A Taste of Casual Elegance in Apex

For as long as Cindy Long can remember, she’s dreamed of having a custom-built home. Inspired by a beautiful French home in Greenville, and her new found love of  Patina Farm in California, Cindy and her husband, Don, decided to build. 

The design concept would be a French inspired, European farmhouse-style home that combined their favorite features from both properties. The next step was to decide where to build it. 

“We were living in a tight suburban neighborhood and craving space. Don initially found the land and we looked more into the area before deciding that a more rural part of Apex would be the best place to build our dream home,” Cindy explains. 

As it turns out, their real estate agent, Annette Holt of Compass Realty, had the perfect builder recommendation for their project: Rufty Homes. Annette recommended Rufty, as they were one of the approved builders in the neighborhood. 

Don was already aware of Rufty’s excellent reputation and he agreed that we should all meet. In addition, the Longs spoke with some of their future neighbors who had worked with Rufty and they all had amazing things to say as well. It was an easy choice to hire them for their project.

After meeting, Rufty recommended architectural designer Tony Frazier from Frazier Home Design, to bring their design ideas to life, and it was the perfect fit all around. Tony and his team did an amazing job! Cindy goes on to say, “Rufty also recommended Vicky Serany, owner of Southern Studio Interior Design to come on board for interior selections during construction. It takes a village to bring all of this together”. 

Don and Cindy had a specific vibe in mind for their home. Casual Elegance. They wanted to create a space that although new, looked older, with the warmth and charm of a European farmhouse. Their Rufty Homes project manager, Brett Burnette, was just the right person to bring it to life. 

“Brett was a breath of fresh air,” says Don. “He was easy to work with and found creative solutions to bring our ideas to reality.” This included finding a way to make the new ceiling beams in the main living area look like they weren’t new at all.

Cindy explains, “The beam finish was very important. They needed to look old. If the beams looked too new, they wouldn’t have been right for the space. Brett found a way to get the character and perfect color by distressing them and then creating a stain himself to achieve the color we wanted. We’ve had friends come to our home and they’re shocked to learn that the beams aren’t 50 or 60 years old, which is exactly the look and feel we wanted.” 

The double-sided fireplace separating the main living space from the kitchen was another important feature that Brett helped to create. Making it look nearly identical to the fireplace at Patina Farm was the goal. “Even though it’s built in a different way, from fabricated stone rather than antique French limestone, it looks exactly like what we had pictured for the space,” Cindy says. 

To continue acquiring the collected look that Cindy loves, she enjoys searching for unique furniture and decor items with the help of her longtime friend and interior designer, Forrest Berry. Forrest is the perfect designer if a collected look is what you crave. She goes on to say, “It was important for me to be involved in the interior design process because I had a really clear vision of what I wanted. I couldn’t be happier with the way it’s all coming together”. After much planning the project was completed in 2023.

Now that their dream home is feeling more like home, the Longs are focused on the important things in life, like spending time in their new place with family and friends.  “It’s nice being out in the country, having our family over, and enjoying the place that Rufty Homes built for us. But, more than anything, I’m so happy that we finally have the home that Cindy has always dreamed of. It’s even better than we could have imagined,” says Don.