Tucked along a scenic stretch of Blue Ridge beauty near Cashiers, North Carolina, Tink’s Cottage is proof that a country house is as much about a state of mind as it is a defined destination. Country life, after all, is about freedom, retreating on one’s own terms to create room for exploration and expression inside rooms that maximize well-being.  

That’s not to say there aren’t characteristics that lend the best country houses their signature appeal—life-enhancing design, serene landscapes, intentional distance rooted in a sense of place—and Tink’s is proof of that, too. Which is why Dave and Jen Dawson fell in love with it. Built in the 1880s and christened Tink’s Cottage at Fern Valley in tribute to Dave’s grandmother and the area in which it sits, the property included an historic main house (a descendant of John Quincy Adams reportedly owned it at one point) surrounded by sprawling, rolling lawns and lush foliage. Following an extensive renovation, Tink’s has become a vital escape as well as an extension of Dave and Jen’s lives in Charleston, with an aesthetic and a personality all its own—the perfect backdrop, in other words, for family, friends and, of course, plenty of custom lighting.  

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