Gil Stose photographs architecture, interiors and aerial views on the Highlands-Cashiers plateau, and has done so for more than sixteen years. He maintains a presence in Highlands, North Carolina, alongside his primary base in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The plateau is an unusual market. It has a strong tradition of high-end residential architecture and a growing number of nationally recognized interior designers, working at an elevation and in a light that behaves nothing like coastal or urban work. Mountain houses are built into slopes, oriented to long views, and finished in stone and timber that absorb light rather than reflect it. Interiors run dark by design. Exteriors are frequently obscured by mature canopy. Photographing them well is a different technical problem from photographing a Miami tower or a San Juan hotel, and it is one solved by knowing the specific site, season and hour rather than by equipment.
Published Work from the Plateau
The clearest measure of experience in this region is what has actually run in print. The full bibliography is on the press and publications page.
WNC Magazine — 11 confirmed credits across 16 years. A Mountain Hideaway · Better Than Ever · Story Dwellers · Rock Solid · Flip for It · Farmhouse Fresh · The Forever Place · Folk Story · Custom Framing · The Village Cafe · The Long Road Home. More on that work in this WNC Magazine feature.
The Laurel Magazine (Highlands & Cashiers) — “Beautifully Designed, Perfectly Detailed,” carrying both a photographer feature and an article credit. See the write-up here.
The Plateau Magazine (2022) — “Innovating and Renovating,” Cashiers and Highlands.
HGTV / DIY Network (2018) — Ultimate Retreat 2018, Sapphire NC, Curb Appeal feature, credited “Photo: Gil Stose.”
Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles — “Mountain Heir.”
Mountain Living Magazine (1999) — Home of the Year feature.
Wings: Flying Over Highlands, Cashiers, Toxaway and Beyond (2010) — a published aerial book of this exact geography, co-authored with Nancy Turner and published by Cider Press, ISBN 978-0-9844428-0-5.
That last one is worth pausing on. Aerial photography of the plateau is not a service added when drones became affordable; it is the subject of a book Gil co-authored and published in 2010, before the FAA had a commercial framework for unmanned flight at all. The terrain in that book is the same terrain clients are building on now. Selected tear sheets and covers are available to view.
Clients on the Plateau
Work in the region has been commissioned by clubs, developers, builders and design firms including McKee Properties, Lake Toxaway Company, Cullasaja Club, Wade Hampton, High Hampton, Mountaintop Golf and Lake Club, Blackberry Farm, Black Rock Design Build and Warth Construction.
Gil has also worked with Arcade Architecture — formerly Meyer Greeson Paullin Benson — across a decade and dozens of projects, including the MGPB Modern Mountain Home.
Services on the Plateau
Architectural exteriors, interiors and twilight. Full documentation of completed residential and club architecture, shot to publication standards rather than listing standards.
Interior design and furnishings photography. Room sets, vignettes and detail work for designers submitting to shelter magazines or building a portfolio.
FAA Part 107 aerial photography. Licensed commercial drone work for site context, roofline and massing, lake frontage, golf corridors and the long ridge views that define plateau property.
Kitchen and bath. Detail-level work for cabinetmakers, fabricators and design firms.
Editorial and award submissions. Images prepared to the specifications magazines and design awards actually require, from a photographer who has been through that process repeatedly in this specific market.
Club and hospitality property photography. Amenity, dining, lodging and grounds coverage for private clubs and resort properties.
Aerial Photography in the Mountains
Mountain terrain is where aerial work earns its cost. A house sited on a ridge, a property line that runs to a lake, a golf hole that plays downhill through a gap in the canopy — none of these read from the ground. They are the reason a buyer or an editor understands the property at all.
Gil holds an FAA Part 107 Commercial Remote Pilot Certificate, which is a legal requirement for any drone flight conducted for commercial purposes, not an optional credential. Images produced without it cannot be lawfully licensed or published, and that risk lands on the client and the publication, not only on the operator.
Plateau flying has its own constraints: rapidly changing mountain weather, terrain-following altitude limits, and airspace that must be checked per site. These are planning problems, and they are the reason local experience matters more here than in flat, open markets.
Areas Covered
Highlands · Cashiers · Lake Glenville · Lake Toxaway · Brevard · Asheville
Sapphire and the surrounding plateau communities are covered within the same working radius. Projects further into western North Carolina, upstate South Carolina and north Georgia are quoted case by case. Other regions are listed on the photography service areas page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you photograph in Highlands and Cashiers?
Yes. Gil Stose maintains a presence in Highlands, North Carolina and has photographed on the plateau for more than sixteen years, alongside his primary base in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Highlands line is (828) 506-9376.
Have you been published in Highlands-Cashiers magazines?
Yes. Eleven confirmed credits in WNC Magazine across sixteen years, plus features in The Laurel Magazine and The Plateau Magazine, an HGTV / DIY Network feature in Sapphire NC, and a published aerial book covering Highlands, Cashiers and Lake Toxaway.
Do you offer drone photography in the mountains?
Yes, under an FAA Part 107 Commercial Remote Pilot Certificate. Mountain aerial work requires per-site airspace checks and narrow weather windows, so it is planned into the shoot schedule rather than added on the day.
Who do you typically work for on the plateau?
Private clubs, developers, custom builders, architects and interior designers, including McKee Properties, Lake Toxaway Company, Cullasaja Club, Wade Hampton, High Hampton, Mountaintop Golf and Lake Club, Blackberry Farm, Black Rock Design Build and Warth Construction.
What does mountain architectural photography cost?
Pricing depends on the size of the property, whether aerial coverage is included, and how the images will be licensed. Editorial submissions, developer marketing and club collateral all have different licensing needs, so quotes are prepared per project.
How do I book a shoot on the plateau?
Get in touch with the property location, project type, and any publication or submission deadline. Mountain light and weather windows are narrow enough that scheduling well ahead materially improves the result.
Start a Project on the Plateau
To discuss a Highlands, Cashiers or wider western North Carolina project, get in touch with the property location, project type and any publication deadline. The Highlands office is on Buck Creek Road; the local line is (828) 506-9376.