FRESH START

HARRISON DESIGN CREATES THE PERFECT GETAWAY HOME ON GEORGIA'S SEA ISLAND.

- NANCY A. RUHLING

For years, Susan Smith longed for a beach house where she could hang out with and entertain family and friends.

Her husband, Jay, wasn't so keen on the idea. A second house, he reasoned, wouldn't be relaxing: It would mean more work and responsibility.

But when they discovered Georgia's Sea Island, an idyllic, ride-your-bike-everywhere community within a comfortable driving distance from their Atlanta home, his doubts dissolved.

"Sea Island is beautifully remote and beautifully not remote at the same time," Susan says. "It's a quiet residential area in a hotel setting." 

Originally, the Smiths were going to expand and renovate the existing house, but after consulting Bulent Baydar, the principal architect in Harrison Design's Atlanta office, they decided to erect a new house.

His team, in collaboration with the firm's St. Simons Island office, executed the design, and Joe Bowles Construction, based in St. Simons Island, Georgia, built it.

The couple added one large caveat: They wanted to preserve the live oaks that dot the 1.2-acre wooded property and to take advantage of the views of the marsh.

"Most of the trees are over 100 years old," Susan says, adding that "it's a house of the trees." 

The L-shaped farmhouse weaves around the live oaks, including the magnificent one outside the living/dining area that is the centerpiece of the home's original wooden deck.

Although Sea Island requires residences to be in a traditional style, the Smiths envisioned a more contemporary aesthetic, which is why the Harrison team decided to design a farmhouse that "creates the impression of generational architecture" that evolved over time, Baydar says.