380 Wesley Court

Perched high in the woods, just minutes from all the best that Chapel Hill has to offer, sits an artist-designed, custom-built time capsule. The Anne Wall Thomas home was conceived as an ideal treetop retreat: a space designed to foster rest, reflection, inspiration, creativity, and conversation, with careful attention paid to light... everywhere, always: the light. The orientation of the home, the location of its skylights, windows, sunroom and porches all cohesively work together to bathe its main spaces in golden sunlight, blurring the lines between the home's interior and the world outside. Although it sits tucked away in coveted Colonial Heights, the thoughtful and relaxed flow conveys ''mountain retreat'' more than ''convenient, in-town neighborhood.'' This ONE-OWNER HOME was lightly lived in from the time construction was completed in 1979 until after Thomas' 95th birthday; with the exception of normal maintenance & repairs and a handful of minor upgrades, almost everything in the house exists as it was originally intended. Her meticulous record-keeping provides more than four decades of documents: original sketched plans, blueprints, expense lists and records, photos and slides of interior framing (including some plumbing & electrical rough-in locations) as well as captured images of her thoughtful interior designs and her beloved gardens. The home was designed to be ideally convenient for one person, and all of her design decisions were based on prioritizing ''square footage, south orientation, low maintenance, energy efficiency, wood floors, maximum humidity & as much unbroken wall space as possible.'' The home was featured in news articles and was a prominent stop on the Art Guild's Annual Spring Tour of Homes in 1980; the unique approach to the home's design made it an object of curiosity and awe within the local community. Whereas many homes of this era were turning to more colorful interiors, Thomas captured the essence of classic simplicity by painting all of the walls and ceilings white and leaving all the woodwork natural.
The main floor was intended to function as a single-story, single-bedroom home, with the upstairs acting as her studio and guest house. A separate, lower-level daylight apartment offers longer guest accommodations or an income-producing property.
In a world full of quickly-changing home trends and materials not meant to last, 380 Wesley Court defies expectations in a most compelling way. It's rare to find a home whose divisions of space are so different from the norm, yet so perfectly designed to marry form and function. It's rarer still to find a home this age that's so lightly lived-in, by one owner, with so much documented history available. The house itself is a piece of art, a beautiful example of thoughtful design, intentional living, and a contribution to the town's history. Rarely do such gems make their way to the market, but 380 Wesley Ct is now available and ready to welcome a new chapter.