The Story of Ultima Carolina

Robert Ullmann and Hardy Smith were partners for over a decade, creating upscale residential neighborhoods in the urban environment of Atlanta. About five years ago they started talking about changing gears and started to make their first trips to the western North Carolina mountains. What they figured out fairly quickly was that they had both begun to fall in love with the natural beauty and restorative lifestyle of the western North Carolina mountains.

Before long Ullmann and Smith decided that they wanted to change the focus of their working relationship from the city to the mountains – and their long-time passion for excellence was leading them in a new direction. The result was Ultima Carolina, an affiliate of Atlanta-based Ultima Holdings and Real Estate Services, which had been founded by Ullmann in 1983 and Smith’s RHS Holdings.

The newly formed company began to explore the possibilities of creating full-amenity, environmentally sensitive mountain communities planned and built in harmony with their natural surroundings. “There’s a reason people are drawn to these mountains,” says Robert Ullmann, who built a new home for his family in the Ultima Carolina community of Wildflower. “The wrong kind of development can destroy that; the right kind can help to preserve it. This is not just about higher elevations. It’s also about higher standards.”

Backed by the resources of a financially strong and fiscally conservative principals, and assisted by an executive team with decades of experience in real estate development and marketing, what had started out as a dream soon became a reality: the first five premier mountain communities of Ultima Carolina. Black Rock, a private enclave between Highlands and Cashiers. Black Bear Falls, in a secluded ridgeland forest near Cherokee. Wildflower, a family-friendly community in Franklin, just two hours north of Atlanta. Fontana Trace, on the very edge of the Nantahala National Forest. Avalon, high above the waters of Lake Junaluska.

Every community has a private gated entrance, private paved roads, underground utilities, hiking trails and common areas, and additional amenities tailored to its specific size, topography and personality. Every community is just a few minutes from excellent highways, with area attractions and top-quality health services nearby. And every community offers unbroken, high-elevation views of the national parks and forests that form the very heart of western North Carolina. Five more communities are underway, two on the North Carolina coast and a first lake community in Tennessee.

“We aren’t building communities for people who want to escape from reality,” says Hardy Smith, whose own mountain home overlooks Fontana Lake. “We’re building them for people who have decided it’s time to escape back to something real. What we set out to create are the kinds of communities our own families would want to live in. I think that says it all.”