This Couple Added on Instead of Moving on

This Couple Added on Instead of Moving on
Photography by John O'Hagan

Text by Lauren Eberle

After falling in love with a picturesque property, a creative couple finds they can make any house feel like home.

When Ginger Hain and Larry Hart first found their mountain property in charming, artsy Waynesville, North Carolina, the newlyweds knew the 1940s cottage would offer cramped quarters. The couple was smitten with the location, though, and figured they’d upgrade when they outgrew their space. “But rather than moving, we just kept adding on,” Ginger explains. And over the course of 32 years, the starter house became a forever home.

This Couple Added on Instead of Moving on
Photography by John O’Hagan

“We called it a ‘Florida House’ back then—lots of concrete; terrible for the mountains,” Ginger recalls. But thanks to her handy husband, Larry, who is an accomplished carpenter, necessary additions were made with ease. What began as a one-car carport became an inviting living room complete with a Scandinavian gas stove and a flea-market mantel.