First Time Buyers & Sellers Must Read This.....

Happy New Year!

With 2008 Finally Behind Us,
Let’s All Look Forward to the Promise
Of a Joyous, Peaceful and Prosperous 2009.

We hope everyone enjoyed a joyous and peaceful holiday season. We certainly did and we’re back at work and ready to roll up our sleeves to help you accomplish your New Year’s Resolution of finally making a move to North Carolina!!

We wanted to start the year out by sharing with you a recently published New York Times article that addresses the amazing situation first time home buyers are finding themselves in right now. With interest low, inventory high and motivation for sellers extremely high -- buyers could not be in a better position to take the plunge NOW.

And Sellers, this article addresses you too. With interest rates so low, motivated first time home buyers are going to be out and about looking for that perfect dream home – which very well could be the home YOU are trying to sell.

So to all of our Buyers AND Sellers – take a moment and click on this link to read the New York Times article which we think you will find very informative. And be sure to contact us if you have any questions or comments on it.

In the meantime, don’t forget to visit our Carolina Pines Realty website where you can search the Multiple Listing Service with no passwords, as well as find a wealth of information on living, working and playing in North Carolina. Again – Happy New Year to all of our past, present and future clients. We look forward to working with you to make 2009 a very joyous, peaceful and prosperous year!

Blaise & Cathie Recca

The Countdown Begins.....

24 Days Until Christmas!!
Can you believe it? Where the 2008 go? It seems like we were just discussing spring time planting.


North Carolina is brimming with holiday spirit. Beautiful crisp blue sky days makes our holiday weather perfect for enjoying the outdoors -- whether it's piling the kids in the car with hot chocolate to check out the lights, enjoying winter sporting activities in Asheville, or taking the family skiing at one of the many nearby ski resorts. Nearly every family has its own traditions.

The Recca family puts up our Christmas lights the week before Thanksgiving so we can light up the neighborhood Thanksgiving night. It's a tradition we've been following since Sal was little. We're usually the first in the area to have our lights up and on.

Along with decorating the house, we typically venture out on at least one holiday excursion. Last year we drove up to Washington, DC (only 4 hours away) the week before Christmas to check out the State Trees and a few museums. We may even do that again this year. But one of our favorite places to go during the Christmas season is The Biltmore Estate, over in Asheville, NC.
The Biltmore Estate was actually first opened on Christmas Eve in 1895.
(click here to see some pictures of Christmas at the Biltmore)

I'm a history buff by nature, and love reading about places that we are planning to visit, or have visited already. If you're interested in a brief history of The Biltmore Family Estate, read on. I stumbled across this information somewhere on the internet ( I can't remember where.) It's a pretty interesting story.

In 1888, George Vanderbilt, youngest grandson of business tycoon Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, visited the Western North Carolina mountains with his mother. Asheville, North Carolina was a high-society health retreat for those looking for a rugged, yet pleasant retreat from the pressures of the Northeast. At 26, George Vanderbilt recognized the area as a perfect spot for an estate. He envisioned an estate that would not only showcase his collection of art, but also become a self-supporting business. He had traveled extensively throughout Europe, and believed he could bring a landed barony to America.

Also, George Vanderbilt was not without his competitive streak, and sought to create an estate to rival those belonging to his siblings in the Northeast. The Vanderbilts had a tradition of building lavish homes, a tradition begun by the Commodore. As a self-made man, Cornelius Vanderbilt and his wife Sophia found themselves not entirely accepted into Northeastern fashionable society so their lavish homes became a symbol of both their success and their gentility.

George Vanderbilt purchased 125,000 acres of land. Today, both Pisgah Forest and the town of Biltmore Village occupy land once owned by Vanderbilt. He called his holdings "Biltmore" - combining Bilt, the name of the Dutch town where his ancestor's originated, and more, the Old English word for open rolling land. Then Vanderbilt assembled his design team for the future estate.

Richard Morris Hunt, a popular society architect, became the designer of the Biltmore House. He had already built several homes for George's brothers in the Northeast. Hunt modeled the Biltmore House after early 16th-centure French châteaux. The design was very ornate and required an immense amount of materials. A special rail spur had to be laid between the depot in a neighboring village and the estate to carry the tons of materials used. Construction of the house required an immense amount of manpower, from the local laborers to world-renowned craftsmen. Vanderbilt spared no expense and, in fact, found himself in some financial difficulties by the time the estate was finished. Even the incredible wealth of the Vanderbilts had limits.
Vanderbilt wanted his house to be not only a showcase for his extensive art collection, but also a technological marvel. Vanderbilt included such cutting-edge technology as central heating, electricity, running hot and cold water to upstairs baths, a fire alarm, cold-storage mechanical refrigeration (using circulating chilled brine solution), an elevator, an electric communication system for calling servants, and a swimming pool with underwater lighting. Guests often marveled at these wondrous conveniences.

A prestigious landscape architect, Fredrick Law Olmstead, supervised the surrounding grounds. Olmstead had designed parks, including New York's Central Park and the U.S. Capitol grounds, and was a pioneer in conservation. Although Vanderbilt had originally wanted extensive parkland, Olmstead recommended a combination of a 250-acre pleasure park surrounded by commercial timber forest. This plan worked nicely with Vanderbilt's desired for the estate to be profitable. Renovation of the forest was handed over to Gifford Pinchot, who later established the U.S. Forest Service.

Olmstead's mix of wild areas and formal gardens could deceive at first glance. For example, the three-mile-long approach road to the house appears to snake through natural forest. In reality, the land was too overworked, overcut and rough in its natural state. Olmstead virtually sculpted the land before planting anything. Then he transplanted seedlings from all over North Carolina. These native plants were supplemented with plants grown in the Biltmore nursery, including decidedly non-native plants such as the bamboo groves. The design of the approach road intended to mix deciduous trees, pines and shrubs to offer an interesting drive during any time of year.

The estate was formally opened on Christmas Eve 1895, though even then, some of the rooms in the house were not complete and remain so even today. In 1898, Vanderbilt married socialite Edith Stuyvesant Dresser. Together, the Vanderbilts became known as excellent employers throughout the area. In addition to employing an 80-person staff, the estate also contained working farms and a commercial timber operation with its own mill.

George Vanderbilt introduced new farming techniques to the region and was instrumental in the founding of the Biltmore Forest School, the first institute for scientific forestry in America. The conservation techniques of these early foresters remain influential in American forestry today. The Vanderbilts also started Biltmore Industries to teach traditional handcrafts such as woodworking and weaving. Mrs. Vanderbilt also set up the School for Domestic Science to train young women in housekeeping skills. These training opportunities allowed local people to make better wages.

After the death of George Vanderbilt in 1914, Edith Vanderbilt continued to be active in community affairs. She deeded close to 87,000 acres to the federal government to preserve Pisgah Forest for public enjoyment. The Vanderbilts' daughter Cornelia married John Cecil in 1924. Edith Vanderbilt moved out of the house in 1925, when she married Senator Peter G. Gerry, and left the Cecils to manage Biltmore affairs. In 1930, the Cecils opened the estate to the public in order to revitalize Asheville's economy with a tourism boon.

Even today, George Vanderbilt's grandchildren continue to benefit the region through employing a 650-person staff to maintain Biltmore House for public enjoyment. Change also continues, in 1979, William Cecil remodeled the Biltmore dairy barn to be used as a winery and beef cattle have been added to the farm operation.

If you're planning on paying us a visit here in North Carolina to look at homes, try and save a day or two to check out The Biltmore Estate. The Asheville area is beautiful any time of year, but particularly so during the holidays.

It's an Exciting Time to be an American....

You can't escape it. The question on everyone's mind

by virtue of television, radio and conversation is, "Who will be the NEXT President of the United States?"

I know that is the topic of conversation at the Recca house. We are news junkies anyway, (even Sabrina!) but for the last month (or two) we are more obsessed than usual with watching cable news and our local news network.

I wanted to take a moment and share with you a website that is very informative with regard to the United States Presidential Election Process, the United States Government, the Freedom of Information Act, the Political Process and Congressional Acts, State of the Union Address and a very helpful listing of Governmental Offices. The Website is called, Presidential Election . com
Here is a link. Take some time and check it out. Bookmark it. It is s a great resource. Tell your kids about it too as there is a students' section with all kinds of education information. Presidential Election - 2008.

With less than a week to go until the election - you have got your work cut out for you:

1. DO - your research
2. KNOW - where your candidates stand on issues
3. VOTE - on November 4th

The next time you hear from us - we'll have a new President. It certainly is an exciting time to be an American!
Blaise & Cathie Recca

North Carolina State Fair.....

What a glorious week for the North Carolina State Fair -
cool temperatures (60's), Carolina Blue Skies, and the scent of fried macaroni and cheese in the air - mmmmmmmmm.




(Although Sabrina would say there were a few other "scents" in the air!)



Blaise and I took our daughter and her best friend to the fair, where they met up with about 20+ of their "closest" friends for rides, food and fun. They went their way, (immediately to the midway) and we went ours (to the chicken, rabbit, goat, cattle , prized winning vegetables and antique farm equipment exhibits.) I guess it's safe to assume that our days of rides that shake you, drop you and twist and turn you until you want to "loose" that fried macaroni and cheese you just ate -- are OVER! (at least for the most part.) Every once in a while I con Blaise into going on a ride or two -- which immediately following, we both vow to never do again. There is so much to see and do, I don't mind not riding the rides so much anymore.

The animal exhibits are typically my favorite exhibits. There's a lot of pride and hard work that goes into raising such fine animals -- which is clearly evidenced by the calloused hands and weathered faces of their caretakers. Generations of farmers, their children and their childrens' children beamed with pride as the fruits of their labor were rewarded by blue ribbons.

Visiting the fair was a wonderful way to spend the day, and reminded us of just how blessed we are to live in beautiful North Carolina. Take the time this Fall to visit your state, county or town fair. Or, if you don't live in an area that hosts such an event, seek one out. In these troubled times we are experiencing -- it does the heart and soul good to take a breath, and experience the simple pleasures of life.
Enjoy your week!

P.S. Blaise, they
put those signs
up for a reason!!!

North Carolina State Fair Prize Winning Recipes....

In honor of our recent visit to the North Carolina State Fair, I'm going to be sharing some of the prize winning NC State Fair recipes. Delicious and easy to prepare - for the most part they use local produce and/or products are are just plaing GOD!

Here's one I've tried myself and not only is it delicious - it's quick and easy!

Honey (or spicy!) Mustard Oven Fried Potato Wedges
by Janice Wolfe of Fuquay-Varina, NC

1 pkg. House-Autry Mills (a NC product) Oven Pork Coating Mix
4 large baking potatoes (pre baked)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tsp. seasoned salt
4 tbsp. honey mustard (or, I like to use spicey deli-style mustard + a tsp of honey)
1/4 tsp black pepper

Pre-heat your oven t 375 degrees. Cut potatoes into six wedges. Mix mayo, seasoned salt, honey mustard and pepper together. (you can add a bit of hot sauce to this mixture if you want to give it some kick!) Coat the potato wedges with the mixture - generously! Roll wedges in pork seasoning mix. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Put the extra mayo mixture in a little bowl for dipping. Yum!

And the Winner is.........

Bright and early this morning before she left for school, I had Sabrina draw a name out of just over 100+ and the winner is......

Charlene Conn!

Woo hoo!

Congratulations Charlene. Blaise is taking your package to this post office this afternoon so look for it in 2-3 days.

A Taste of Carolina Contest! Something Different -- for a Change...

Hi Y'all. Hope everyone is enjoying the last few weeks of summer.

Summer is officially over for the Recca family because Sabrina went back to school today.

In honor of the end of "our" summer -- we've decided that instead of sending out our usual weekly newsletter, we'd do something fun instead.

If you're reading this, it's because you read our newsletters, visit our Carolina Pines Realty website and/or visit our blog -- which tells us YOU are curious about North Carolina, or even thinking about the possibility of making a move to beautiful North Carolina and are curious about the area and the "Carolina" lifestyle.

Accordingly, we have decided that instead of giving you facts and information about North Carolina which we typically do in our internet communications -- this week, we'd share with you some of our favorite goodies and put together a little basket and give you a....

TASTE of North Carolina

Here's What's in the Basket......

A Carolina Panther's Hat; House-Autry Mills Old Fashioned Cornmeal (from Four Oaks, NC); Callahan's Original Calabash Hushpuppy Mix - Sabrina's favorite!(from Wilmington, NC) (click here if you want to know what "Calabash style" is) ; Carolina Treet original Cooking Barbecue Sauce (also from Wilmington, NC); Scott's Barbecue Sauce (from Goldsboro, NC) and two homemade potholders straight from Cathie's quilting studio here in Raleigh, NC.

All the items in this basket were MADE in North Carolina and are considered Carolina Kitchen Staples and we wanted to share them with YOU.

Here's what you have to do to enter your name into the contest:

1. Send an e-mail to: cpines@nc.rr.com with the following information in the subject line:

"Enter me in the contest"

and let us know in your e-mail who you are, where you're from (city and state), and if there's anything that you would like to know about North Carolina.

2. If you leave a comment to this post (by clicking on the comment link below), we will enter your name twice - so you will have "double" the chance of winning.

And if you live in North Carolina, we want you to enter too! This contest is open to all our blog and website visitors.

So there you have it! That's all you have to do. Now the contest will only be open for 30 days -- so hurry and get your name into the drawing.

On Monday September 15th, we will put all names received into a drawing and choose a winner which will be posted here, on our blog. The winner will also be notified by e-mail in order that they can provide us with their mailing address.

Have a great week and Good Luck!