Dahlonega Merchants Association would like to welcome Southern Living’s Idea House visitors to Dahlonega! Achasta is a member of the Dahlonega Merchants’ Association, and wonderful members of our community. We would like to compliment and congratulate Achasta on being the home of the 2009 Idea House for Southern Living. In true Dahlonega fashion, they have partnered up with United Way for Lumpkin County, and visiting the home makes a direct impact on those in need here in our own back yard.

You’re invited to join in the festivities and tour the home from June 6 – October 18th. We’d love it if you decided to venture just a few more miles and come downtown and visit the many shops, galleries and restaurants Dahlonega has to offer. You may just fall in love with our little town and decide to stay a few days. If this is the case, check out the beautiful B&Bs that are all only a few miles from Achasta and Historic Downtown Dahlonega!

For more information, please visit Achasta at www.achasta.com, or browse through our community’s businesses at www.dahlonegamerchants.org. We have a lot of great events coming up while Southern Living is in town, so come see us. For a complete list of events and activities, visit our Chamber of Commerce site at www.dahlonega.org. You’ll be happy you did!

SOUTHERN LIVING ANNOUNCES 2009 IDEA HOUSE AT ACHASTA IN DAHLONEGA

Birmingham, AL –Southern Living has chosen the Reynolds Signature Community of Achasta in Dahlonega, Ga., as the site for one of two Idea Houses this year. The home will be open for public tours beginning June 6 – October 18. Tickets will be $5 at the door and a portion of the proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the local United Way of Dahlonega/Lumpkin County.

“Each year, we carefully take into consideration the lifestyle a community offers and how our showhome connects to that sense of place,” says Kristen Payne, Director of the Southern Living Homes Group. “We are thrilled to be working with Achasta and the Reynolds Signature Communicites team again. This home represents all mountain living has to offer – a great place to entertain, dining indoors and out, and a place to reconnect with each other.”

Ron Larson, the community’s managing director, notes the many qualities shared between Southern Living and Achasta. “Creating an environment for friends and families to gather is fundamental to the Southern vernacular and central to life at Achasta,” says Larson. “The community’s character combines the small town charm of historic Dahlonega with the sophistication and excitement of Atlanta. Blended together, these qualities evoke a sense of casual elegance that epitomizes the best of life in the South.” The 3,700 square foot mountain retreat is designed by Stephen Fuller, Inc., built by Linger Longer Homes, with interiors by Mallory Mathison, Inc., all from Georgia. Architectural highlights include a simple roof line of low intersecting gables that reflect the silhouette of the mountain terrain beyond. A host of porches results in striking front and rear elevations, suggestive of rustic lodges of the early twentieth century.

The interiors of the house were based on the notion of bringing the outdoors, in.

"The interiors of Hemlock Springs began with nature as the inspiration. Colors, patterns and texture are used throughout the house to create a sense of unity with the lush outdoors and casual, charming interior spaces,” says Mathison. “Soft easy neutrals paired with clear bright color, crisp natural fabrics, hints of sparkling metallic and an unexpected works of art marry together for a classic, timeless aesthetic with a truly cheerful twist that will prove to be inviting and inspiring."

Southern Living has partnered with Reynolds Signature Communities on two previous Idea Homes – the first in 1992, and again in 2007 at Reynolds Plantation in Greensboro, Ga.