SHORELINES

obstructing it," Amy says. "When you open it up, it's like your whole living room and kitchen just become a patio." e view may surprise some lake homeowners: ere's not a whole lot of lake visible, at least for much of the year. But that's exactly what the Richards want. "I'm such a tree hugger," Amy says with a laugh. "I told Seth (Hammer of Hammer Bilt) when he was building the house, 'OK, don't cut a tree down unless you absolutely have to.'" "It's kind of like you have the best of both, two different kinds of sceneries," she says. "In the summertime, you're in a treehouse. In the wintertime, you have a lake view." Unlike some families who rarely visit their lake home when the weather turns cold, the Richards are well-acquainted with their Smith Lake home year-round. "We come up here all year," Amy says. Last year, she and the children spent all summer at the lake house while Keith commuted to work. Summers mean swimming, boat rides, paddle-boarding and tubing. Fall gives way to mountain biking, hiking and boat rides to enjoy the foliage. Even in the dead of winter, the Richards will "come up to hang out and watch movies," Amy says. Keith says he enjoys the peacefulness of the lake in the winter, but his favorite time is spring: "I like the early spring when the water's still cool in the morning when I get up to go fishing, that crisp feeling, that cool breeze on the water." Always, as you might expect of restaurant owners, there is cooking. A typical spread could include ribs, fish, fresh vegetables, turkey burgers and the family favorite, Amy's salsa (see the recipe on the following page). This home is the Richards' second on Smith Lake. "I really like Smith because it's real family-oriented and it's not a big party place," Amy says. "It's really casual. It's just more intimate time with family and friends. at's one of the things that drew us here." e couple co-owned a home at Silverock Cove, but decided aer five years there they wanted more solitude and a place of their own. ey found it in the lot at the Bluffs at Brushy Pond, which they bought in October 2014. "Right when we bought the lot, we considered it home, even though it didn't have a dwelling," Keith says. He and Amy could visualize what was to come. "Every time we went out there, regardless of whether they'd laid the first concrete or hammered the first nail, we could envision what the house was going to be," Keith says. e family pitched a tent on the lot, and then on the slab of the house, and then slept in the one bedroom that was covered as the house was taking shape. Even before they moved into the home, they were well on the way to creating the kind of memories Amy has of growing up on the water in Arkansas. She spent her childhood years living on the family's houseboat on Norfork Lake. She oen slept on the screened-in porch at her aunt's lake house and remembers driing off to the sound of whippoorwills while fireflies danced in the dark. "I had so many great memories of being at the lake with my family growing up, and that's exactly what we wanted to give our kids," she says. "I'm really fortunate to be able to do that." 7 www.apcshorelines.com

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