See A Sprawling South Carolina Homestead At One With The Landscape

High atop Paris Mountain in Greenville, South Carolina, the horizon unfurls like a dynamic canvas, its mist-veiled ridgelines shifting from verdant green to hazy blue to golden sunset. On nearly 50 acres of forest and meadow—overlooking downtown in one direction and the picturesque village of Travelers Rest in another—interior designer Tish Mills Kirk’s longtime clients, a Greenville native and his Atlanta-born wife, set out to compose their next chapter.

After years spent in Texas and Atlanta, the couple envisioned a sanctuary that wove together the relaxed sprawl of ranch living with the poetic beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains. As frequent entertainers and with a passion for outdoor living, their dream dwelling needed to be laid-back enough for daily life with their four Labrador retrievers, yet expansive enough to comfortably host family and friends for short durations or extended stays.

If the landscape served as the clients’ canvas, then Mills Kirk, residential designer Rick Hatch and landscape architect Eric King were their artistic collaborators. With general contractor Will Hines, the team devised a unique composition: three distinct structures— a single-story, one-bedroom main home; a two-bedroom guesthouse; and a barn with living quarters upstairs and garage bays on the ground floor—connected by a series of walkways, porches, terraces and lawns.

Achieving such a setup required meticulous siting of the property in collaboration with the owners. Height and orientation were calibrated to meld the home with its environment while capturing 360-degree panoramas inside and out. This technical planning allows the layout to yield moments of poetry, including stunning sunset views from the covered terrace and abundant morning light in the primary suite.

In true Texas prairie fashion, the landscaping “blends the home into its surroundings rather than trying to dominate its natural setting,” explains King, who selected plant species based on the local prevalence of deer and incorporated ornamental grasses to reflect the adjacent meadow. “Clean, simple, natural and beautiful,” he says of the material selections.

Architecturally, sleek forms, low-pitched rooflines and vaulted ceilings echo the language of ranch-style living, while abundant windows frame the horizon at every opportunity. “They wanted to see through the house wherever they could,” Hatch explains. “Daylight views, existing trees, all of those were part of the design.”

Likewise, Mills Kirk blurred the lines between the interiors and nature. Low-maintenance porcelain tile floors, chosen for their dog-friendly durability, extend seamlessly indoors and out. In the vaulted main room, Mills Kirk created different zones for living, entertaining and dining without impairing sight lines, so that the multiuse space feels inseparable from its mountain backdrop.

A color palette of greens, teals and blues, which are joined by neutral hues, embodies the sweeping mountain vistas and “connects it all into one experience,” the designer says. Similarly, the absence of embellishments such as molding or window treatments allows the natural landscape to serve as a design element of its own. “It’s a live painting out each of the different windows,” Mills Kirk reflects. “It’s like living in artwork.”