Equestrian Home in SC
A glass corridor leads to the main bedroom and a small office. Barn doors create the idea of rooms as former horse stalls. "One way that vacation home offices differ is that they must enjoy the view and light," Pylant says. Thanks to telecommuting, the family is able to spend long stints in South Carolina, but it was important for the workspace to also incorporate the beautiful surroundings.
The thoughtful layout was very important to the way the family lives here, especially when the kids bring friends home. The kids have a two-story zone on one side of the house, the communal areas are in the middle, and the parents have a first-floor master suite off the back of the house. The upper floor is the son's domain; it includes a bedroom, a bunk room and a small sitting area (at the end of the catwalk) and a bathroom. "There are a bunch of bunks; you can stack up kids like a cord of wood," Plyant says. Downstairs the daughter has a bedroom, bathroom and sitting room.
In the main living room, wide planks on the walls add more barn feeling. "These are just pine planks butted up against each other," Pylant says. "They keep the simple, clean look that carries the barn look through the interior." Indigenous Old Savannah Gray bricks give the chimney an aged look. Also carrying the barn theme through are rough-hewn beams meant to evoke a hayloft.
The owners wanted the kitchen sink to look out to the dogtrot fireplace; windows share the light and create the idea of a horse stall. "I cannot tell you how crucial the shared light is in this home," Pylant says. Placing the sink on the dogtrot side dictated that the range be placed in the island, and the clients' range required a commercial vent hood. Frustrated with the choices available (too contemporary or too typical), Pylant wanted something large scale that looked like it was fashioned from farm equipment. "Our contractor, Monty Jones, is a true artisan," he says. Jones had some metalworkers custom fabricate the drum with a standard commercial range insert. When asked about the finish, the owners rather liked the discoloration and fingerprints and wanted to see what would happen if they just left it alone. Now it has a unique patina that adds another dose of well-worn industrial style.
The dogtrot provides an open-air entry that receives light from the cupola overhead. A catwalk connects a bunk room to a sitting room/office upstairs. "We kept the catwalk as open as possible so that it did not block too much light from the cupola," Pylant says. "The industrial feel is an interesting counterpoint to the barn style." A large fireplace draws everyone into the dogtrot during cold months. "The owners tell me that the dogtrot is a magnet for people whenever they have parties," he says.
Large barn doors open to the open dogtrot entry area. (A dogtrot is an open breezeway, and dogtrot houses are common in Lowcountry.) Large screens are stashed in pockets so the entire opening can be screened, letting the breeze through without letting in the bugs. All colors Benjamin Moore Siding: Norwich Brown; trim Mountain Moss; Windows Georgia Brick
The property also includes a garage with storage space overhead. "The window here is great, because no one wants to go up to a dark and dank attic to find something," Pylant says. There is a garden between the garage and the guesthouse, which serves as a private space for visiting grandparents.
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