A PERFECT SPOT FOR LAKE ENTERTAINING

Updated Nantucket-style home is a ‘happy place’ for family

BY FERNE HALE

Photography by Michael Patch

Situated in a large cove off Craddock Creek, the Mabry home opens to a spectacular view of water and mountains — the perfect spot for relaxing or entertaining at Smith Mountain Lake. A variety of evergreens embellish Smith Mountain’s slopes year-round, and nothing obscures this view, as a huge ridge of land, owned by American Electric Power, near the home is protected by a conservation easement. Even the home’s situation on the lake’s shoreline, with mature trees to screen it from neighbors, helps create a marvelous sense of uninterrupted beauty and serenity.

The home’s huge lakeside windows take full advantage of its setting. Looking out from several rooms and from its spacious lounging and dining deck, the house seems as if it is perched over the water. Indeed, the walk to the dock is short and gradual, just a flight of lighted steps and a gently sloping stone path that lands at a large shoreline deck with sun lounges and umbrella tables. The dock, built before Shoreline Management’s restrictions on dock square footage, comfortably shelters four watercraft: a pontoon boat, two Yamaha jet skis and a wake sports towboat, all arrayed in front of an airy six-stool waterfront bar, announced as “Chris’ Margaritaville” by a sign overhead. Two large floaters, one to each side of the fixed dock, are perfect for swimming and guest tie-ups.