Situated midway between Atlanta and Augusta, Georgia’s Lake Oconee is a cherished, if somewhat under-the-radar, destination for folks across the Southeast. To weekenders like Jen and Mark Kimsey, it’s a perfect place to boat, fish or just get away from it all. The Macon, Georgia, dwellers had already considered properties in both Carolinas for their vacation retreat when a friend suggested they look closer to home. Then they saw it: several serene acres right on the water, sprinkled with huge granite boulders and nestled among lofty Georgia pines. The quest was over. “I grew up along the Sierra Nevada in California, and these rocks remind me of home,” Jen shares.
To construct an abode that would be as comfortable when it was just the two of them during quick escapes with their dogs or for lengthier stays with family and friends, the couple turned to residential designers Paige and Haley Ruhl. The mother-and-daughter duo listened intently as the owners described the “modern mountain” residence they envisioned: a place that would celebrate its lakeside setting while supplying a tailored refuge. The Ruhls responded with enthusiasm, drawing up plans for a rambling compound that would appear as if it had evolved over time.
Their blueprint centered on two houses linked by paths that meander throughout the rolling landscape. Sitting close to the water and boasting a massive stone fireplace, the cozy guesthouse touts two suites and a bunk-bed loft, all wrapped in a profusion of reclaimed wood. Integrating similar gabled details along with stone and cedar, the main house exudes a more contemporary and clean-lined aesthetic. Open to the lake on one side, sheltered by granite boulders on the other, and built over a ravine that now flows with water, it reflects the Kimsey’s informal lifestyle and love for entertaining thanks to its easy flow between the main rooms.
Members of the Ruhls’ construction team were pouring the foundations when interior designer Jamie Krywicki Wilson joined the project, then worked step-for-step with Paige and Haley to bring the interiors to life. “Mark wanted the house to be a little industrial, and Jen wanted bright and airy,” Wilson shares. “So, our goal was to keep it fresh and integrate classic materials in modern ways.”
Linking the material palette to the surrounding panorama meant using plenty of stone inside and out—plus wide-plank floors to harmonize with white oak millwork and ceilings. Wilson layered this backdrop with tactile textiles: velvets and bouclés embellished in shades of teal blue, olive green and rust red. Wilson also sourced porcelain slabs for the kitchen and primary bathroom that she likens to “a Calacatta Borghini look-alike.” Adds Haley: “We share an appreciation for raw, living materials, but we like to push our clients toward user-friendly options. Mark loves to cook, and he didn’t want to worry about splattering pasta sauce on a precious marble backsplash.”
Other details, such as the floating steel-and-glass cabinets between the kitchen and bar area, were partly inspired by the couple’s travels. “Mark liked a similar feature at a hotel where they stayed in the Caribbean,” Wilson says. “This element allows visual separation between spaces, yet you still get that great view of the lake.”
Paneled with rustic wood to evoke the same feel as the guesthouse, the screened porch is Mark’s favorite spot to relax before a roaring fire. The design team achieved a similar rusticity in the primary bedroom. With windows on three sides and a stone wall behind the bed, Haley says, it feels as if it’s immersed in the forest. “We stained the shiplap dark—so your visual focus goes outside,” she continues. Strengthening that natural connection was a frequent collaborator of the Ruhls: landscape designer Steve Noles. He strategically pruned plantings to craft views toward the lake, also laying trails that wind around the granite outcroppings beneath maples, river birches and crepe myrtles along with indigenous loblolly pines, hickory and poplar trees.
As the Kimseys continue to settle in, their property’s latest construction project—a miniature barn for the family’s newest members, two baby Kunini pigs—offers further evidence that the getaway was designed with room to grow. It’s little wonder that the couple finds it difficult to leave after ever-longer stays. “It’s so breathtakingly beautiful here,” Jen concludes. “We intend to make this our forever home.”
