Hendersonville: in-town historic houses
The county seat, sometimes called the City of Four Seasons, has several historic districts on the National Register, from Main Street downtown to the bungalow streets of West Side, Druid Hills and Hyman Heights. The visit centers on narrow kitchens, out-of-square plaster walls and original cabinet boxes that may need shims before stone goes on them.
Flat Rock: gated estates and historic summer houses
The village lies about four miles south of Hendersonville on the Greenville Highway and grew from the 1800s summer estates that earned it the name Little Charleston of the Mountains. Here the visit often starts at a gatehouse, and it plans around association rules and large estate kitchens.
Laurel Park: mountainside homes
Laurel Park rises up the eastern slopes of Jump Off Mountain from a town elevation of 2,763 feet, reached by the Laurel Park Highway first built in 1925. The visit is about the climb: where the truck stops, how steep the walk is and how long a piece the crew can safely carry.
Mills River: farmland and the brewery corridor
About eight miles northwest of Hendersonville, Mills River was farm country known as the fertile crescent long before it incorporated in 2003, and the Mills River meets the French Broad there. Visits range from old farmhouse kitchens to newer houses on former fields, plus taprooms and restaurants near the brewery Sierra Nevada opened in 2014.
Fletcher: 2000s subdivisions
Fletcher sits beside Asheville Regional Airport, with Interstate 26 exits 40 and 44 and US 25 running through town, and it grew sharply in the 2000s. The typical visit is a subdivision kitchen with its first set of builder-grade tops, ready for an upgrade to stone.
Etowah: valley golf villas
Etowah is an unincorporated community in the French Broad River valley on US 64, eight miles west of Hendersonville, built up around its golf course and home to many retirees. Visits here are often villa and condo kitchens from the 1980s and 1990s, and baths being adapted to a lower, easier height.