When Karen Hunt and her husband Mike Lewine decided it was time to simplify their lives, it was no small undertaking.
The Highlands resident for the last seven years and who once oversaw five properties – including her celebrated Carolina Elegance vacation homes on South Carolina’s Elegance Properties on the Isle of Palms near Charleston, South Carolina – has gradually pared down to two. They have moved to Hoschton, Georgia, to an Active 55+ community. Now the couple’s striking mountain residence on Flat Mountain Estates Road is coming to market, listed by Andrea Gabbard of Highlands Sotheby’s International Realty.
It is, by any measure, a remarkable house. Built in 2016 by Denis Tretiakov of Tretiakov Inc., a firm with more than 25 years of building history on the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau and over 100 custom homes to its credit, the residence reflects the kind of obsessive craftsmanship that distinguishes the best mountain architecture.
Tretiakov built the home on speculation, placed it on the market – and within a week Hunt saw it and knew it was something special. “I am everything in one bottle,” he says of his approach, noting that his company handled both design and construction, completing the build in just six months.
The details are what set the home apart. When the lot was cleared, the oak trees that came down were hauled to a local sawmill, milled into boards, and installed as flooring – a quietly extraordinary origin story for what most people never think twice about underfoot. Windows transoms crown the space above every interior door, flooding rooms with borrowed light in a way that, as Tretiakov notes, “doesn’t happen often.” Handrails and cabinetry are all custom built. The chef-grade kitchen features bespoke cabinetry, granite countertops with turned-down corners, and three wine refrigerators. Distressed Italian tile lends the bathrooms a warm country character – and in a flourish bordering on extravagant, the grout contains actual gold.
A carved mahogany front door sets the tone for what lies within. The main level opens onto expansive decks, allowing the living area and kitchen to flow outward toward sweeping views – a seamless extension that makes the mountain setting feel immediate and immersive. A large gas fire pit anchors the deck, making it a comfortable gathering spot even as the mountain air turns cool. A standing-seam metal roof, with select areas finished in artificial slate, completes a home that reads as both deeply rooted in its landscape and unapologetically refined.
The outdoor kitchen is equally serious: a substantial cooking area with a gas grill and Big Green Egg anchors the upper deck, making alfresco entertaining effortless. Below, the lower level delivers its own rewards – another expansive deck and a media room with cork walls for sound control, a wet bar, and space for a pool table – creating a self-contained retreat for guests and family.
Equally compelling is the setting. Positioned high on the mountainside with no homes above it, the property offers exceptional privacy and long-range views that can stop conversation mid-sentence. Paved roads provide easy access, while the sense of seclusion remains intact – a combination increasingly difficult to find.
For Hunt, whose decades in the wine and food industry – including leadership roles as President of DAOU Vineyards and Winery, Vice President of Peter Mondavi Winery, Vice President of Francis Ford Coppola Winery, Mars, Inc., and Ben & Jerry’s – cultivated an appreciation for places that truly deliver on their promise, the home has been a rewarding perch on the Plateau.
Now, as she turns toward a simpler life centered on family, the house stands ready for its next owner – someone will recognize, as she did, that the finest mountain homes are not just built. They are discovered.
You can reach Highlands Sotheby’s International Realty’s Andrea Gabbard at sothebysrealty.com/highlandssir/eng.
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