The design isn't just about the space itself, it's about creating a beautiful "sanctuary" for family and friends where they can relax and indulge for many years to come. We believe that interior design encompasses both what we can and cannot see, and that the concept of beauty derives from a deeper level in which sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell are all present. —— beth webb interiors
Beautiful and romantic South Carolina Island
Timeless and outdated idyllic English house
Originally a simple family hotel, the 1,400-square-foot, small but compact house is located on a vast pasture on Bray Island, South Carolina.
A mesmerizing island of unpredictable splendor, lush oak trees, tranquil rivers and lush expanses of land, once an 8,000-acre rice farm, it is now an athlete's paradise.
Romance sprouts here, and the pastoral life of blending English style and lowland traditions becomes a pleasure in the design process. British architects Edwin Lutyens and C.F.A. Voysey, both of which are known for their lyrical English country houses.
The designers took inspiration from the work of two masters of architecture and took bold adventures: swooping low-hanging curved triangular roofs and towering windows that were eye-catching; in terms of scale, horizontal expansion was abandoned in favor of vertical creation, and the small house house housed four bedrooms and three bathrooms.
A horse farm lined with oak trees surrounds the houses. A dramatic building that is very different from the traditional lowland houses that dot the island. The fact that a seemingly mini country house can become so livable is the first impression it gives.
Inside the building, all extreme vertical heights make the space neither enclosed nor oppressive. Also, the orientation of the house is very good, so it has charming dappled light in the morning, middle and evening.
The designers took advantage of this as much as possible, especially the kitchen, which looked more like a sun-drenched garden room with huge windows than a kitchen.
The wood grain on the cabinet surface highlights the incredible height of the space, and the integrated soapstone sink and oversized vault curved soapstone splash plate make the kitchen look like it is not the protagonist but the protagonist.
The house owners like to entertain themselves and entertain their guests, so the design of each space has been taken with this in mind, including the bar corner at the entrance and the window in front of the kitchen sink, which is passed as a drink to the window of the viewing porch (in The Island of Bray, local residents always take "cocktail time" seriously).
The living room space is intimately open and spacious enough between the dining room and the outdoor terrace to provide flexible functions for small spaces.
Owners and designers care about every detail, from the comfort of the sofa to the exquisite plaster finishes on the living area walls to the bricks of the viewing gallery, hand-fired by specially invited masons, with irregular shapes and colours giving a timeless meaning.
Couples are keen to hunt around, and it is a pleasure to pick up antiques with designers and add special elements to the space.
A dedicated muralist from the city of Savannah was invited to paint the restaurant mural and find the perfect antique chandelier for the restaurant, huge and heavy, simple and elegant, becoming an integral part of the restaurant.
Serene lowland swamp frescoes and white oak beams accentuate the soaring ceilings, floors feature Belgian bluestone, English antique dining tables and chandeliers, and French antique walnut sideboards paired with early 1920b British antiques.
Most importantly, the warmth of the couple set the tone for the cottage. They injected enough personality into the space that they even named each room:
▲The second-floor skylight room with wonderful imitation wooden wallpaper is named "Tree House";
▲ The living room with the spacious sofa is called the "Story House", where fairy tales and legends seem to be hidden and waiting to be found at any time.
But the best story is that the owner and wife also fell completely in love with the house. Once they just wanted to renovate it and continue as a hotel, now they have become happy "guests" themselves.
"I think we are now more aware than ever of how little we really need, especially when you discover that nature is truly a 'spiritual sanctuary.'"