with her husband, artist Jeremy Phillips, and their six children. They married four years ago and combined their families. She has two daughters ages 12 and 15 from a previous marriage and he has four kids ages 13 to 19 from his previous marriage.

Having a storefront locks her into a set schedule, but Elise says she doesn’t need as much flexibility now that her children are older. Her shop is open from 11AM to 6PM Tuesday through Friday, and noon to 5PM on Saturday.

photo by Sarah Hooker Courtesy On The Inside February 2019 | capitalatplay.com 83

Attention to Details Elise’s business is pretty much a one-woman show, although she does have a woman who will help her with post-production finishing work, like attaching straps, or filling in when she’s on vacation. Elise currently designs, cuts, and sews every garment she sells, except for the few other brands she now offers to give her customers expanded choices. Her favorite items are ones that have more detail, showing off her expert sewing skills. She doesn’t put underwire in any of her bras, but she does carry some underwire bras from other makers to round out her offerings.

She carries the work of three local designers: Somos by Coconuco, and Poutfits, both based in Asheville; and Whiskey Dog Wares, from Marshall.

All three produce ethically-made garments using sustainable materials.

Elise doesn’t foresee a time when she will turn over her production to someone else. “This is my baby,” she insists, but she also realizes she may have to hire some additional help to assist with sales and special events.

On average, she makes about 40 garments a week, but that number can fluctuate if she’s spending more time with customers. “On days when the shop is really busy, I don’t get any sewing done,” she says.

“As it gets busier I’m going to have to shift something, and I’m not quite sure yet exactly what that’s going to look like.”

If demand begins to outweigh her supply, she might pull back on supplying other stores with her merchandise, but that’s not a clear decision that she’s made yet. Currently, On The Inside garments are 84

| February 2019

photo by Duncan Chaboudy courtesy On The Inside

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WITH BODY MEASUREMENTS, Elise can make sure the piece fits her client perfectly.

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sold locally at Hip Replacements on Lexington Avenue and blue29 in the South Slope District, as well as stores in Charleston, Ashland, Oregon, Beverly Hills, and upstate New York. She says Hip Replacements and the Charleston shop have proven to be the top locations for her sales.

Etsy also continues to be a big part of her business, but in the past couple of years she’s noticed sales have slowed. “When I started, custom lingerie was a really unique thing, but now there’s a lot of that.

Etsy also started selling mass produced things about five years ago and I think they lost some of their die-hard fans who went on there for handmade things,” she says. “This shop is now on par with my online sales. My online sales have gone down, which is another reason I opened the shop. My theory is that we had our love affair with shopping online and now I think people are moving back into wanting to go into brick-and-mortar shops again.”

Her online inventory at her Etsy shop includes individual items, as well as a Panties of the Month Subscription and a Lingerie Set of the Month Subscription featuring a matching top and bottom.

She has maintained 5-star status from more than 4,600 reviewers, with “the fit is very accurate” as one of the most frequent comments. Online customers can send in their measurements for a custom fit or they can order a standard size.

Local clients can come to her Haywood Road shop to have Elise take their measurements.

While there they can also explore her inventory of fabrics. She uses the highest quality, ethicallymade fabrics and sources most of them through conference shows in New York City. Customers also have a chance to explore her inventory of ready-made garments—this is new for Elise.

“Before I moved here, I never had fitting rooms or garments to buy off the rack,” she says. At the moment, she does not carry plus sizes in the shop, but she is able to make custom garments for anyone using their measurements.

While comfort is her focus, Elise is equally tuned in to providing quality garments at an affordable price. Her panties range from $30 to $35 and bras from $50 to $60. Add another $10 for custom panty orders and an additional $12 for custom bras. “I want people to be able to afford it and buy it and wear it and love it.”

Valentine’s Day With Valentine’s Day coming up this month, Elise expects to see a lot of men coming in to February 2019 | capitalatplay.com 87

make purchases for their sweethearts. Men also entered her shop in record numbers during the Christmas season.

“I love having men come in my shop,” says Elise. “They are my favorite customers. They come in and they are a little unsure, and they don’t really know where to go. I guide them through the process and it’s really fun to help them. Some men will call and say they don’t know what to do, and I’ll say, ‘Go through her underwear drawer and see what size

She runs her hand across the delicate cloth and her eyes widen as if she’s inspecting it for the very first time. “I’m like woooo,” she says, with a squeal. “Isn’t that gorgeous lace?” panties and bras she wears. Get as much information as you can, and I’ll help you.’”

Others will come in without a specific size. Elise, who is slender, fit, and petite, knows how to make the process easy. “I have helped many men who have wandered in. I will say, ‘Compared to me, how tall is she?’” And then she 88

| February 2019

continues to ask questions related to body size to narrow down the choices.

“I never imagined for a million years that I would be making lingerie for a living, but I really love it,” she says.

“It totally delights me.”

Before opening the store, she felt a sense of disconnect with her online customers. She would ship the items out and miss out on the joy they experienced when they tried on the garments. Now, she can witness the transformation.

“I have women come in who might not feel good about themselves, and I give them suggestions,” she says. “It’s amazing to watch someone put something on and they feel so good. It’s really rewarding and a sweet aspect of what I do. It’s been a really awesome career for me.”

As she talks she slides over a lacy floral panty and bra set currently under construction.

“I just found this manufacturer that I’m thrilled about,” she says. “This fabric is ethically made in Italy and the materials are more than 50 percent recycled out of Italian lace.”

She runs her hand across the delicate cloth and her eyes widen as if she’s inspecting it for the very first time. “I’m like woooo,” she says, with a squeal. “Isn’t that gorgeous lace?

It’s pretty dreamy and really colorful so that’s really fun.”

The work remains exciting and fresh for Elise and that’s something she is extremely thankful for. “I’m in a good place,” she concludes. “I’ve made it to the one place where I’ve always wanted to be.”

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4. BACK: Will MacLeoud MIDDLE: Ashleigh Hudgins, Stephanie Rash, Nicole Ball, Kristie Jones, & Catherine Wood FRONT: Chuck Alexander & Tanya Ambrose

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5. Lauren Harvath, Josh Canon, & Michael Rouse 6. Chris & Jaimie Culvere 7 . Melissa Bradley & Jason Dowell

Asheville Restaurant Week Kickoff Salvage Station | Asheville, NC | January 17, 2018 Photos by Anthony Harden/Alt Media Pros 10

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8. Chris Thompson 9. Scott Ostrander & Ben Huss 10. Perry Fisher, Renee Cooper, & Chuck Cloninger 11. Juan Hollingsworth & April Bolet

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15. Maria Spadaro, Brandon Kastelie, William Lantaco, Morgan Lunsford, Chef Snyder, David Dutcher, Daniella Adarve, & Cathy Horton 16. Cory Atkins, Amy Jackson, Kit Cramer, & Leeanne Briggs February 2019 | capitalatplay.com 91

events

february

EVENTS february 1-22

Drawing Discourse

9AM-5PM Warren Wilson College, Holden Gallery 701 Warren Wilson Rd, Swannanoa, NC The best of the 10th annual international juried exhibition will be on display at a change of venue due to construction at UNC-Asheville.

> 828-251-6559 > unca.edu

that doesn’t mean you get to trash the rooms. This is a stayover event, so order tickets ahead via their website.

> 828-438-5800 > omnihotels.com february 2

Annual Winter Sale

10AM–4PM

Hofman Studios 111 Roberts St, Asheville, NC In the annual free event, Hofman Studios slashes prices on experimental and flawed work to make room for new pieces.

> 828-232-1401 > livelifeartfully.com february 2-3

february 1-3

2019 Classic Rock-n-Roll Weekend Omni Grove Park Inn 290 Macon Ave, Asheville, NC

Cover bands send you back to an era when music was still… accessible, but

Asheville Build & Remodel Expo

10AM-6PM (Sat) & 11-4 (Sun)

WNC Agricultural Center 1301 Fanning Bridge Rd, Fletcher, NC In its 10th year, this production of the Asheville Home Builders Association features a 4,500-sq.-ft. show space and 100

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exhibitors displaying the latest in homebuilding products, services, and technology.

> Admission: $10 > 828-687-1414 > ashevillehba.com february 2

Balms & Salves Workshop 2-4PM

Honey & the Hive 23 Merrimon Ave, Weaverville, NC This workshop will send you home with your own tin of DIY HBA.

> Registration: $30 > 828-484-9466 > honeyandthehivenc.com february 7- 8

10-Hour OSHA Construction Industry Training 9AM-3PM

WCU Office of Professional Growth & Enrichment 28 Schenck Parkway, Asheville, NC

WCU’s Office of Professional Growth and Enrichment is offering 10 hours of training in a two-day course on standards, compliance, and workers’ rights. Lunch is included.

> Registration: $249 > 828-654-6498 > pdp.wcu.edu february 9

Marketing Your Business with Google

9AM-12PM A-B Tech Small Business Center 1459 Sand Hill Rd, Candler, NC

Topics at the free seminar include SEO, how to use Google Webmaster and Google Analytics, and tips for branding a business and staying organized.

> 828-271-4786 > asheville.score.org february 13

Demo with Bryan Koontz

The Foundry On The Block 51 S Market St, Asheville, NC In addition to information on jobs, business, population density, tourism, etc. there will be a panel about economic development featuring Capital at Play publisher Oby Morgan, Chris Cavanaugh of Magellan Strategies, and Maria Tambellini from Explore Asheville.

> Registration online > leadershipasheville.org

Koontz may be best-known for making the Biltmore Estate’s 2018 Christmas wine labels. He will demonstrate techniques of late 19th-century oil painting.

> 828-253-7651 > grovewood.com

february 15 -17

february 16

32nd National Arts & Crafts Conference

An Old World Feast & Wine Tasting

“Educating and entertaining enthusiasts” since 1988, Bruce Johnson’s acclaimed event has workshops, exhibitions, discussions, and much more.

At presstime, the chefs were still perfecting the selections for what is guaranteed to be a “feast” in every sense of the term.

Omni Grove Park Inn 290 Macon Av, Asheville, NC

6-8PM Ivory Road Café & Kitchen 1854 Brevard Rd, Arden, NC

your complete Admission: $10 gratuity your complete > arts-craftsconference.com >F 828-676-3870 abric cente > Registration: $160; General

Leadership Asheville Economic Development Day

11AM-4PM Grovewood Village 111 Grovewood Rd, Asheville, NC

> Reservations: $45/person + tax and

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February 2019 | capitalatplay.com 93

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events

february 16

Farm Dreams Workshop

Arthur R. Edington Education & Career Center 133 Livingston St, Asheville, NC

A day-long workshop provides entrylevel tips on how to start a sustainable farm. Participants will inventory resources, develop an education plan, set goals, and connect with experienced farmers in the local sustainable agriculture community.

> Registration: $55 > 828-680-0661 > organicgrowersschool.org

“Our world desperately needs female leadership, and I’ve made it my mission to help encourage and inspire potential female leaders to be the very best they can be.”

LUNCHEON

Featuring Soccer Champion and Equality Activist Abby Wambach Tuesday, May 21 Asheville Register beginning March 1 www.cfwnc.org

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Joie de Vivre

12:30-3PM St. Philips Episcopal Church 256 East Main St, Brevard, NC Selections from Maurice Ravel, André Caplet, Benjamin Godard, and Philippe Gauber will be celebrated in the style of traditional chamber music, with Kate Steinbeck’s Pan Harmonia players.

This event repeats February 24, from 3-4:30PM, at Oakley Methodist Church in Asheville.

>Tickets: Advance $20, Door $25 > 828-254-7123 > panharmonia.org

february 17

Four Seasons Chamber Orchestra Winter Performance

3-5PM Grace Lutheran Church 1245 6th Ave West, Hendersonville, NC Is it coincidence? The orchestra plays selections from Vivaldi and Porteñas by the same name.

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february 22

>Tickets: $10 > 828-490-7119 > 4seasonsorchestra.org

february 23

The Center for Art & Inspiration Grand Opening 10AM-4PM The Center for Art and Inspiration 125 South Main St, Hendersonville, NC

A free event, this is a chance to meet the center’s teachers and sign up for classes. Malaprops bookstore and local artists will be selling their very best; and refreshments will be provided by the Artful Cup and the Southern Cup.

> 828-697-8547 > thecenterai.com

february 20 & 21

MOMIX Opus Cactus

8-10PM Diana Wortham Theatre 18 Biltmore Ave, Asheville, NC

Graceful athletes in costume interpret flora and fauna of the desert.

>Tickets: $20-$60 > 828-257-4530 > dwtheatre.com

february 23

ASAP’s Annual Business of Farming Conference

8AM-5PM Mission Health/A-B Tech Conference Center 16 Fernihurst Dr, Asheville, NC

The Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project brings together professional farmers from throughout the Southeast to share expertise on planning, management, branding, and marketing.

> Registration: $95 > 828-398-7900 > asapconnections.org february 23

Owl Prowl

6-8PM North Carolina Arboretum 100 Frederick Law Olmsted Way, Asheville, NC This is one of three special events accompanying the winter exhibit, “In the Dark,” a spotlight on how animals function with little or no light.

> Parking: Personal Vehicle $14, Motorhome $50, Bus $100 > 828-665-2492 > ncarboretum.org

february 23

Masterworks 5: Beethoven

8-9:30PM US Cellular Center, Thomas Wolfe Auditorium 87 Haywood St, Asheville, NC

Going for diversity, the Asheville Symphony will play Zoltan Kodály’s Dances of Galánta, Dvořák’s Violin Concerto, and Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony.

>Tickets: $24-$69 > 828-254-7046 > ashevillesymphony.org february 23

Brew Horizons Beer Fest

2-6PM U.S. Cellular Center Exhibit Hall 7 Haywood St, Asheville, NC

This first annual event, organized

by Green Built Alliance nonprofit (of CiderFest NC fame), is a fundraiser for the Blue Horizons Project and will

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February 2019 | capitalatplay.com 95

events

PEPSI DELIVERS

feature tastings of high-quality but limited-quantity brewskis from two dozen regional breweries and cideries. Local food, arts/crafts vendors, live music from Gypsy Grass and Queen Bee & the Honeylovers, and more.

>Tickets: $40 (standard), $55 (VIP) > brewhorizonsbeerfest.com february 24

Volcom/Oakley Shred for the Cup Slopestyle Finals 1-5PM Appalachian Ski Mountain 940 Ski Mountain Rd, Blowing Rock, NC

Skiers and snowboarders of three skill levels will compete in a variety of challenges for gear from the two sponsors.

Registration is required for competitors, but others need only pick up a free spectator pass at the main office.

> 828-295-7828 > appskimtn.com february 25 -26

“Freedom Train”

10AM & 12PM Diana Wortham Theatre: 18 Biltmore Ave, Asheville, NC Theatreworks USA will bring its longest-running musical, based on the life of Harriet Tubman, to the theatre’s Matinee Series. The work is directed toward students 8 and above.

Reservations recommended.

>Tickets: $10 > 828-257-4530 > dwtheatre.com

A GREAT PLACE TO WORK! 96

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february 25

Legal Structures for Small Business

5-8PM Tri-County Community College Small Business Center 2145 Airport Rd, Marble, NC Attendees will learn their options for organizing a business and the pros and cons of each, such as their applicability to different operations, liability risks, and tax structures.

> Registration required. > 828-835-9564 > ncsbc.net

february 26

Prospering in 2019 Conference

8AM-4:30PM Blue Ridge Community College Small Business Center 625 College Dr, Flat Rock, NC

A variety of businesspeople and consultants will share tips for optimizing sales online. Topics include ways to keep customer data organized, how to push product via Pinterest or YouTube, and how to use Google Analytics.

> 828-694-1779 > ncsbc.net march 2-3

Blue Ridge Orchestra presents “Mostly Mozart�

3PM-4:30PM Biltmore United Methodist Church 376 Hendersonville Rd, Asheville, NC

There will also be a little Bach. Conducted by Dr. Milton Crotts, the Blue Ridge Orchestra chamber strings, performs with Hobart Whitman and Bradford Malbon, on horn and flute.

>Tickets: Adult $15, Student $5 > 828-782-3354 > blueridgeorchestra.org march 8 -10

Organic Growers School Spring Conference

Mars Hill University: 100 Athletic St, Mars Hill, NC

The 26th annual promises practical, regionally-appropriate topics. Full of workshops on farming, sustainability, and cooking.

> Registration: Saturday and Sunday $99, Saturday-only $59, Sunday-only $49, Friday workshops-only $70 > 828-680-0661 > organicgrowersschool.org

If your organization has any local press releases for our briefs section, or events that you would like to see here, feel free to email us at events@capitalatplay.com.

Please submit your event at least six weeks in advance.

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A Higher Level of Quality Why do we constantly strive to climb higher and pursue the summit of design excellence?

...Because it’s there!

S T O N E C O N N E C T I O N G R A N I T E I N T E R I O R S , I N C . 417 Kingdom Place • Zirconia, NC 28790 (828) 692-0451 • www.scgigranite.com Pictured– Potomac White February 2019 | capitalatplay.com 99

A cut above.

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