Who among us hasn’t imagined handing over the keys to our dream home and letting a team of the country’s most talented designers take it from there – each room individually styled, each space transformed by a different creative mind?
That fantasy becomes reality, at least for a little while, at the 2025 Cashiers Designer Showhouse.
For 28 years, the Cashiers Historical Society has transformed exceptional homes into showcases of design excellence, and this August, their signature fundraising event takes on new dimensions at Saratay Falls. The Designer Showhouse represents the Historical Society’s largest annual undertaking, generating crucial revenue that sustains their mission to preserve the Cashiers Valley’s heritage while creating a cultural celebration that draws visitors from across the Southeast and beyond.
This year’s venue breaks new ground—literally and figuratively. The modern rustic home at Saratay Falls sits on what was once an untouchable private family estate where Fowler Creek cascades 50 feet into hidden swimming holes.
Developer Loudermilk Custom Homes has been building in Cashiers for four years, spending that time opening this exclusive enclave off Whiteside Cove Road.
The Showhouse marks the fifth residence completed in the Saratay Falls development, with Loudermilk planning two additional custom homes. Twelve interior designers, with Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles magazine as the media partner, have transformed rooms that capture sweeping forest vistas through walls of contemporary glass balanced against rustic timber elements.
“This was a wonderful way to support the community and enjoy the creativity of these designers,” explains Showhouse Chair Rowanne McKnight of Sixth Street Creative, whose art consulting expertise helps coordinate the complex collaboration between designers, artists, and vendors throughout the nine-day celebration.
The Historical Society has crafted programming that transforms a home tour into an immersive cultural experience.
The Stargazer Gala opening night party at Blue Star Ranch sets the tone with Western-inspired festivities on a 170-acre horse property, complete with bespoke hat customization and lively dancing.
Weekend workshops invite direct participation: creating all-natural candles with beeswax and coconut oil alongside the Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust, a hands-on floral workshop where you’ll learn the art of arranging fresh blooms into stunning creations, and collaborative art-making with showhouse artists Jessie Mackay, Cynthia Perryman, and Brenda Sulmonetti using oil paint sticks on large seasonal canvases.
Panel discussions bring celebrated architects Tim Adams and Brandy Long together with renowned interior designers Barrie Benson and James Farmer at Canyon Kitchen, Lonesome Valley, exploring how innovative design can honor natural environments.
Book signings feature Tim Adams presenting Traditions Made New-author and Nashville designer Eric Ross showcasing Embracing Southern Homes, and you will have the opportunity to spend the afternoon with beloved cookbook author Anne Byrn as she shares stories, chats with guests, and offers a layer cake demonstration.
The inaugural art gallery auction transforms the home’s garage into an exhibition space for 12×12 paintings by North Carolina artists Laura Moser, Shannon Jones, and Shannon Whitworth, as well as artists from around the country. Every showhouse visitor can bid on pieces, creating a new revenue stream that supports the Historical Society’s archives, educational programming, and preservation work.
Running August 22-30, the 2025 Designer Showhouse offers something rarer than exceptional design: the chance to step inside someone else’s creative vision while supporting a cause that matters.
In a world of virtual tours and Instagram glimpses, here’s an opportunity to walk through rooms where imagination meets craftsmanship, where every detail tells a story, and where your presence helps preserve the stories that came before.
The keys are waiting.