feature story "It's What I Can Do" Friday, Sept. 5, 12 08 p.m.
Two local artists give back to their community and its people by using art to fuel life. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments
feature Story The Imaginary World of Highlands Friday, Sept. 5, 12 06 p.m.
Best-selling novelist Cassandra King lets us a peek into her next book, Bridal Falls. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments delectable delights True Southern Spirit Friday, Sept. 5, 12 05 p.m.
We have enjoyed exploring, tasting, and celebrating with you and sincerely thank our loyal readers. Read More 1 comment(s) / read/add comments A Lowcountry Life A Different Kind of Animal Friday, Sept. 5, 12 02 p.m.
Local vet Dr. Michael Forcier trades records and microphones for dogs and cats to live out a dream. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments Just dogs Bonkers for Bassets Friday, Sept. 5, 12 01 p.m.
These floppy-eared hounds are stealing hearts all over the Lowcountry. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments Essay Discovering the Sounds of the Lowcountry Friday, Sept. 5, 12 00 p.m.
Musician and professor Trevor Weston searches for "exotic" sounds and gets a lesson in Gershwin and Gullah culture. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments Feature Story Sustainable Seafood: On The Bubble Tuesday, July 1, 12 00 a.m.
Efforts to make sustainable food more visible and available are increasing. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments get outta town Kendall Lukas Visits Wilmington, N.C. Tuesday, July 1, 12 00 a.m.
Kendall Lukas has stars in her eyes and history under her feet as she explores the neighboring port city of Wilmington, N.C. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments A Lowcountry Life From Ballet Shoes To Bikinis Tuesday, July 1, 12 00 a.m.
Poland native Maria Dobrzanska Reeves uses her dance discipline to achieve success in Charleston. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments essay Splashing Through Childhood Tuesday, July 1, 12 00 a.m.
Author Ron Daise looks for joy and finds it in remembering his children in their youth. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments homestyle Cooking in the Great Outdoors Tuesday, July 1, 12 00 a.m.
More on Megan Westmeyer and Jennifer Smith’s visit to Swimming Rock Fish Farm Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments from the editor Water World Tuesday, July 1, 12 00 a.m.
I love being in water. I love that clear, cool swishing feeling around my ears. In fact, on a warm, sunny day, I like to go outside and get as hot as possible and then dive into a cool pool. For me, it’s refreshment at its finest. Read More 1 comment(s) / read/add comments distinctively charleston Beach Music Tuesday, July 1, 12 00 a.m.
You can see the shrimp boats from your restaurant table, so that shrimp pasta on the menu has to be fresh and local. Right? Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments just dogs Water Babies Tuesday, July 1, 12 00 a.m.
We celebrate what we treasure in the Lowcountry and beyond that gives us an interior smile. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments from the editor Maxximum Style Thursday, May 1, 03 49 p.m.
My 14-year-old niece visited Charleston with her parents in March. She’s from Moscow, Russia, and I had not seen her in more than 10 years. There’s a big difference between 4 and 14! Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments feature story Holy City Style Thursday, May 1, 03 49 p.m.
When Nancye Starnes decided to move out of Memphis, she drew up a list of “must haves” for her new hometown: it had to be a walkable city, located on the water, and sizeable enough to support a vibrant performing arts community. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments just dogs Citadel Charmers Thursday, May 1, 03 48 p.m.
Move aside – bulldog coming through. In January, the American Kennel Club announced that the Bulldog, one of the most recognizable and iconic purebred dogs, has muscled its way into the 10th spot on the organization’s annual list of the most popular breeds in America. Read More 2 comment(s) / read/add comments delectable delights Beyond Cookie Cutter Thursday, May 1, 03 48 p.m.
Prime ingredients, Nostalgic tastes and creative bakers transform Lowcountry cookies into high-style confections. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments A Lowcountry Life Working for Peanuts Thursday, May 1, 03 48 p.m.
Anthony Wright, the man known throughout the Lowcountry and across the nation as Tony the Peanut Man, never intended to make his living selling boiled goobers. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments get outta town Kendall Lukas Visits Charlotte, NC Thursday, May 1, 03 48 p.m.
I had never been to Charlotte … not really. Well, I’ve gotten my kicks at Carowinds because that was part of being a kid in the Carolinas, and I’ve been to concerts at the open-air Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre because it’s a large complex for big-time acts. I’ve visited my sister at UNC Charlotte and have flown through the city’s major transit airport many times. But as for the metropolis of Charlotte, I’d only ever viewed its high-rises from afar. This time I took an up-close look at the interior and found a lot of reasons to relish in North Carolina’s top travel destination. Read More 1 comment(s) / read/add comments distinctively charleston Turning Heads Thursday, May 1, 03 48 p.m.
Bessie is almost 50 and looks as good today as she did in her youth – maybe even better. After all, back then she was hanging from a pole. Now she runs circles around the rest of us, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments homestyle Café Comfort Thursday, May 1, 03 46 p.m.
Banquettes are big. Heidi Walker, Allied ASID, of Walker Design Group, is currently working on three different kitchens that have banquettes. For this kitchen in a young couple’s home on Sullivan’s Island, Walker created a café atmosphere by building on the existing element of the laminated floor. “This promotes a casual impromptu gathering space,” she says. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments ESSAY Lowcountry Style Thursday, May 1, 12 00 a.m.
If you want to experience real Lowcountry style, you need to come to the Hebron Saint Francis Senior Center. Its members are long time Johns Island residents, a hardscrabble group of African-American women who meet every Wednesday for devotion and quilt making. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments homestyle Jewel Box Saturday, March 1, 12 00 a.m.
Although one of the smallest rooms in a house, a powder room is nonetheless important since most of your guests will pay it a visit. Jennifer Rhodes, ASID, principal designer of J. Rhodes Design, took the popular concept of making this room a “jewel box” and ran with it, creating a luxurious surprise in this 3-foot by 7-foot Daniel Island room. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments
Recipe box On the table or on the rocks, Firefly Vodka is HOT, HOT, HOT!
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Feature Story
A Tale of Two Houses: The architecture of two homes on Kiawah is inspired by the landscape
Written by Stephanie Burt Williams
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Tradition. In the Lowcountry, we acknowledge it, in fact, even celebrate it, and it shows. The Lowcountry is filled with pristine examples of traditional American architecture, from the peninsula to Summerville to the beaches and beyond. We like architecture that we feel “belongs” here. On the beach, that means traditional houses on stilts; anywhere else in the Lowcountry, antebellum architecture serves as a reasonable default.
But what if “belonging” to a place meant something different? What if “belonging” was not adhering to a specific architecture style of the region, but to the region itself? Two architects designed just those sort of houses on Kiawah Island, houses that gain their inspiration from the land and not necessarily the neighbor’s houses around it.
Photo courtesy of Kirk West Builders
Elias residence
The Elias home
“Our house is like living in a tree house,” says owner Judy Elias.
Nestled in among the trees and landscaping and sitting below the treeline, the design of the house is inspired by its natural surroundings. The Eliases wanted a very open, modern home – something to fit the landscape. They approached architect James Thomas of Thomas and Denzinger Architects with those ideas, and he designed a cluster of small, light, discrete pavilions carefully placed within an oak grove on the property.
“I had been wondering how to arrange my cluster,” says Thomas. “What would be the centerpiece to hold it all together? Then, in a fortuitous location, buried in the foliage, I found a modestly large live oak with sinuously sculpted limbs. I imagined an oriental garden with a megalithic stone emerging from a plain of raked sand surrounded by walls. So, on paper, I threw a wooden deck around the sinuous tree and circled my pavilions around the deck to create a protected, Zen-like space – more garden than courtyard.”
And the courtyard’s final look illustrates Thomas’ attention to detail. It is the centerpiece of the house, with a beautifully designed deck, iron railing, and a bridge that leads to the guest quarters. And although a house that’s really a series of discreet pavilions with a tree in the center might be a little unusual, Elias can’t imagine her home any other way. It’s perfect for their lifestyle.
“I love the idea of a house around a tree; the house has almost a jungle-feel to it,” Elias says. She is an interior designer, and when she first pictured this home, her dream home, she thought of it as West Indies style. “But I wanted to incorporate antique doors, lighting, worn brick, and hardwood floors into this modern design. He [Thomas] was very open to the whole thing, and I feel totally relaxed here, where I did everything design-wise I wanted to do.”
Guests quarters are separated from the rest of the house, and Elias says that until they start walking across the bridge, it’s hard to remember when someone is staying at the house. But despite the rambling design, the house feels very connected, not only by design but by the soft color scheme that flows through the home.
“I didn’t want the color to clash with the outside,” Elias says. “You know, the house couldn’t go above the treeline. It had to blend in with the trees, and I think we’ve done a good job with that.”
Photo by Rion Rizzo
Davis Residence
The Davis home
Where the Eliases had clear ideas of what they wanted, the Davises went to their architect open to new ideas.
“We had no preconceived ideas of what we wanted it [the house] to look like, and our architect, Christopher Rose, asked how we felt about contemporary design,” says Judy Davis. “We said fine. We had no idea what to expect, and we had always had traditional homes.”
What Rose presented them was a design he calls the Millennium Plantation Home. Because the homeowners couldn’t quite picture it on paper, Rose built them a balsam wood model of the proposed design. The shape of the home was essentially a “D” with the curve stretched. Instead of a wraparound porch on the front on a square home, Rose moved it to the side and stretched it into an elliptical. What results is a living space with an almost transparent wall to the outside.
“The Davises wanted something to speak to the Lowcountry but not a replica of an 1800 [19th century] plantation, so the concept of this home came from a number of sources,” Rose says. “First, the site orientation. There were trees we needed to respect, and we took that into consideration. Secondly, most clients want to maximize the view they have, and third, we studied the prevailing breezes to take advantage of the climate. I don’t like to design hermetically sealed boxes.”
“We liked the oblong-ness of the design, and when we saw the model, we were sold,” Davis says.
What this home has given to the Davises is the freedom to try new things. They have a curved wall devoted just to their pictures of Africa, something that might not have happened in their home in Illinois. Judy also has become fascinated of late with metal accents, especially Mexican-style metalwork. So this home gave the Davises a chance to incorporate metal accents and design, from the custom-made chandelier and fireplace to some metal decorative birds that found their way inside.
“This is a totally livable home, and I feel more like I’m on vacation when I’m here because of the scenery surrounding us,” Davis says. “I really did minimalist decorating, and here everything’s so open. I can really only close doors to the bedroom and bathroom, and it’s relaxing. We don’t need as much privacy here.”
Lowcountry Living is a bi-monthly magazine of The Post and Courier, 134 Columbus St., Charleston, S.C. 29403-4800. Copyright 2007 by The Post and Courier.
No portion of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part without express written permission from The Post and Courier. Printed by R.L. Bryan, Columbia, S.C. Click here to email the editor
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