A Cottage That Isn't Even Finished Yet Is the Ticket in Cashiers This August

By Jon Tharp, Broker  ·  July 8, 2026

The house at the center of Cashiers' biggest late-summer event isn't even finished yet, and that is sort of the point. The Cashiers Designer Showhouse returns for its 29th year starting August 28, and this time the star is a brand-new 3-bedroom, 4.5-bath cottage retreat at 211 Frank Allen Road. The promotional image going around is a rendering, because construction crews are still working. By opening day, it will be a fully decorated home you can walk through room by room.

Cashiers sits in Jackson County, tucked into the southern mountains at the crossroads of US-64 and NC-107. It is about 65 miles from Asheville, roughly a 90-minute drive, and an even shorter trip east from Franklin. At around 3,500 feet of elevation, the town stays cool when the rest of the Southeast is baking, which is exactly why so many people make the drive up at the end of August.

What actually happens at a designer showhouse?

The concept is simple and a little addictive. Take one house, hand each room to a different interior designer, and let them go. The result is a single home that reads like a walk-through catalog of ideas, no two spaces alike but all pulled under one roof.

For nine days, visitors move through finished, furnished rooms with the art hung, the beds made, and the outdoor spaces styled. It is part home tour and part excuse to spend a beautiful day on the plateau. You leave with more paint colors and furniture ideas than you know what to do with.

Showhouses like this one have become a fixture across Western NC because they scratch a very local itch. People here care about how a mountain home feels, the way it sits on its lot, the porches, the stone, the light coming through the trees. A cottage built and staged specifically for this event puts all of that on display at once.

Why does Cashiers draw this kind of event?

Cashiers and nearby Highlands have quietly been one of the most design-conscious pockets of the mountains for decades. The plateau attracts second-home owners from Atlanta, Florida, and across the Carolinas, and that crowd has brought a serious appetite for custom homes and thoughtful interiors.

That history is why a showhouse works so well here. There is a built-in audience of homeowners, builders, and designers who treat this event as both entertainment and research. Some come for a fun afternoon. Others come with a notebook because they are building or renovating their own place nearby.

The town itself makes the trip worth it even beyond the house. Cashiers has grown into a real destination, with good restaurants, boutique shopping, and some of the best waterfall access in the region within a short drive. Whitewater Falls, one of the tallest in the eastern United States, is close by.

Is it worth the drive from Franklin or Asheville?

If you enjoy homes, design, or just a good reason to spend a day in the high country, yes. The late-August timing is one of the best windows of the year up here. Summer heat has broken, the leaves haven't turned yet, and the roads are calmer than peak fall.

From Franklin, the run east on US-64 is one of the prettier short drives in the area. From Asheville, the 90-minute trip south takes you deep into the quieter side of the mountains, away from the busier tourist corridors.

Plan to make a day of it. Tour the cottage, grab lunch in town, and chase a waterfall or two before heading home. It is the kind of outing that reminds you why people fall for this corner of the state in the first place.

If wandering through a mountain cottage like this one has you daydreaming about a place of your own on the plateau, Jon Tharp is always glad to talk through what the Cashiers and Franklin markets look like right now.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

When is the Cashiers Designer Showhouse in 2026?

The 29th Annual Cashiers Designer Showhouse opens August 28 and runs for nine days, wrapping up in early September. The house sits at 211 Frank Allen Road in Cashiers, North Carolina. Because it falls at the end of summer, it lines up well with the tail of the high season in the Cashiers and Highlands area, when the weather is still warm and the crowds have started to thin. If you are planning a trip around it, give yourself extra time to explore the surrounding shops, restaurants, and waterfalls rather than treating the showhouse as a quick in-and-out stop.

What can you see inside the Cashiers Designer Showhouse?

This year's showhouse is a 3-bedroom, 4.5-bath cottage retreat, newly constructed for the event. Interior designers style each room, so visitors walk through fully finished, decorated spaces rather than an empty floor plan. Expect furniture, textiles, art, lighting, and outdoor living areas all pulled together into one cohesive look. The featured promotional photo is a rendering because the house was still under construction when the event was announced. By the time doors open on August 28, the cottage will be complete and staged for touring.

Where is Cashiers, North Carolina, and how do you get there?

Cashiers sits in Jackson County in the southern mountains of Western North Carolina, at the crossroads of US-64 and NC-107. It is roughly 65 miles southwest of Asheville, about a 90-minute drive depending on traffic and weather. From Franklin, it is a shorter hop east on US-64. The town sits at around 3,500 feet of elevation, which keeps summers noticeably cooler than the lowlands. Nearby Highlands is only a short drive west, so many visitors pair the two towns into a single day trip or weekend.

Is the Cashiers area a good place to buy a second home?

Cashiers and neighboring Highlands have long been among the most sought-after second-home markets in Western North Carolina. The high elevation, cooler summers, private club communities, and easy access to waterfalls and hiking draw buyers from across the Southeast, especially from Atlanta, Florida, and the Carolinas. Inventory tends to be limited and prices run higher than in many surrounding mountain towns. Events like the Designer Showhouse reflect that market, showcasing the kind of custom cottage design buyers come to the plateau looking for. Anyone shopping the area should be ready for a competitive, design-driven market.