By Maddie Lipe
Studio M Salon of Blowing Rock now has a new look and location, the historic Blowing Rock Ice House on Maple Street.
Owner and hairdresser Maria Roberts moved her studio from 304 Sunset Drive to 140 Maple St. to continue her business solo.
Roberts said the previous location, which was one of the other two locations in Blowing Rock she worked in, had too much wasted space for her to be working alone.
Roberts placed a proposal on the historic Ice House when it went up for bidding, and the town of Blowing Rock voted to accept her proposal.
“I always had my eye on the space,” Roberts said when referring to the new location.
Roberts has been in business at the new location since January 11, and said it took her eight days to get the studio ready for her clients.
The new salon has a minimalistic feel to it, which is what Roberts said she was aiming for. She still has a few more final touches to make to the salon, which include hanging a piece of art that is special to her.
Roberts said the large drawing of Cindy Crawford from a 1990 Halston perfume ad has traveled with her from location to location and is now a staple to her fresh start.
Roberts said she has always loved art and the female body and the drawing of Crawford, created by her husband’s friend Mike Peak, “embodies femininity.”
Roberts grew up helping her grandmother set her hair with rollers. “She had these old wire rollers and an eight track with a mirror,” Roberts said.
Roberts said those early years in her life growing up in Roan Mountain, Tennessee were when she realized she wanted to have a salon of her own.
Roberts specializes in “gray coverage, color, highlights, and natural confidence since 2010,” and her clients are women.
Roberts said her clients who she has been hairdressing for years love the new building, and they know she has wanted the building for years.
The historic Ice House was built for storing ice from Chetola Lake, and in the 1930s, Blowing Rock residents could purchase 100 pounds of ice for 10 cents.
The building is made from Grandfather Mountain granite and has been home to an automobile service station, an electrical repair shop and an office of a local newspaper.
Roberts said that being able to have her business in the historic building is important to her.
“I definitely want to preserve that history. It just makes it special,” Roberts said. “This building needs and deserves to be shown off and loved.”
Roberts sent her gratitude to her loyal clients that she has formed a relationship with over the years of her business in Blowing Rock.
“I feel very fortunate and very blessed to have the community and the family,” Roberts said. “I know it sounds cliche, but my clients feel like my family.”
In one of the front windows of the salon, sits a plethora of plants that clients have given to Roberts over the years.
Roberts said her clients will bring in plants that are dying, and she takes care of them and has taken them from location to location with her.
Roberts said her clients know her on a personal level, and they have been an important part of her life and the lives of her husband and three children.
“They’re pretty amazing people,” Roberts said.
Roberts’s new salon is open Monday through Saturday, and those interested in booking an appointment with her can visit her website at https://www.studiomsalonbr.com/.
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