Mountain view but close to town

With renovations complete on their second home on 3 1/2 acres in Blue Ridge, Steve Weber and Nancy Meadows are ready to enjoy North Georgia’s activities and scenery. The couple, married for three years, agreed that if Nancy’s Roswell house sold, they would live in the city and get a second home in the mountains.

Nancy, 50, who works for Emory Health Care, chatted about their home.

Why Blue Ridge: The couple owns a smaller second home in Avon Park, Fla., which Steve bought a few years ago in his hometown, next to where his parents live. But they wanted a place they could reach easily on the weekends, Nancy said.

“We actually have a friend who built a house up there several years ago. He said, ‘Why don’t you come up and spend the weekend with me and I’ll show you a couple of areas and you will know what you are looking for,’ ” Nancy said.

During that trip, they peeked through the windows into the home they ended up buying. While looking at other homes with agent Scott Nichols, “we kept coming back to that house,” she said. “We liked where it was because it was private and somewhat remote, but still very close to town.”

Their place: The exterior of the three-bedroom, 3 1/2-bath home had log siding, a covered front porch and a screened-in back porch with a mountain view (it's about 10 minutes from downtown Blue Ridge). Inside, it was outdated with features such as what Nancy describes as '80s-style stippled textured ceilings.

“I really believe the reason it didn’t sell was because it didn’t have a fireplace and it [didn’t look] cabin-y,” said Nancy, noting that it had been on the market for a while. “It wasn’t rustic from the inside.”

They have put in “pickled” tongue and groove paneling in the great room, ceilings, up the stairs and in the powder room, added beadboard in the master bedroom and back hall, refinished the master bath with a tile shower and tile floors, and replaced all the fixtures and cabinet handles. Their next major project will be finishing the basement.

How far from home: About 95 miles from their primary residence in downtown Atlanta.

How often they're there: They expect to be there every weekend. "This is our retirement home," Nancy said. "As we start to transition out of working the next couple of years we plan to spend more time up there and the condo will be more like our second home."

At a glance

Steve Weber and Nancy Meadows’ home has three bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths and about 2,790 square feet of livable space. They purchased it in September.

Community overview

Eagles Nest is 2 miles from downtown Blue Ridge at the start of the Aska Adventure Corridor. Eagles Nest does not have a long list of community amenities that would result in high annual homeowners fees, said agent Scott Nichols, of Coldwell Banker High Country Realty. He said the location is accessible to shops and restaurants in downtown Blue Ridge as well as Lake Blue Ridge, the Toccoa River, and hiking and mountain biking trails on U.S. Forest Service land.

Info

Take I-75 north to Exit 268 toward Canton. Turn right onto Old U.S. 76 Conn. Turn left onto Veterans Memorial Highway. Turn right onto Aska Road. Turn right onto Eagle Rock Road.

Getting there

Take I-75 north to Exit 268 toward Canton. Turn right onto Old U.S. 76 Conn. Turn left onto Veterans Memorial Highway. Turn right onto Aska Road. Turn right onto Eagle Rock Road.

For sale

$399,999: 299 Eagles Nest Mountain, Blue Ridge 30513. A four-bedroom, three-bath home built in 1985 on 2.07 acres.

Recent sale

$215,000: Lot 50 Eagles Nest Mountain, Blue Ridge 30513. A new two-bedroom, 21/2-bathroom home with a finished basement.