There are few well-kept secrets in Charleston anymore, but John De Zinna and his son, Anthony De Zinna, and their company, Coastal Cottages of South Carolina, might be one of them. Coastal Cottages is a family-owned custom homebuilder that is intentionally small so that it can be exceptionally nimble for custom homes. This is the builder to call if you want what you want, even if it’s challenging or quirky. The De Zinnas are also the people to call if you want a traditional Lowcountry home and value strong work ethics, creative problem-solving, quality, straight talk and a top-notch sense of humor in your builder.
President and founder John De Zinna moved to Charleston from Pennsylvania just after Hurricane Hugo in 1989. There was so much work to be done here that outside construction crews relocated for months. De Zinna owned a framing company up North, and his crew had the capacity to help in Charleston, so he moved temporarily. As longtime locals know, in the aftermath of the hurricane, many homeowners were taken advantage of by fake or fly-by-night construction companies or inexperienced workers looking for quick cash. De Zinna quickly gained a reputation for being honest and highly skilled, and his crew ended up fixing problems less ethical builders left behind.
De Zinna fell in love with the Lowcountry and decided to stay, continuing to renovate and rebuild homes all over the tri-county area. In 1994, he expanded his company with Palmetto Wood Floors, which is still in operation today. One of his skills is the ability to think around corners. He felt the area off Clements Ferry Road was poised for growth, and he became one of the builders in Nelliefield Plantation, a beautiful, family-friendly community on Daniel Island.
When his son, Anthony, graduated from Wando High School in 1999, he worked for a couple of national builders and then transitioned to working with his dad in 2019. Today, he is the construction manager and chief problem solver for all of the company’s projects.
The De Zinnas don’t advertise because their community connections are so strong that all their business is done by word of mouth. One of those connections led to a project for a longtime acquaintance who wanted to remodel their home in Mount Pleasant’s Old Village. “The clients have had the property since 2001; it was an older house,” Anthony De Zinna says. “They wanted to remodel it, so we went through the numbers, and they decided it would be better just to build a new house.”
Architect Tyler Smyth worked with the clients to understand their needs and design a home that would fit their lifestyle. “It’s a small property, about 8,000 square feet, which is small by Old Village standards,” he says. “They were keen on having at least two garage bays and an elevator; those were requirements.” Those requirements meant the garage had to be under the house to accommodate the small lot. Additionally, it’s a low lot, and the home needed to be quite a bit higher than the existing grade due to FEMA regulations.
The problem was that the Old Village discouraged elevated houses and front-facing garage bays. “We worked with the review board to get them to understand we’d have a friendly street-level presentation,” Smyth says. “We put in some fill so you could drive under the house. Then we had to design the elevation to trick the eyes so they could have front-facing garage bays that weren’t obvious.” The garage doors are deeply recessed from the front façade, putting them in shadow that the eye skips right over. The garage door design mimics the wood foundation panels, camouflaging them further. The entry porch and foyer were designed to be much lower than first-floor height, so the homeowners aren’t towering over their neighbors when they’re on their porch. In other words, Smyth designed an elevated house that would meet the client’s needs and FEMA requirements and cleverly disguised it to look like a non-elevated house.
The result is a 3,700-square-foot, modern Lowcountry home with four bedrooms and four and a half baths. Downstairs is the homeowners’ domain, while upstairs is designed for guests. “The first floor is theirs,” De Zinna says. “On the second floor, there are three bedrooms, three bathrooms and a living room. You go up there and stay up there.” He’s kidding, but he’s not. The design allows the homeowners to welcome frequent houseguests while giving everyone their privacy and space. The upstairs living room is also home to the largest TV in the house, a favorite place to watch movies and sports.
“Tyler designed the home to fit the neighborhood,” De Zinna says. “It looks like it’s been there forever, and small details give the impression it’s an existing home that’s been added to over time.”
As we enter, the foyer sits seven steps below the main living area. The synergy of the team, the De Zinnas, Smyth and interior designer Taylor Lunceford is apparent in this small, welcoming and highly functional space. Smyth designed the foyer with a coat closet and powder room framed by arched doors that give the modern space an old-world feel.
Lunceford added the dramatic elements. “The client saw the tile on a show on HGTV and fell in love with it. I found the manufacturer, Paris Ceramics, and we ordered the ‘Mystic White’ and ‘Mystic Dark Grey’ marble in 16-by-16-inch squares. We decided to use it in the foyer to create a bold welcome to the home,” she says. “It paired perfectly with the arched antique heart pine doors we found from an antiques dealer in Virginia. The doorknobs were sourced from the same dealer and date back to 1890.”
Anthony De Zinna and his crew put it all together. “Ninety percent of the trim in the house was special order,” he says. “The sunken foyer area is just above the flood zone, and no special flood requirements were required due to the way it was designed. The curved stairway was really challenging. Southern Lumber and Southern Staircase had a hand in all of this; they’re all we use, and they’re awesome.”
The curved stairway continues a gentle undulation to the second floor. The main floor has an open kitchen, living and dining room, and the primary bedroom. The kitchen is a master class in combining new materials to give a space a timeless feel. “The client wanted the kitchen to be warm and inviting,” Lunceford says. “They were set on having a walnut island to help create that warmth. We used a warm gray on the cabinets and tile splash to add warmth and pull the gray tones from the quartzite. The architect designed the kitchen and the rounded peninsula, which is the perfect transition between the kitchen and the keeping room.”
“There are so many parts in the kitchen that were really specific,” De Zinna says. “It took us months of designing and reviewing with just the cabinets, but they turned out phenomenal.” Off-white cabinets with gleaming brass hardware on the sink wall contrast nicely with the warm wood kitchen island and wood beams that frame the kitchen entries. Bar seating has a curved marble top that mimics the arches and curves in other parts of the house. The downstairs living area off the kitchen is wrapped in white shiplap with rows of orderly horizontal windows on one wall and columns of vertical floor-to-ceiling windows on the other.
The kitchen’s elegance translates to the primary bedroom and bath, which also have a soft gray and white aesthetic. In the owner’s bathroom, more black-and-white marble tile is laid in a checkerboard, and warm, dark wood vanities give the room additional old-world elegance.
While this home is cozy and welcoming, it has more than a few grand moments. One of those is the curved stairway with board-and-batten paneling. Up the stairs are the three generous guest rooms with baths and a comfortable living area.
Inside and out, the house is a study in contrasts—whether it’s the combination of horizontal and vertical lines with curved arches and finishes or the mix of clean, contemporary materials anchored by more traditional or old-world elements, the home feels like an updated version of a traditional Old Village residence.
“I’m really happy with how it turned out,” De Zinna says. “It was a complex project. There are different foundation heights; the roof is straight, except one section in the middle is rounded, which created a challenge; and Tyler wanted brick chimney caps, which I had to figure out how to create to endure a 140-mile-per-hour wind zone. I’m really meticulous about everything we do. We pay extra attention to what people love about a home, and I’m proud of how it came out.”
Smyth agrees. “We’re really pleased with how it turned out. It doesn’t look like every other house in the Old Village. We’re happy with the elevation composition and the visual interest on the front. We enjoyed Anthony; he was friendly to work with, always on top of things and listened to our ideas. It was also great to work with Taylor; she’s fantastic,” he says.
Lunceford was also happy with the result. “Working with the builder and the architect was great. Since an existing house on the lot had to be approved for demolition, the architect was working with a small lot and height restrictions because of the neighborhood. Still, he created a beautiful, functional design. Anthony was great with communicating and made the process very easy and enjoyable, and they built a beautiful home. I am very pleased with the outcome, and I know the clients are too,” she says.
Looking back over the last 35 years, John De Zinna reflects on how his company has remained stable and competitive in the Charleston market. “We like to make it an enjoyable experience for our clients,” he says. “We laugh all the time. Our clients appreciate the lightheartedness while we’re getting the job done. It can be very stressful, and a lot of money is involved. The easier it is to deal with your builder, the easier the whole process is.” He also attributes the company’s success to its cost-plus model.
“We’re an open-book company,” Anthony De Zinna says. “My dad set it up like that. With a lot of builders, you’ll get a two-line proposal. We get bids on everything and show it to you. You get to see every invoice. Our willingness to be flexible sets us apart from everyone else.” *
Robin Howard is a freelance writer in Charleston. See more of her work at robinhowardwrites.com.
