A Coastal Home Grows…Up and Out

When the White’s bought their first home it was just the two of them, but six years later they were expecting twins. So, they decided they needed help to develop a design to raise the roof and add on.

The original house had about 2,447 sq. ft. of heated area that contained three bedrooms and two baths. One of the bedrooms was used as a home office for Mrs. White and needed to stay that way. They needed two more bedrooms, a dining room, a playroom, powder room, laundry room and new garage.  

 The main living space in the existing house had a grand vaulted ceiling that the owner’s wanted to preserve and their lot didn’t have much room for growing the house out. Oh, then there were the views…the beautiful riverfront views needed to be maintained along with the compact backyard. This project would require some creative solutions.

The solution was to go up and out in the front of the house. The existing den would be expanded and transformed into the new dining room complete with a side passage to the kitchen with pantry storage and access to the new laundry room and garage. A central hall and foyer would be added for much needed ease of circulation and entertaining space while the existing garage would become the new playroom and media space. A stair was added off the foyer along with a powder room and coat closet.  The foyer, hall, and dining room were designed with an open floor plan separated by columns with arched headers.  A vestibule was added off the dining room with a built-in butler's pantry for china and glassware storage and serving.  There is easy access from the garage to both the foyer and laundry room.

The addition upstairs would house the bedrooms for the boys along with a full bath complete with double vanity sinks and a separate tub and toilet room.  By separating the tub and toilet from the vanity area, it is now easy for one child to be brushing his teeth while the other showers.  It is an ideal arrangement for siblings or guests.  Each bedroom has double closets.  The linen closet in the hall supplies bedding and bath linens for each room providing convenience and ease of use. 

The addition allowed for the family to remain in the home during construction since the major living spaces remained intact and untouched. The addition was sealed off from the main house to reduce dust and debris from entering the home during the renovation.

The new home was expanded to 3,937 sq. ft. and has given the family all the room they need to live and grow. All of the important elements of the existing house were preserved and the addition looks like it was meant to be there. Guests to the house cannot believe that the expansion is even an addition, commenting that they would have never known if they hadn’t been told.

The clients love their new home and all the flexibility and openness of the plan. It has made it possible for them to remain in the house they love for many, many years to come.  The serene views and gentle breeze will be shared by their expanding family allowing them to raise their children in this amazing setting.  It is an ideal addition for their family and one they never imagined could be so perfect. In fact, they said they like it almost as much as the view...

Why Building a Home or Renovation to “Meet Code” spells TROUBLE…

You know they exist, but you’ve probably never seen them. I am not referring to the rare Orange Billed Nightingale-Thrush, I am referring to the International Residential Code. The 2006 IRC for One and Two-Family Dwellings is the gospel of the residential building industry in South Carolina. Even if you have undertaken a residential building project or hired a contractor to build an addition or renovation for you, you have most likely not read the entire 611 page document and you probably know very little about what is in there. That’s not the scary part though. The scary part is that your contractor has probably not ever read the code either, and even if they have and even if they have followed it to the letter, your project still may not contain the level of quality you expect.


The codes are designed to provide a minimum level of protection and safety. They are not designed to increase your property value, improve your home’s character and function, or guarantee that your addition will not look like an addition at all. The sole purpose of the code is to prevent your home from falling down on top of you, spontaneously bursting into flame, filling with toxic fumes, flooding with electrically charged water, or otherwise presenting itself as a death trap. The codes are concerned with life safety and are written in an attempt to protect the home owner and other occupants from unnecessary injury.



The codes are updated every three years and try to keep up with changes in construction materials, methods, and technology. Typically changes made in the code are a reaction to recurring or catastrophic events. For example, recent code changes include items related to fire safety such as requirements for sprinkler systems. These changes have been on the table for a number of years, but did not gain the support necessary for inclusion in the code until a group of college students recently perished in a fairly new built beach house that caught fire. It is vitally important that the building codes be followed, but it is not enough to guarantee that your project will be built to meet your quality of standards.



Like I mentioned before, the codes define minimum standards. If you think that because your contractor is building your new $500,000 home to “meet code” that you will actually have a home that is worth $500,000; then you would be wrong. Homes built to “meet code” have bounce in the floor, cracks in the sheetrock or brick, little to no sound isolation between rooms, stairs and hallways that you cannot move furniture in or out of, doorways that you cannot fit a wheelchair through, room sizes that would satisfy only the smallest of people, and inefficient mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems. Your home needs to be designed with greater quality and attention than the IRC requires. To add value and to allow your home to continue to appreciate in value, your home needs to be designed above and beyond what the code instructs. Do not trust one of your largest financial investments to a builder or contractor that promises to provide you with a home that will “meet code”. The only home you deserve and the only home you should ever build needs to exceed code.  It needs to be designed by a professional who knows what TROUBLE is and how to avoid it.

.