/ by Brendan Blowers
Everyone needs a place of retreat; a sanctuary to channel new possibilities, an escape to recharge.
What does a sweet retreat feel like in the Carolinas? It may include basking by a fire pit, soaking in cool waters or watching the sun dip below the Blue Ridge Mountains. In these homes, waterfront breezes kiss open kitchens while nearby Eastern Blue Birds chirp among trees.
It takes an adventurous spirit to build a custom home and patience to see the process through. In some ways, diving into retreat living can be a daunting task. You may want it to transcend what you already call home with a second address, and hopefully capture the imagination with a property that beckons from afar.
This is the place to kick off shoes, recline with a glass of something crisp, dine al fresco and breathe cares away. Welcome to the great escape, where serenity is earned, one smart selection at a time.
Inspiring Views at Walnut Creek
/photography by Kris Decker, Firewater Photography
Stepping into a warm infinity edge pool framed by a golf course in the foothills of a mountain range sounds like dream vacation, unless it’s from the private patio of a custom-built destination home.
From the moment the homeowners walked the property, they knew it synced with their vision for a landing pad with plenty of wide-open space and long vistas. “The house was based on having a 275-degree view,” says Gabriel Builder’s lead residential designer and architect Richie Martin, “We call them discovery views.”
It is achieved by establishing view corridors from every room, plenty of floor-to-ceiling window walls, and special vignettes within each bedroom. Situated ideally on its lot, every window works like a picture frame where nature changes the color palette by the season. Martin says after extensive research, they selected Sierra Pacific windows because they offered the narrowest frames.
The decision was also made to intentionally curve two small areas of the house. The rec room sits behind those curved walls and this clever design allows more natural light to spill into the basement.
Holding it all up is a sturdy steel structure and parts of the house are built more like a high rise than traditional residential construction, but Tennessee Fieldstone, laid in a dry stack in an ashlar pattern, brings a pleasing natural element into the exterior.
The home has 7,200 heated square feet, split across three levels of walnut hardwood floors. The bedroom suite has its own wing on the main floor; there’s also four garages and 1,000 square feet of outdoor living space.
Gabriel Builders started the two-year construction process just before the calendar turned to 2018. The architecture is present, but intentionally does not overwhelm, allowing for the elements of water and fire to take center stage. Signature Pools designed a pool to feel in conjunction with the house. Gabriel poured the pool’s walls while also doing the home’s foundation. The backside of the pool’s wall plunges 18 feet to natural stone below.
Inside, the color palette was kept intentionally neutral to allow natural warmth to enter rooms through the abundance of windows. Four feature fireplaces were built including a double-sided one in the rec room and a three-sided open fireplace on the screened porch. In the great room, a large, extra-wide, two-sided fireplace was handsomely clad in book-matched granite.
Lauren Heather Design Studio selected the tile and lighting package. The homeowners stayed very involved selecting the furnishings, beddings and linens. Custom cabinetry finishes the luxe interiors. “We own a cabinet company, so all of the cabinets throughout the house and the wine room were designed and built by us,” says builder Gus Rubio, noting the cabinets behind the custom-built bar recess an additional six inches into the wall.
The fact that a vacation home of this magnitude is practically maintenance free is probably its most desirable feature. What looks like natural wood on the exterior is cement fiber siding hand painted to look like wood. There’s a track in the columns supporting the patios that houses motorized screens and storm shutters to keep out bugs, or even bigger environmental dangers.
“When we arrive at the new home, we feel a sense of relaxation and peace,” the homeowners said. “We consider our view the best piece of artwork we own.”
Rubio agrees. “It’s an honor to do these types of homes,” he says. “We’re not taking the same floor plan and slapping a different facade on it we’re listening to what the homeowner wants and delivering something special.”
Making a Statement at Keowee Springs
/ photography by Aaron Hogsed, Fine Architectural Photography
Planning and constructing this lakefront home was a two-year job for Colby Hubble of Alair Homes Greenville. “From day one, it was a very collaborative effort,” says Hubble, who built and worked in The Cliffs communities for more than a decade before becoming the owner of the Alair franchise in 2017.
Hubble and the homeowners walked the lot many times, pouring over plans from Markalunas Architecture Group and pitching in their own ideas. “Once things got 3-D, instead of just on paper, there were a lot of little changes for the better of the home,” he says.
The finished project is 5,000 square feet with a daylight basement. The main level walks into a sunken living, dining and kitchen area off the front doors. To the left of this public space is an alcove featuring the pièce de résistance: a massive onyx wall panel backlit by LED lighting.
“There was a lot of research and development getting it to look right,” Hubble says, “we found a lighting company that designed net lights that mount to the wall behind it.” The bedroom suite is to the right of the installation, with its bath to the left. It’s a match point moment in a home that possesses stunning lake views.
The lower level holds two more bedrooms with baths and a central rec room complete with bar and custom-built wine room, compiled from different glass and steel-ordered parts. Fun and games is the theme down here, emphasized by a Prince ping pong table, dartboard hallway and one over-sized, wall-mounted Scrabble board, a house-warming gift from Hubble.
He had built a home in The Cliffs on a view-lot for this couple before, but they were ready for more room with grown kids starting families of their own. Finding an available lot would prove challenging and Hubble knew of one that checked all the boxes. “We worked for about two years trying to get the owner to sell it,” Hubble says.
In the end, patience won out. At dusk, the home’s Indiana Limestone looks stunning against the backdrop of the fading sun reflecting across the lake. “There’s one quarry in Indiana that produces this limestone,” says Hubble, “and you’ve got to order it by the truckload.”
What appears to be grooved and brushed cedar shake on the exterior porch is a product called New Cedar; it has a PVC factory finish and requires no maintenance. Hubble likes the application for vacation and retirement homes. A large sliding pocket door opens the kitchen onto a deck, with an impressive jacuzzi by Anchor Pools and Spas. Copper gutters frame the Virginia gray slate roof.
Warm neutrals shape the open floor plan and statement pieces, meticulously installed– such as the onyx wall and a branch and crystal chandelier– define room spaces. Strategically placed vertical mirrors on either side of the living room fireplace enhance and extend sight lines beyond what the large Weatherseal windows and doors already provide. Pleasing views seem to stretch for miles.
Contemporary in decor, the home never crosses into stuffy. It strikes a balance between relaxed and elegant, matching its prime real estate. When doors are thrown open, it’s hard to tell where the putting green ends, and nature begins. The homeowners are avid golfers and told their architect, “Our vision was always to bring the outdoors in and vice versa, which is why we used a lot of stone and natural elements. We also wanted lots of glass, which maximizes the magnificent view.”
Hubble says, “When you’re here, you want to be sitting in that living room looking out of a wall of windows staring out at the lake.”
Art in Every Detail at the Cove on Lake Keowee
/ photography by Carter Tippins Photography
Jerilyn Bing and Scott Sigler had never built a custom home before. “We were coming in from Atlanta,” says Bing, “neither one of us knew about Greenville or Lake Keowee. We were starting fresh.”
They didn’t want to take a project like this on without a designer, so they set up three appointments. After interviewing founder Katie Skoloff and her designer Ashton Acosta from In Site Designs in Greenville, the couple canceled the other two. “We felt a connection and chemistry with them and chose them on the spot,” Bing says.
The In Site Designs team also had the benefit of working with Architect Mel Dias on luxury residential builds before. Skoloff describes Dias as “an incredible residential designer in that he draws by hand. He’s a rare gem.”
In Site Designs takes projects from the ground up, working alongside the builder, in this case Howard Eaton of Eaton Properties, and the architect to consult on the construction and interior elements. They started with some specific concept images on cut sheets. Acosta says the clients wanted mostly white, all neutral, soft tones. When materials like the stone fireplace didn’t fit the motif, they whitewashed it.
Skoloff says neutrals suit a home on Lake Keowee. “When you look at what’s outside these windows, it’s very saturated,” she says. “All of the trees and the lake draw your eyes outside.”
They did not skip on adding rich texture to the home however, from the shiplap fireplace in the great room to red wood panels with a light gray wash on the vaulted ceiling in the dining area. “We did bring in colors, blues, greens, the natural colors that you’re going to see from the exterior, mostly in the artwork,” Acosta says.
The designers worked with a curator to acquire a piece by Dutch artist Jantien de Boer for the bedroom suite.
While the contemporary destination home is a departure from the homeowner’s previous more traditional properties, they brought in several antiques including a 300-year-old nautical barometer, a Federalist mirror and a Chinese porcelain figurine that’s a replica of a Xi’an terracotta soldier.
Inspiration for the game room came from a 72-inch enhanced photo-print of a moon by Australian artist Peter Lik. Purchased in an Aspen gallery, custom lighting was installed that makes it appear to glow. A live-edge bar was built by Dave Novak of Novak Creations, a business with a reputation for turning art into modern furniture.
Inset wine storage comprised of wine box-paneled walls was designed by hand; it’s integrated lighting and mirrors enhance the bottle display, and the space is climate controlled for proper storage. “We hope to put something together for all of our clients that revolves around exactly how they’ll use each space,” says Skoloff, referencing the meticulous details throughout.
A chandelier became the starting point for the home’s lighting package. “The drops are solid crystal and there’s LED’s housed in the silver pieces. You don’t see a bulb,” Acosta says, “it’s just glowing glass.”
Acosta and Skoloff decided to reach out to husband and wife separately to have one thing custom designed to give each other as a gift. Bing gave Sigler a copper weathervane for over the cupola. Sigler surprised Bing with a piece of original art by Teresa Roche, which hangs next to the chandelier in the stairwell. Skoloff arranged for Roche to sign the piece on site, an abstract expression of the home’s view of the lake.
“This house is designed every inch for them, by them and with them,”
