Southern Grace & Charm

Local builder Shoreline Construction helps transform the 2014 Southern Living Idea House from paper to reality in beautiful Palmetto Bluff.

Each year excitement brews in the construction and design industry as Southern Living unveils their latest Idea House. Full of innovative technology and design, the latest trends in color and texture, and furnishings that wow, these homes exemplify Southern grace and charm from floor to ceiling.

In 2014, Architect Ken Pursley and Interior Designer Suzanne Kasler joined forces and brought their creative talents to beautiful Palmetto Bluff to create the next Southern Living Idea House. With Ken’s vision of creating a house that “feels fresh right now but will still be relevant in 100 years,” a quintessential Lowcountry style home was in order with wide porches, open spaces and lots of windows to capture the waterfront views.

“For more than 20 years, the Southern Living Idea House program has pulled together talented teams to build and renovate homes from the ground up. We’ve done everything from brownstones to beach homes and everything in between.” – SouthernLiving.com

Surrounded by pine trees with suburb on one side and lakefront sunrises on the other, the home is situated in an ideal lowcountry setting. Guests enter the home from a compact entry that pushes their attention toward the water views out of the soaring living room windows. As guests walk forward, the home begins to unfold from compact, definitive spaces into larger open spaces. Guests first step into a cozy dining area nestled beneath an open air bridge that connects the upstairs wings and then proceed into an expansive, bright living room with a stone hearth. The smaller spaces with their varying ceiling heights help people feel more connected to the house, while the larger spaces allow them to feel more connected to nature.

Like Ken, Suzanne wanted to encourage people to explore the home and use every part of it. Her design choices reflect a comfortable, yet modern approach that encourages everyday use. Simple statements like using an ottoman at the dining table instead of chairs break traditional molds allowing homeowners the freedom to use spaces for more than one purpose. The goal is to enjoy it every day.

For the exterior, durable materials with crisp lines, such as James Hardie board-and-batten siding, plank-style shutters, and a standing-seam metal roof, provide a simple silhouette that homeowners won’t tire of over time. To maintain the vision of lowcountry character with attention to detail, Palmetto Bluff selected Shoreline Construction as the builder. “I was honored to be selected to build the Idea House, but especially in Palmetto Bluff,” says Shoreline Construction owner Chris Dalzell.

This local construction company prides themselves on an ever-increasing knowledge of construction trends, green materials and energy efficient products–all important factors for the Idea House. “Energy efficiency is a top priority for Shoreline Construction, so in addition to the many products that were integrated into the home, we were able to support energy efficiency by using techniques like spray insulation,” says Dalzell. “We were also able to use some of our reclaimed materials on the interior stairs,” he adds.

The Shoreline Construction team is no novice when it comes to building unique homes with timeless detail. Started just over ten years ago, the company has quickly become one of the most trusted groups in the South. With the Idea House, they were able to put some of their experience to good use. “There were a lot of curved walls and shaped details that showed up all over the house,” says Dalzell. “The house had many unique custom details, which required new techniques. Creating the custom steel paneled fireplace surround was the most unique thing that we worked on.”

The Southern Living Idea House is always an inspirational journey in home styles. From interior to exterior, the details are what make these idea homes a success. By combining exceptional talent and craftsmen, Southern Living has once again shown us that a home can truly become a living space that combines art, aesthetics, environment, and the pleasures of life.