There’s No Shortage Of Fun In This Colorful S.C. Country Estate

Details

Large hallway with white trim...

The entryway of this Greer, South Carolina home by architect D. Stanley Dixon and designer Dustin Fowler makes a bold first impression with a graphic Kelly Wearstler for Groundworks wallcovering. Fowler accented the room’s classic bones and neutral palette with bursts of color, including pillows of yellow Designers Guild velvet atop a Mr. Brown London sofa. Currey & Company’s Albion chandelier strikes an organic note above.

Sideboard topped with a pair...

Fowler worked closely with homeowner Laurin Patton to fashion interiors that would balance classic and contemporary. In the entryway, aged brass shades add patina to Mr. Brown London’s Strada table lamps, supported by a Ray Booth-designed credenza for Hickory Chair donning a chalk finish and marble top. The abstract artwork was purchased through Soicher Marin.

Motor court and facade of...

To give the grounds a more established feel, landscape designer Dabney Peeples created a motor court using antique European cobblestones from Monarch Stone International, installed by Kenny Collins and the team at The Collins Group. Indiana buff limestone from Cutting Edge Stone in Alpharetta, Georgia, complements the stately façade by Atlanta architect D. Stanley Dixon.

Open-format, double-height living room with...

Designer Dustin Fowler took a light-hearted approach in the living room, where groupings of colorful prints by Georgia artist Susan Hable for Soicher Marin supply modern contrasts to the classic architecture. A Suzanne Kasler-designed sofa for Hickory Chair continues the color story in pink RMCOCO fabric, accented by pillows in Designers Guild’s Shikhara Berry textile.

Bright dining room with emerald...

In the dining area, Mr. Brown London dining chairs and Hickory Chair armchairs, both donning a durable Perennials emerald velvet, sidle up to a Ray Booth-designed dining table. Fowler had the Lowcountry Originals chandelier customized in a dark bronze-and-brass finish. Clerestory windows—two of several Dixon specified for the house—amplify the natural light.

Upstairs loft game room with...

What was once untapped attic space became a game room at the encouragement of Fowler. Dixon revised his plans to accommodate the upstairs lounge, where ring-shaped Ralph Lauren chandeliers accent the paneled ceiling. Hable-designed stools for Hickory Chair pair with a supple leather Century Furniture swivel chair and pillows of Schumacher’s Corfu Stripe linen.

Open-format kitchen with skylight, a...

In the kitchen, dual Wolf ranges from Jeff Lynch improve cooking efficiency. Fowler was intimately involved in detailing the M&M Custom Woodworks cabinetry and selecting the Colorado Lincoln marble used for the countertops, vent hood and backsplash. The counter stools are by Lee Industries. Kelly Wearstler’s Cleo pendants for Visual Comfort & Co. frame the skylight above.

Pantry with charcoal cabinetry, black-and-white...

Marble checkerboard floors by G.B.I. Tile and Stone lay the foundation for a high-contrast breakfast pantry. Handmade terra-cotta tiles by Marble Systems give the walls an intriguing texture, while Benjamin Moore’s Wrought Iron on the cabinets contrasts polished bronze Rocky Mountain Hardware from ProSource. The black-and-white prints are through Soicher Marin.

Light and bright bathroom with...

The main bathroom is a restful retreat thanks to a wash of Sherwin-Williams’ Pure White on Dixon’s gapped-board paneling. Thomas O’Brien sconces for Circa Lighting and Water Street Brass hardware accent a vanity by M&M Custom Woodworks. Calacatta Gold Extra marble, from Marmi Natural Stone in Norcross, Georgia, frames the shower, while Walker Zanger mosaic tiles from Clayton Tile span the floors.

Contemporary bedroom with abstract black...

In the main bedroom, a Kelly Wearstler-designed lamp and chandelier bring dynamic energy to Vanguard Furniture’s Cleo bed, which Fowler customized to an exaggerated height. Draperies of reversed green Romo linen offset Wendover Art Group prints. In the window alcove, Bernhardt swivel chairs and a Lillian August ottoman provide a cozy refuge for enjoying the bucolic views.

There’s a conventional wisdom about wide-open spaces. In a place with fewer distractions, less traffic and unfettered access to nature, simple pleasures, night skies full of stars and room to spread one’s wings all arrive in abundance. Standing before a parcel of land they’d held onto for several years on the rural outskirts of Greer, South Carolina, Tab and Laurin Patton had a similar vision in mind. Initially, they’d purchased the 60-plus acres of rolling green pastures for their proximity to family (right next to Laurin’s mother’s house, in fact). But with three young daughters at ages defined by discovery, the couple’s own imaginations engaged with thoughts of the family homestead they could create—complete with proverbial room to grow.

Having built numerous homes together in the past (the pair co-founded a commercial construction business in 2002), Tab and Laurin launched the project with a well-considered list of must-haves, the most significant being elevation. Happy to trade their former, three-story residence for a single-story manse that would permit aging in place, they embraced the possibility of a forever home.

“We wanted every space in the house to be used,” Laurin explains. “We find it much easier to have everything on one level, with wide passageways, so it can grow with us as we grow older—no matter what.” For Tab and Laurin, that would require a certain timelessness, which is precisely why they tapped Atlanta-based architect D. Stanley Dixon to design it.

“The couple had been drawn to our traditional architecture, but with a cleaner, more edited approach,” Dixon notes. Though regarded for his modern take on classicism, “I was impressed that Stan had designed residences in so many varied styles, and I liked them all,” Laurin says. “His designs are all classic—yes—but they’re not all the same.”

Approaching the sprawling plot with intentions of anchoring it, Dixon saw only opportunities. “With the relatively flat land, there weren’t many preexisting limitations, and the size of the property gave us an incredible amount of freedom and flexibility,” expresses the architect, who collaborated with project manager Robert Smith and project architect Clark Templeton. “We had an incredible palette to work with.” 

Dixon based his design loosely on English precedent—think high-pitched, gabled roofs; painted brick; clerestory windows—but also took artistic license. “Since it’s in the rural South, the house feels like a blend of English country with rural Southern forms of architecture,” he explains. “It’s a loose, edited take on traditional forms.” Varying ceiling heights throughout imparted a sense of rhythm and kept the home from appearing too low within its setting, while wings for the private domains, including back-of-house spaces and bedrooms for the Patton’s daughters, provided privacy and introduced natural light from all sides. 

Landscape designer Dabney Peeples devised ways to make the residence feel at one with its setting. Conceived with project lead Nathan Schaupp, his plan included accents of young white-oak trees, flowering evergreen shrubs and hardy Bermuda grass turf. Two species of boxwoods—American and Korean wintergreen—combine with an understated motor court of antique Belgian cobblestones to reinforce the home’s European appeal.

If their home’s bones were meant to be timeless, then the Pattons wanted its interiors to feel current. Enlisting Dustin Fowler, a designer who’d already teamed up with Dixon in the past, guaranteed a cohesive yet exuberant world conceived with the daughters top of mind. “From the very first meeting, Laurin said, ‘We want this to be a family house, a fun house.’ So, it needed to be playful in all aspects, but also comfortable and stylish.” Fowler says.

Most pivotal was the kitchen, which would be open-format and inviting, but also functional. Fowler was intimately involved in the design of the cabinetry, down to the smallest detail. “This space was about bringing the three girls into the kitchen to have fun and make messes—baking cookies, dying Easter eggs, everyday cooking,” Fowler notes. “Having two islands allowed all the extra space for those activities.”

Since the Pattons wished to furnish the residence from scratch, Fowler could get creative. Inviting Laurin along on sourcing trips throughout the project proved key to learning exactly what she loved: a crisp palette of black and white layered with plenty of pattern and small doses of vibrant color. Artworks by Athens, Georgia, artist Susan Hable, for instance, add pops of brightness throughout, while a Kindah Khalidy abstract—which Tab and Fowler commissioned just for Laurin—takes pride of place in the main bedroom. 

“What I like is that Dustin can work with so many different styles but tailor them to a client,” Laurin sums. “He took the time to get to know us and what our interests are, then used that knowledge to create spaces we love.” Dixon’s approach to architecture, Laurin adds, was just as impeccable: “I like that it won’t look like we built our house in 2020. It will stand the test of time.”