22 www.CharlestonWomenPodcast.com | www.ReadCW.com | www.Instagram.com /CharlestonWomen Where is the home located? We live on Ellis Creek in James Island, in the gated neighborhood Riverside at Ellis Oaks. How does the home represent the Lowcountry vibe? We left downtown after nine years to have more space for our young daughters. We live right on the water with quick access to it and our boat via our dock. We have an awesome rope swing that all our friends enjoy at high tide, and we spend a ton of time on our back porch sitting- and dining-areas. We love to unwind by watching sunsets with a glass of wine in hand. Our house overlooks the marsh, which is ever changing with the tides. What is unique about the home? We set our house up for entertaining both kids and adults, encouraging everyone to embrace the indoor/ outdoor living concept. Kids have plenty of room in the surrounding backyard to run around and play basketball, ping pong, fuse ball and pickleball. Our living room opens by two sets of French doors onto our back porch, which is perfect for many adults to enjoy. We’ve had many an oyster roast and even a couple blue grass bands entertain our friends. We also did a pretty major renovation and added a garage, a climate-controlled storage area, a mother-in-law suite and office above the garage. We did it with Elizabeth and Greg Allen of Allen Construction. Elizabeth is the architect and Greg is the contractor — a great husbandand-wife team. What was your landscaping strategy? We used Sanford Byers and Garrett Mattes to do our landscaping design on paper. However, Tony Hernandez of TH Landscaping implemented the design and has maintained the property since we moved in. Tony has been helping me for the last 15-plus years. Our landscaping strategy is to keep it easy to maintain and green at all times with some flowering spring plants. We added a small fishpond on the property and have some small koi and goldfish, as we loved the water feature we had when we lived downtown. How does the home represent your family? Our home represents us perfectly, and we have loved living here for the last six years. It’s a great home for entertaining and a great neighborhood to raise our kids. We decorated it with the help of Jenny Keenan Designs and were able to incorporate some unique antique pieces but keep it very livable. We also have an extensive collection of 1800s French waterscape paintings from Geoff’s mom that we were able to incorporate all over the downstairs. They make quite a statement, especially in the dining room and going up the stairs. Charleston Women at Home The Gray Home Life and laughter by the water A step away from the dock. Small details make a house a home. Modern lowcountry living on the water.
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