Asheville architecture firm, Rueger Riley explores the ancient Japanese technique of charring wood siding with fire. In the hunt for a low maintenance, long-lasting siding with natural beauty we decided to dwell back into the Shou Sugi Ban(or Yakisugi)for the Cane Creek home.

The average size of a new home built in the U.S. in the 1970’s was 1,660 square feet. In 2015, the average size of a new home being built in the U.S. was a whopping 2,687 square feet. So in spite of household size declining, home size has increased by more than 1,000 square feet.

When thinking of landscape and structure, one of the first landmarks to come to mind is the iconic Biltmore Estate, once home to George and Edith Vanderbilt.

In our architecture business, we generally do two things. We design new homes or buildings for clients, or we do renovations on existing structures. I’m not sure which we enjoy more, each has unique aspects that we love.

A few days ago, a former client wrote a wonderful review for us on Google. In it, he wrote that we had presented two sets of plans for their renovation,“the ones we asked for … which were OK, and then the dream kitchen we didn’t even know we wanted till we saw the plans.”