Architect Scott Crichton designs a contemporary home that honors its historic neighborhood
The clients wanted a contemporary downtown house. The challenge for Architecture 224’s founder, Scott Crichton, came in fulfilling their vision while respecting the Heritage Historic District where they’d found a narrow corner lot.
Located near Heritage Green’s museums, theater, and the Hughes Main Library, the early-1900s neighborhood has a mix of house styles. By marrying traditional and contemporary design elements, Crichton deftly crafted an award-winning design that met the city’s strict historic district guidelines.
“The project was always about trying to strike a balance between clients who wanted as contemporary a house as possible and the neighborhood,” says Crichton, who believes architecture should be “of its time.”
“Ultimately, I think we found that balance,” he adds.
The new home allowed the nearing-retirement couple to downsize from their former 5,400-square-foot suburban residence, while still giving them plenty of room for their college-age sons and guests.
Constructed by Majestic Builders, its 3,400-square-foot linear layout has living spaces, three bedrooms, and two-and-a-half baths on two floors (the subterranean basement includes movie and bunk rooms and a third full bath).
Crichton divided the layout—a variation of New Orleans’ shotguns—into two sections with hallways in between. Because they are private spaces with smaller windows, the bathrooms and utility rooms are on the right side next to the adjacent property. The living and dining rooms, kitchen, and bedrooms face the side street, enabling abundant light to stream in through large, undivided windows.
In collaboration with the frequent-traveling homeowners, Crichton designed an interior courtyard like the ones they saw in Morocco (it was a top want).
With the courtyard CORE-TEN steel water feature, limestone paver pathways, and covered dining and sitting areas, it beautifully allowed Crichton to fit outdoor living space, a detached garage, and a motor court onto the narrow, sloped lot. “It was a fortunate alignment of site challenges and the house type that they wanted,” he says.
Collaboration also was key to the centrally located kitchen’s design. The homeowners “were very invested in getting that right,” Crichton says.
Its central island features a prep sink, while two peninsulas help create a visual separation between the adjacent dining and living rooms. Yet Crichton tied all three spaces together with mahogany, one of his favorite materials. Cabinets and built-in shelves, the hood vent and fireplace wall, and the living room ceiling feature warm-toned wood.
Other smart material selections like the metal-clad gable roof, brick base, and painted siding help link the house to others nearby. But their unique application created a more “contemporary feel,” Crichton says.
So does the front porch’s cantilevered roof—it makes the small space seem larger—and slender steel support columns. The ceiling features the same Western red cedar used for the three oversized box bays projecting from the facade. “It’s one of my favorite parts of the house,” Crichton says.
Atwood Residence
Architect Scott Crichton’s design for a contemporary 3-bedroom, 3.5-bath home garnered two awards. In 2021, it received a Residential Merit Award from AIA Greenville, a local section of the South Carolina chapter of the American Institute of Architects. In 2023, it won a Design Award/Merit from AIA South Carolina.
The city’s design guidelines state that garages can’t face the street, so Crichton designed a detached two-car garage facing the back of the corner lot (a concrete motor court allows for additional parking). The garage’s steep gable roof and exterior materials are meant to match the main house.
Crichton covered part of the living room’s ceiling in mahogany to add visual interest and warmth to the room.
The living room’s sliding glass doors open to the interior courtyard. It was one of the homeowner’s wish list items and was inspired by their travels to Morocco.
A series of beams punctuate the primary bedroom’s vaulted ceiling. The beams terminate in the maple feature wall behind the bed.
The primary bedroom’s balcony—it features stainless steel cable railings—gives a bird’s eye view of the interior courtyard.
In the kitchen and adjacent dining area, the warm tones of the mahogany cabinets counterbalance the crisp white quartz countertops and solid-surface backsplash. The rooms’ street-facing windows provide abundant natural light.
A Herman Miller Nelson Saucer Bubble Pendant hangs over the dining table. The bamboo floors below it were chosen for their sustainability and durability.
The large primary bathroom features plenty of counter space and sleek maple cabinets.
One of the focal points of the interior courtyard is a water feature with three CORE-TEN steel spouts flowing into a river rock-filled CORE-TEN steel basin. It is surrounded by a Roman-brick and slatted screen wall.
Crichton often uses rain chains as exterior visual features. This aluminum one hangs from the Western red cedar-clad garage. The rectangular limestone pavers lead to an exterior courtyard entrance.
The narrow, sloped lot necessitated a linear floor plan where the dining area, kitchen, and living room flow from the front to the back of the house.
Crichton used traditional materials found in the historic neighborhood in contemporary ways on the home’s exterior. The base is clad in Roman bricks that have longer and more linear dimensions than standard bricks, while the TruExterior siding—painted in Sherwin Williams Iron Ore—lays flatter than horizontal lap siding.
As a nod to the neighborhood’s other porches, Crichton added a small welcoming porch at the front entry. A cantilevered roof makes it appear larger while adding a contemporary touch.
A monolithic set of concrete stairs rises from the sidewalk to the front yard. Landscape architect Clint Rigsby designed the house’s plant selections, hardscaping, and courtyard.
The corner lot gave Crichton the ability to incorporate large-pane windows into the design. The house’s height and gable roof complement that of the adjacent brick building, which was once a Furman University dormitory.
The courtyard helped solve a design challenge: how to provide outdoor living space, as well as a garage and motor court, on the narrow lot. Its covered sitting and dining areas—supported by square columns—serve as a passageway between the detached garage and the house.
