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 distinctively charleston Treasure Hunt Saturday, March 1, 12 00 a.m.
For some it’s a hobby; for some it’s an obsession; and for some it is all about the experience. Under a table, out of a box of old papers or tucked in a dark corner, you see it. It might have been neglected, someone no longer valuing it, but you know its true worth. Your heart speeds up and suddenly you realize … you found a something you must have.
Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments feature Story Let’s Go! Saturday, March 1, 12 00 a.m.
It is official – spring has sprung! As winter wanes, so does our brief tolerance for being cooped indoors. We have a bridge to walk, nature paths to bike, bass to catch, and azaleas that need planting. So dangle off the dock, put the top down, grab the gear out of the garage, or get the dogs ready for a ride. It is time for Lowcountry residents to play outside! Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments get outta town Kendall Lukas Visits Aiken, SC Saturday, March 1, 12 00 a.m.
Today Aiken is somewhat old-fashioned, but it is cosmopolitan in its direction. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments feature Story Exceptional Educators Saturday, March 1, 12 00 a.m.
Three Lowcountry teachers go beyond the call of duty to make a difference. We see it splashed across the headlines every day. South Carolina schools are struggling. In fact, it’s even become an issue in the upcoming presidential election. And with good reason. Our schools are struggling, dropout rates are hovering in some districts around 50 percent, and the heated debate about the emphasis on testing continues. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments essay The Art of Walking Saturday, March 1, 12 00 a.m.
The word “art” usually brings to mind pictures of such objects as paint brushes, canvases, pigments, and marble statuary. It does not call up, necessarily, the image of the walker or the bliss and freedom of the path – beaten or unbeaten – that unfurls ahead. But to walk, to enter truly the experience of locomotion merged with one’s surroundings, alert to air and leaf and salamander, is to practice a high and much-forgotten art. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments letter from the editor Go-Go Girl Saturday, March 1, 12 00 a.m.
"Go” has practically become my middle name. I’ve always been a fast mover, even when my body isn’t really up to it. A quick climb up three flights of stairs will remind me of this every time. Lately I feel like I’m constantly on-the-go: work; household chores; child rearing; trips to the grocery; trips to Target; trips to the vet to care for Bugsy, my dear aging Westie. It seems that ”going” has become an American pastime; if you’re not crazy-out-of-your-mind busy then you’re not doing something right. I disagree. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments delectable delights Spring Fling Saturday, March 1, 12 00 a.m.
Mother Nature delivers the first flush of spring in asparagus, onions and peas.
Spring enters life so beautifully,
With love within her tears of rain;
She whispers softly in my ear
Her presence in the world again. Read More 0 comment(s) / read/add comments
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Lovely Lowcountry Condos provide space, ambiance and community
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.
Not surprisingly, the resulting list was relatively short. Starnes embarked an a home-hunt that took her from Annapolis, Md., to Portland, Ore. Not unlike Goldlilocks, Starnes found each place to be a little “too something.” Ultimately, though, the Holy City was just right – an ideal blend of water, walkability and a “wow” arts community.
She also recognizes she found the perfect place from which to take in the city’s charms – a luxurious condo framed parenthetically by the Charleston Harbor and bustling streets.
Starnes moved to town in 2000, rented a carriage house, and quickly became immersed in the culture and community. Over drinks one evening at the Harbour Club, she spied a “coming soon” sign in a parking lot across the street. Recognizing the builder of the imminent condo development as reputable, “I walked right over and asked what they had in mind. And just about as quickly, we got to work on my plans,” she says.
In short order, she became the owner of a luxurious condo with majestic views of Waterfront Park and the Charleston Harbor beyond. She also became part of a growing trend in the city – an influx of residents eschewing private homes (and the yards, commutes or other baggage that comes with them) for the tidy, tony condo lifestyle.
It’s hard to walk a block in town without spying a condo – either the result of new construction or the conversion of a historic building. From Broad Street northward along the waterfront, and throughout the city’s neighborhoods, condo fever has spread.
What constitutes a “condo?” Essentially, it’s a unit that one owns outright within a larger complex or building. Owners pay annual fees for exterior maintenance, landscaping, various support services and more. Some condos sport pools; others feature pool tables. Some offer concierge service, others feature dog runs.
In the case of Starnes and a number of downtown denizens, condos provide a luxurious lifestyle that compromises not at all on space (her double unit is larger than her Memphis house) nor ambiance. Rather, she reports that living in a downtown condo provides security, community and help.
“I travel often, and living in a condo makes the coming and the going so much more convenient.”
Enter Starnes’ home and abandon what you might expect of a condo. This is no low-light, low-ceilinged former apartment. Indeed, granite countertops, light-loving windows, custom treatments and plush furnishings evoke a gracious Southern lifestyle. Walls and countertops sport treasures of recent travels, bringing a sense of vibrance and adventure to the interior. A home office (Starnes runs a health research foundation from here) is bathed in sunlight. Generous rooms are connected by wide hallways. This is no pied à terre, but rather a regal eagle’s nest (to borrow from Cole Porter).
“Condomania” hit Charleston earlier in this decade, coinciding with a national trend, which experts say was fueled by two events: empty nesters and young professionals alike rediscovered downtown living and all that it promised, and investors saw a sure thing in the appreciation of condos.
By the middle of this decade, condo projects had popped up or were being planned all over the peninsula – emerging everywhere from within historic buildings to above vacant lots. The numbers bear witness to the growing popularity of condo living. The Charleston Trident Association of Realtors reports that in 2007, 202 condos sold on Peninsular Charleston at a median price of $439,500, down a bit from the 2006 median of $449,000. During both years, the average condo remained on the market for four months or less.
Translation: those investors who counted on selling their condos were able, in large part, to do so. And plenty of folks were at the ready to snap them up.
It appears that for each style, there exists a perfect Charleston condo lifestyle. Those seeking 15-foot ceilings and enormous views of the port and the Ravenel Bridge may be drawn to the muscular good looks of the Cigar Factory. This East Bay Street conversion is turning the former cotton mill into a mixed-use building filled with residences, amenities and shops.
Young professionals among the condo class have gravitated to the lofts at One Cool Blow just north of the Ravenel Bridge. Many have laid down deposits on condos in the environmentally sensitive infill project there. They’ll become neighbors to a growing community of restaurants and businesses.
Seeking the sophisticated, carefree lifestyle? Head to the New York-style Bee Street Lofts, which have attracted medical students and single professionals, all drawn to ownership and the emerging “walkability” of the neighborhood around the medical university.
And of course, there are numerous other properties scattered between. Some lean toward the “funky” end of the spectrum. But it appears most are better characterized as fine; some as super-fine. Occasionally, condos house full-time family residents; others are enjoyed by islanders who enjoy staying in town on weekends or now and again during the week. Others sport owners “from off” who descend for the occasional dose of Lowcountry living.
No matter the style of the space – or its owners – the appeal is universal: city living with minimal fuss.
Starnes describes a recent weekend downtown: brunch with a friend, a walk to the Gaillard for an afternoon performance, an evening concert at Ashley Hall. The next day featured a quick drive to the Terrace Theatre to catch an arty film. Summarizes Starnes: “It’s all so easy and so lovely.”
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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