To look at Peggy and Bill Scheu’s house, you’d think it was brand new. But it’s not, and the Scheus credit its handsomeness to the skill and materials that Living Stone Construction used when it built their Montreat residence over nine years ago. Today, the house is as durable as it is beautiful.
“We designed it with that in mind,” Peggy said at home recently. “The planning was carefully done.”
“The quality of the work is just superb,” Bill said.

With seven grandchildren and a growing family, Bill and Peggy Scheu (pronounced “Shy”) built the home with elegant endurance in mind. Working with Living Stone President Sean Sullivan, Peggy and Bill chose finish materials and a style of home that could stand up to the rambunctious family gatherings that happen especially during summer, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

“This is really become the gathering place for the family,” Bill said, chuckling softly. A house like that needs to hold up, and the Scheu residence has done just that, looking as beautiful as it did the day Sullivan handed the Jacksonville, Florida couple the keys.

The Treehouse – the Scheus’ name for their house – looks as if it hasn’t aged a bit. With four bedrooms and five bathrooms, as well as lots of outdoor living space in the deck and the screened porch, the 3,600-square-foot house is fit enough to keep up with the youngest grandchildren.

“We’re very pleased with the way it works for our family,” Peggy said.

The project had challenges in the very beginning. The lot the Scheus selected is steep, with rock outcroppings and the vexing problem of creating an approach to the building site. Working with preferred subcontractors, the Living Stone team created a pretty, curving driveway that incorporates existing and stacked rock features. Built to last, the landscaped drive was the gateway by which the home’s rugged building materials were delivered.

And now it’s a gorgeous introduction to the Scheus’ home, which sits up high on its lot, sited to take advantage of the view of the mountains that hem the small town of Montreat. With wrap-around windows that drink in the forested mountainside, it is so a part of its surroundings that the Scheus gave the home its nickname.

“The Treehouse” name fits also because of the ample wood inside. Part of the beauty (and durability) is the wood wainscoting and beadboard in all of the gathering rooms. Not only do they make the walls glow with an understated luster, they also protect them from marring that little ones and luggage can leave in their wake.

“That was one of the best things we did, so the kids, while they’re small, are not getting fingerprints on the walls,” Peggy said. Nor has time marked the home – nothing on the inside has needed re-staining, and nothing on the outside has needed re-painting. “It’s been very minimal for the yearly things you would think you had to do,” Peggy said. “We don’t have a list of repair people because we haven’t needed them.”

Living in Jacksonville when the home was built, the Scheus put a great deal of trust in Living Stone – trust that was amply rewarded, they believe. Living Stone “made it as easy as they possibly could,” Peggy said. “I probably talked to the supervisor nearly every day, sometimes more than once. We felt like they were letting us in on the decisions that had to be made. We were in great communication. They were very clear about what they needed, and we felt very listened to.”

“We never had any real disagreements,” Bill said. “The building supervision was good. The communication was good. We didn’t have any problems with the billing. There really weren’t any surprises. It was really easy, which is almost unheard of in a construction situation.”

“We had to trust their eyes and their judgment,” Peggy said. “They had good plans that we trusted. It was just a team effort.”

Doing it all over again, the Scheus would definitely go with Living Stone, they said. They’ve been so pleased with the way their home turned out that they recently invited Living Stone to help them design some unfinished space downstairs that they want to turn into a rec room.
“We’re not calling anyone else,” Bill said