I’m Chris Luker, a photographer based out of Birmingham, Alabama. My profession challenges me to capture “a thousand words” in one compelling image. Fortunately, with projects like Silver Rock Cove, that’s not a difficult task. Here are some of my observations made while witnessing this incredible community take shape through my camera lens.

Chris On the Conservation

When I first arrived at Silver Rock Cove, it was a peninsula covered in trees and absent of homes. It’s been almost three years since developer, Carter Hughes, commissioned me to photograph the development. During that time I have witnessed an amazing transformation. The raw beauty I discovered on my first impression is still present today. The land retains its wildness. I can still see a Luna Moth resting on a rock, beautiful grey sandstone boulders home to brilliant green moss, a southern pine towering overhead, or two oaks framing a picturesque view of Smith Lake. Conservation has played a large role in this development. What SRC has changed has been done with respect to nature with recycled railroad ties, new seedlings, and flagstone entrances, all adhering to the integrity of the land.

Chris On the Architecture

The architecture at Silverock Cove responds to the site and the site returns the favor. I have noticed a relationship here between design and environment that creates a special tension. The architecture and site work in harmony. Wood-clad homes function as lake cabins surrounded by woods, reminding me of what a cabin would have looked like many years ago. In Vincent Skully’s book The Natural and the Manmade, he describes Palladio’s villas as having a tension between vernacular tradition and stylistic rhetoric. At Silverock Cove, the tradition of the cabin plays off the traits of old mountain homes and barns in addition with clean lines, refined spaces, and rustic natural elements in details and materials. Scully describes this duality as practical and romantic with the land. This community is special. It works and is totally in tune with its purpose and environment. Silverock Cove is more than a community, it’s more than a retreat. It is a work of art.

Silverock Cove interiors have an abundance of windows—sometimes from the floor to the ceiling, other times not. Bathed in natural light, these interiors become an extension of the exterior. Views are virtually unobstructed of the beautiful Silverock Cove environment. This relationship allows the dweller to experience nature from the comfort of a favorite sofa or chair. Phillip Johnson’s iconic Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut is a great example of this extension from interior to exterior space. Louis Kahn asked the question, “What does the building want to be?” A home in Silverock Cove answers with seamlessness between inside and out, twenty-first century cabin with timeless, ageless appeal.

Chris On the Photography

Honestly, words fail in conveying the qualities of Silver Rock Cove. I am grateful for the language of photography. An actual onsite, physical experience is the only way to grasp the relationships I’ve described, but hopefully my photographs will inspire a viewer to see and explore this unique community in person. I try to capture something larger than the individual, not out of interest in self-expression, but in an attempt to connect with what is visually there, the communion between architecture and surroundings. I try to capture moments that resonate in my soul and communicate it through photographs.

Chris Luker is a member ASMP (American Society of Media Photographers), a contributing photographer for Silver Rock Cove and B-Metro Magazine and a professional architectural and commercial photographer. Find out more about Chris and his work at lukerphotography.com.

If you’re celebrating Thanksgiving at Silverock Cove this year, and I think many of us are, we should all try and brace ourselves for the decadence that is three serious Southern favorites packed into one long weekend—lake, epic meals, and football. And it is only fitting that the Iron Bowl falls this year on the Super Bowl of sandwich-making days. As seriouseats.com put it a couple of years back, it’s a ritual as American as Thanksgiving itself—the transformation of Thanksgiving leftovers into a very serious sandwich.

Here’s list of very serious Thanksgiving sandwiches, courtesy of the Serious Eats team and some of their best contributors. Each one almost good enough to make you forget who you’re pulling for that afternoon. (Just a little joke.) But do enjoy!

LUCY BAKER, Serious Eats roving reporter. Brie and cranberry sauce on toasted leftover dinner rolls!

ALAINA BROWNE, Serious Eats general manager. Sandwich must consist of two slices of bread, any kind will do; leftover white turkey meat; cranberry sauce; a little bit of mayo, salt, and pepper. Must be eaten standing over kitchen counter and chased with a small slice of pumpkin pie.

JOE CAMPANALE, Debonair magazine.
In the form of a recipe, it is:

Joe Campanale’s Ideal Leftover Thanksgiving Sandwich

Ingredients

Balthazar brioche, 2 slices, toasted
Roast turkey, dark meat, lots of skin.
Frisée
Sweet German mustard.
A glass of Riesling, to wash it down.

AMANDA CLARKE, In Design and In Gear contributor.

Form some leftover bread-based stuffing into two thin patties (you may need to moisten the stuffing a bit with stock or water to get it to good packing consistency). Layer fillings of your choice between the patties–maybe some shavings of leftover turkey, a few slices of cooked bacon, a slice or two of sharp cheddar, and a little hint of cranberry or barbecue sauce. Melt a good bit of butter in a skillet until it foams. Cook the stuffing sandwich on both sides, until it gets a nice brown crust on the outside and is warmed through (it’s important to make sure the stuffing patties are fairly thin, otherwise, the sandwich will never warm through before it starts to stick and burn). Then, eat it!

(Oh my!)

JAMIE FORREST, curdnerds.com.
From the bottom up: bread, mayo, turkey, stuffing, gravy-soaked bread, turkey, cranberry sauce, bread.

DORIE GREENSPAN, DorieGreenspan.com.
Sliced turkey, preferably dark meat, and some of my homemade cranberry sauce (which is thick and chunky and has raisins and apples). It’s nice on crusty New York rye bread with a few leaves of romaine lettuce and a swish of either Russian dressing or sharp mustard.

NICK KINDELSPERGER, The Paupered Chef.
A little cranberry sauce smeared on the bread, or even extra dressing. But the one ingredient that sends a leftover sandwich into a different realm of pleasure is bacon. Be sure to add plenty of black pepper and mayo and everything is right with the world.

ADAM KUBAN, Serious Eats managing editor. The Thanksgiving Slider. Start with one dinner roll (a staple of my family’s Thanksgiving meal), smear butter on both halves, and then layer with small amounts of everything on the plate: mashed potatoes; corn kernels, peas, or whatever vegetable is handy; stuffing; turkey; gravy. Add some more mashers to hold everything down, and then, for some tartness, spread a thin layer of cranberry sauce on the roll top before closing the sandwich. Now you’re good to go. Layer order is important here. Mashed potatoes must come first to “glue” all these elements together, particularly the veggies, which should come next. Stuffing tends to stay put, especially if you use a nice (relatively) big turkey slice to hold it down. At this point, a second layer of mashed potatoes does little as mortar, but it’s necessary for taste. The cranberry sauce is optional.

REE aka THE PIONEER WOMAN, The Pioneer Woman Cooks.
Do a grilled sandwich or panini using shredded or sliced turkey, mozzarella cheese, sliced roma tomatoes, basil leaves, a tiny splash of olive oil/balsamic, then grill it on crusty French bread that’s been spread generously with butter. If you don’t have basil, spread jarred pesto sauce (from the fridge) on the inside of each slice of bread. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with leftover turkey and giblet gravy smashed between two slices of white bread. Talk about the ultimate comfort food. And artery clogger.

ERIN ZIMMER, Serious Eats D.C. bureau chief. A Thanksgiving panini on sourdough with melted brie, chunky cranberry sauce, dressing, and turkey.

Family time at the lake is priceless no matter what the season. But during the colder months, there’s no better time to huddle up for some good old-fashioned game time.

Here is a list of favorite games every lake home at Silverock Cove should have on hand:

1) Scene It

Movie buffs of all ages love this one. There is also a Disney Scene It, Seinfeld Scene It, a Harry Potter Scene It, and GASP! a Twilight Scene It.

2) SAT Game for Dummies

This is a great way test your smarts. Plus, if you have teens who have to study for the SAT this is a cool way to do it!

3) Card Games

Pitch, Gin Rummy, and Crazy Eights. Google how to play them!

4) Quiddler

A very cool game of words, really good for teaching kids language smarts.

5) Scategories

Always funny and good for all ages.

6) Cranium

This one appeals to a wider range of ages, plus it’s Pictionary, Charades and word games all in one.

7) Clue

Classic mystery!

Them vs Us

Great battle of the sexes, (just leave out the sex cards).

9) Scrabble

A classic must-have for every lake home!

10) Apples to Apples

A fun way to get to know your family, and even discover some new quirks.

Rebecca Hughes has kicked off our online Silverock Cove Chili Challenge with two of her favorite Chili Recipes. They both sound delicious! Try them out, and then send us your favorite Chili recipes.

Thanks Rebecca!

Buffalo Chicken Chili