The YMCA of Western North Carolina wanted to explore the feasibility of and develop a master plan for a new rustic summer camp. The approximately 870-acre Watia Creek Farm property, located on a remote mountainside, is the location and namesake for the camp. The character of the Camp Watia facilities was intended to be simple, rustic, and sustainable.

The 110-acre Motherhouse Campus landscape had evolved over the years through plant memorial donations, often without the benefit of a plan, attention to maintenance requirements, or consideration of the surrounding context.