Two families create the perfect lakefront home with symmetry, flexibility, and community in mind
Kevin Sexton and Barry Griffith, owners of Sexton Griffith Custom Home Builders, pride themselves on delivering homes that fit clients’ lifestyles.
So, when the men decided to build a shared lakefront home for their families on The Reserve at Lake Keowee’s Jack Nicklaus Signature course, they sought symmetry, flexibility, and a sense of community.
“We built the home as both an idea home for our clients to experience as well as one we could enjoy with our friends and families,” Griffith says. “We wanted the home built in a way that would be comfortable for both of our families to enjoy simultaneously.”
The 6,025-square-foot home, the brainchild of bespoke residential design firm Architecture 224, is nestled on about 1.5 acres that is filled with dogwood, maple, hickory, oak, and pine trees, to name a few.
Separate Wings
The two-level floorplan features a Sexton wing and a Griffith wing, with primary suites on the main level.
Upstairs, a pair of guest suites feature adjoining dens that can function as play or recreation rooms, depending on the children’s ages, Griffith says.
The home’s kitchen and dining areas, along with great room, game room, and theater room, are all shared.
Griffith credits Architecture 224’s prowess in contemporary design with the home’s light-filled interior, which maximizes the sweeping views while honoring the lot’s natural beauty. Meanwhile, materials and colors bring warmth to the home both inside and out, “avoiding a cold feel that too often accompanies a contemporary home,” Griffth says.
Not to mention the home’s orientation to the surrounding environment.
“It was important that the home be nestled into the landscape,” Griffith says. “It offers both a comfortable approach to the lake and is optimally oriented for the impressive views.”
Griffith says fall foliage offers an explosion of color, paired with warm days, cool nights, and plenty of football on the home’s various television screens. Winter is marked by mists rising from Lake Keowee’s surface, and spring brings another festival of color.
Of course, summer is the time for maximum lake enjoyment, as retractable vinyl panels convert the almost 600-square-foot screened porch into a sunroom.
Stepping inside, guests are immediately offered a soothing combination of color, materials, furniture, and art, all the work of the interior design team at In Site Designs.
“It is a constant refuge,” Griffith says. “And the layers of lighting offer various options that coordinate with events, uses, and energy levels. The home is perfect for family events, client dinners, and professional gatherings.”
Sexton Griffith Homebuilders Tour
The design team, led by Katie Skoloff of InSite Designs, created a sense of balance in the use of colors, materials, and energy levels in the home’s spaces. It was the owners’ wish that the home be both a family getaway and a suitable venue for hosting clients and corporate events.
The 6,025-square-foot home combines a desire to have fun with friends and family in a variety of shared spaces while staying true to the owners’ contemporary design and architectural ethos.
The shared theatre room features plush seating, next-generation A/V, and emotes the owners’ love of symmetry in all things—lighting, seating, and the soothing, simple palette.
Primary suites and baths maximize privacy while allowing a sense of space and light from the surrounding environment. Large windows, a central theme of the home’s design, allow for expansive treetop views.
