Sometimes the road home finds us rather than the other way around. Longtime clients of Atlanta-based design luminary Suzanne Kasler had long imagined a second home: a place where they could savor long weekends and vacations in tranquil bliss. But the question was: Where? Truett, who also owns a home there, understands the vernacular of Sea Island architecture. He set out to design a house that adheres to the style seen in many of the island’s historic homes, all built in the 1920s. “Mediterranean Revival architecture is the identity of Sea Island,” Truett says. “This house needed to feel like it had been here for a long time. And with the water so close by, it was also all about building a house to take advantage of the views.” “Los Angeles design bridges the spaces within a house to take advantage of the moderate climate,” Kasler says. “I wanted my clients to understand the scale of the furniture that would be unfolding in their home. We visited showrooms and made selections for tile and permanent architectural details in the place where this style is so familiar and expected.” Kasler then purposefully staged those well-considered picks in the Sea Island home to work in tandem with architecture that unfailingly connects indoors and out. While a walk through the front door into the foyer impresses with water views straight out the rear of the house, a pivot in the opposite direction provides equally poetic sight lines. Under the sweeping staircase, the light tones of a blue bergère from Dennis & Leen juxtapose a dark finish on the antique Italian table. Aqua-hue ceramic lamps from Christopher Spitzmiller pull color from trim on Gregorius Pineo upholstered chairs, a wool rug from Mansour, and a Fortuny lumbar pillow. Leather bar stools with nailhead trim from Ballard Designs repeat the color of backsplash tile from Ann Sacks. Cabinetry knobs and pulls are from Rocky Mountain Hardware. A crystal-and-gilded chandelier elegantly hangs over a Spanish-style table from Formations and cane chairs from Dennis & Leen in the formal dining room. Windows were more of an architectural priority in this house than wall space, which left minimal opportunities to display artwork. But Kasler made the most of a spot here, where a colorful abstract by Peter Burega references the caramel and blue tones of the furniture. Quiet patterns include windowpane plaid on the Hickory Chair wing chair, animal print on a sofa pillow, and a floral motif on the Mansour rug. Executed in blue and white, the primary suite is full of texture and pattern, including an array of wood finishes, a carved panel over the bed from Dennis & Leen, and quilted linen and velvet fabrics. “Houses on Sea Island allude to a lifestyle more than a weekend situation,” Kasler says. “Designing this home to be sophisticated and simple through editing makes it livable for every day.” Arches adorn the shaded alfresco gathering space, which is delineated into two gathering zones: a comfortable lounge spot and a dining area punctuated by wide blue and white stripes on chairs from Michael Taylor.
