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This Dreamy Riverfront Cottage Exudes the Lure of the Low Country
Tucked under a majestic live oak, a 1890s riverfront cottage gets thoughtfully updated for the next generation of paddleboarders and porch sitters.
Near the end of a 45-minute drive from Charleston down to a small riverfront village, there’s a speed bump at the town sign that the locals warn you about. “You had better slow down, or you’ll go flying,” says interior designer Jackye Lanham. It’s a fitting transition from busy city life to South Carolina’s Low Country, where weekends unfold at a sleepy pace. “It’s not fancy here,” Jackye says of the dirt road leading to a white clapboard cottage that she and architect Stan Dixon restored. “There’s no driveway; you park right on the grass.”
From the outside in, the riverside house looks as if it’s lived this way for more than 100 years, tucked under sprawling live oaks dripping in Spanish moss. Its seamless renovation makes it difficult to tell where the old two-story structure stops and the new additions begin. To drive the design choices behind the renovation of the storied retreat, Stan says he and Jackye dreamed up a narrative. “Our fictitious story was that this 1890s house would have been renovated over time, in the 1920s, the ’30s, and the ’40s...” The resulting polished patchwork of rooms seems added on through the decades. “We brought the original house back to its glory while adding on a new wing for a modern-day kitchen and larger gathering space, plus a primary bedroom on the main level,” he says.
Preserved elements of existing architecture, including quirks like beadboard walls set on a diagonal, go hand-in-hand with the newer spaces that weave present-day livability with yesteryear charm, right down to exposed light switch conduits and simple cabinetry trim made with flat boards. Still, the rooms don’t read as period pieces. Mostly, the homeowners wanted ample areas to stretch out together with visiting family and friends, which is why the wraparound porch offers plenty of spots to kick up your feet and watch the world float by. “It’s very serene,” says Stan. “You can hear the birds chirp and the wind blow by. It’s why people have weekend houses.”
Idyllic Setting
A majestic live oak frames this 1890s South Carolina cottage. Clad in white clapboard, black shutters, and a red hand-crimped metal roof, the cottage’s vernacular is familiar to the historic neighboring homes. A tall cabinet on one side of the porch holds an ice machine and coolers ready to wheel out to the back dock.
An Open-Door Policy
“The house is meant for people rolling in on the weekend, bringing lots of food, and piling in,” says architect Stan Dixon. A wall of French doors in the main gathering room helps accommodate the influx. “We wanted the house to open up and blur the thresholds of what’s inside and out,” he says. Earth-toned interiors with touches of coral reinforce that seamlessness, and comfortable furniture can move around as needed.
Take Note: To reinforce the feeling that the home had been added on to over the years, the ceiling of the kitchen area is lower than in the rest of the new great room, even though the space was conceived at once.
Walls with Character
Throughout the space, faded Turkish rugs soften the oak floors, and the creamy wall color reflects the Low Country light. “The color palette of mossy greens and coral reds, yellows, and browns that all look good together,” says designer Jackye Lanham. “That’s the way we unified the space where we had a lot of different things going on.” Painted reclaimed Charleston brick is stacked up along one wall in the gathering room. A wood-paneled door with iron strappings hides a storage closet next to the built-in firewood nook.
Get the Look:
Wall Paint Color: Shoji White by Sherwin-Williams
Help Yourself Open Shelving
Open shelves in the kitchen stock grab-and-go dishes so guests can help themselves. “All the built-ins are constructed in a way that felt like a carpenter at that time might have built them on-site,” says Stan, referencing both the flat-panel doors and charming wood valances on the cabinets that frame the doorway. Jackye had black diamonds painted directly on the floorboards, creating the pattern that defines the kitchen area within the larger open space. The wood island provides warm contrast to Georgia granite countertops (the same stone used to build the Federal Reserve building in Washington, D.C.). The black metal hood and backsplash, banded in place with studs, echoes the checkered floors and iron lanterns.
Take Note: The new island is made of cypress for an old-timey vintage look. Jackye took the top to artist Ray Goins, who painted the pattern and triple-sealed the surface. “It looks like a linoleum pattern from the 1940s with some wear to it,” she says.
A Simple Scullery
A ’40s-era Formica countertop edged in chrome sets a simple tone for the scullery-like back kitchen. Open shelves stretch across the window, providing a pretty spot for glass to reflect the South Carolina sunlight.
Get the Look:
Wall Paint Color: White Satin by Benjamin Moore
RELATED: Dreamy Open Shelving Ideas for Your Kitchen
A Dutch Door
A Dutch door in the back kitchen is the perfect passage to bring groceries inside without having to walk through the house. “We imagined the secondary kitchen had been renovated in the 1940s and topped with the cabinets and laminate countertops popular in the day,” Stan says.
A Dining Room-Meets-Library
In the original part of the cottage, including the library/dining room and bar (below), the existing southern pine beadboard walls are freshly painted a green-gray. “The wall paneling was set on a diagonal, which is very unique,” says Stan. During the renovation, his team dismantled the boards to update the wiring and install insulation, while keeping careful records so they could puzzle them back together. “We also left the wood on the ceilings because there was a certain patina and character to it that wouldn’t be possible for us to replace,” he says. New floor-to-ceiling bookcases help the dining area double as a cozy library; mismatched chairs reinforce a casual, come-as-you-are spirit.
Get the Look:
Beadboard Wall Paint Color: Magnetic Gray by Sherwin-Williams
A Bar with Patina
The bar, which also has the freshly painted southern pine beadboard walls, is outfitted with vintage and antique furniture.
Get the Look:
Beadboard Wall Paint Color: Magnetic Gray by Sherwin-Williams
A Quiet Entry
A separate side porch entry leads to the primary suite, which suggests it was originally an outbuilding later connected to the main house.
Cozy Quarters for Cat Naps
In the new primary bedroom, a vaulted ceiling with exposed rafters creates visual volume and makes room for a stately four-poster barley twist bed. “All of the beds [in the home] are made of wood to give that sense of cottage living,” says Jackye. “You don’t want a dust skirt or an upholstered headboard—that wouldn’t feel right.” The cornflower blue floral prints of the block-printed window coverings, coverlet, and pillows play into the rural countryside setting.
Get the Look:
Bed: by The Beautiful Bed Co.
Window Covering, Coverlet, and Pillow Fabrics: by Namay Samay
Serene Sunlight
In the primary bath, a primitive dressing table separates two marble-topped vanities with floating mirrors.
RELATED: Make Your Bathroom the Most Soulful Spot in the House with These Decorating Ideas
Charming Corridors
A side entry corridor in the new primary suite addition holds a built-in cabinet to store outdoor cushions. The antique bench has drawers to stow away smaller items, like swimming goggles, while peg rail is handy for grabbing a hat on the way out the door. An operable transom window above the paneled door helps circulate air. “The fact that it isn’t a built-in closet adds another piece of charm,” Jackye says.
A Splash of Yellow
To encourage more socializing on the breezy porch or in the big gathering room, the bedrooms are intentionally on the smaller side. In this guest room, a uniquely curved alcove frames the spindle bed, while a brown kilim rug grounds the room and complements the lemon curd yellow walls.
Get the Look:
Wall Paint Color: Echelon Ecru by Sherwin-Williams
Spindle Bed: by The Beautiful Bed Co.
RELATED: Our Best Bedroom Paint Color Ideas for a Restful and Inviting Space
Indoor-Outdoor Rooms
Guests in the downstairs spare bedroom have their own private entrance to the wrap-around porch and swing. “This is a great spot for morning coffee. Your eye draws you to the water and you get a peek at the island where the family goes shelling on the other side,” Jackye says.
Nautical Overlook
On the upstairs landing, vintage oars flank a window overlooking the front yard. The framed flag was a gift from the homeowners’ grown children. Throughout the upstairs of the original cottage, Jackye painted the floorboards a misty neutral gray.
Get the Look:
Floor Paint Color: Front Porch by Sherwin Williams
Cheery Cherry
In another guest bedroom, twiggy vine wallpaper provides a sweet contrast to the cherry red painted dresser and Jenny Lind twin beds. The bird prints are vintage.
Get the Look:
Wallpaper: “Leafy Scroll” by Schumacher
One-of-a-Kind Artwork
Open transoms in an upstairs guest bath allow light in from the water closet. The homeowner’s framed needlepoint adds a homespun touch. Jackye brought in subtle pattern with a painted stripe floor. Stan designed and built the marble-topped vanity and exposed the original chimney brick during the renovation. The architect created visual interest by juxtaposing wide vertical with narrow horizontal boards in the small space.
Get the Look:
Floor Paint Colors: Front Porch by Sherwin-Williams
and Chantilly Lace by Benjamin Moore
RELATED: Brilliant Ideas for Painted Floors
Weekend Gathering Spot
The music room provides a smaller space to catch up on conversations. The wicker seating’s cushions, Turkish rug, and gingham draperies continue the whole-house, all-season, color palette of browns, creams, and mustard yellows.
Play Time
Guitar sessions and board games are regular occurances in the music room. “It’s the kind of place where you play cards, work puzzles—you know, stuff you don’t do during the week,” says Stan.
Sweet Tea, Sweeter Views
French doors from the main kitchen open onto the wrap-around screened-in porch. The space, outfitted with wicker and rattan furniture—including a rattan table that stands in as a makeshift bar—is yet another example of the unfussy character the cottage embodies, even in the new additions. Sailboats float between the family’s shore and the nearby island where they go shelling, and there’s a shrimp boat that comes in daily. “There’s fishing, kayaking, and paddleboarding, but the real purpose for a house like this is about spending time together and creating a place where people can get away,” says Stan. On a late afternoon, the homeowners might also stroll over to the nearby sailing club, where one of them plays live music with a band on an unadorned stage. “It has a Dirty Dancing vibe to it.”
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