The amount of outdoor living space on three levels rivals the interior.

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A built-in bar, custom wine cabinet with floor-to-ceiling glass, and views of sunsets over the Atlantic Ocean make the dining room a special gathering place for family dinners.

Aramore Construction’s clients recently moved from Charlotte, North Carolina, into this newly constructed contemporary coastal home on Sullivan’s Island. The homeowner says: “My wife has always been a beach girl; she grew up going to the Outer Banks. I’m super lucky she dragged me along with her to the coast to live permanently. I wasn’t sure if I was too type A to move to Sullivan’s, but I’ve found my Zen here.”

The couple intentionally spent their lives putting their family’s needs first, so they didn’t initiate the dreamed-about move to the Lowcountry until their three children grew up and moved away to college. “We sold our Charlotte home to a young couple across the street with a baby boy,” the wife says. “They were just starting their family, and it felt like the timing was meant to be.”

They brought the family-first theme into their new home, asking their chosen design and construction team of architect Carl McCants of Mc3 Designs and custom homebuilder Zac Naramore of Naramore Construction to create their forever home in a style already familiar to them. “My wife’s parents had a coastal home with an inverted floor plan. We asked our team to create the same for us to maximize ocean views,” the homeowner says. With the common living areas and primary suite on the top floor and guest bedrooms on the lower level, the couple is able to live on just one floor while enjoying the best water views the home has to offer. “I like to joke that when the kids aren’t here, I’m living in a one-bedroom oceanfront condo,” he says. “Everything we need is on the top floor. When the kids come home or we have guests over, we can open the lower floor for them.”

The process of designing and building their new home was a long one. They purchased a summer vacation home on the island in 2015. Four years later, they made the decision to upgrade by building a primary residence and began looking for a place to build their forever home. “We had been stalking this one particular lot for 10 years,” says the homeowner. “When we first bought our vacation home, we found this lot that we considered an ideal location. While the owner agreed to sell it, the price was too high for us at the time. So we moved on.” When they later decided to make the island their primary residence, they happened upon this same owner again and asked about the opportunity to buy. The owner agreed to sell to them at the same asking price as previously quoted. By then, land value had increased, and the price seemed right. “We made an offer that same day,” he adds.

The lot had an old home on it, which the couple rented back to the previous owners for a few years so they could take the necessary time to assess the land and craft their forever home. “The site was at a higher elevation than much of the rest of the area,” says builder Zac Naramore. “There weren’t any major flooding concerns since the land backs up to a maritime forest.”

While the lot purchase happened quickly, the couple spent a lot of subsequent time researching local builders and architects to help them decide who they would rely on to make their dream home a reality. “My wife is very deliberate and intentional and talked to eight or nine architects. We drove around the island, finding out who designed and built the homes we really liked.” Unbeknownst to them, McCants had designed their vacation home years ago; it was a home they felt suited their family if it just had an extra bedroom.

Once they chose McCants and had a full set of architectural plans from him, they collected bids from local builders whose work they admired. “We whittled the builder list down to three builders and asked them to submit bids on the project,” the homeowner says. “We loved Zac and Naramore Construction; he is young and hungry yet very experienced in the type of home we wanted. Some of our friends used Naramore and raved about him. They told us how he dropped by years after their home project was finished to address issues that popped up. We saw his pride of authorship and wanted a builder relationship like that.”

The couple sat down with the team and gave them a wish list: a home that maximized views, with space for hosting traditional family gatherings while exuding the spirit of old-school beach houses. “It’s always family first for us, so I envisioned how we’d live when planning how the space flows. We needed tubs to bathe future grandbabies and large communal spaces to host our annual Fourth of July crab feast,” the wife says. “We wanted a walk-in shower in the guest suite for aging parents and an elevator for our senior dog. Making the entire home casual and comfortable was important.”

Naramore and Mc3 answered the request to maximize views by supporting the back of the home with large expanses of steel, which eliminated the need for columns that might block ocean views. Thirty-foot steel beams allowed installation of a Euro-Wall glass wall window system on the back of the home for unobstructed water views from the open kitchen, living and dining rooms. “We had a vision of the ideal beach house with a layout that related to the ocean, sunrises and sunsets,” the homeowner says. “We spent a lot of time with the team orienting the home to maximize what we could see out of the windows.” Morning in the breakfast room on the northeast corner of the home captures sunrises, while dinner in the dining room on the southwestern corner features spectacular sunsets.

For the interiors, Naramore brought in specialty artisans and reclaimed materials to give the home that lived-in vintage beach house vibe the homeowners craved. Reclaimed timbers from upstate New York became signature ceiling beams in the open-concept living room while antique heart pine flooring reclaimed from the Carolina region is reminiscent of older-style beach houses. Aubrey Brackett Fine Finishes custom painted a special finish on the plaster range hood in the kitchen and on the living room fireplace. Benjamin Paul Studio added a contemporary edge with custom metalworking on the stair railing and on a floor-to-ceiling glass wine cabinet and by creating a fiddle rail for a kitchen ledge. Shiplap on three-fourths of the ceilings and walls provides instant vintage charm while still reading cool and contemporary.

Naramore Construction specializes in building large family homes with a wealth of detailed customization, which was exactly what the homeowners were looking for. “They viewed this home as their forever home, where the kids would come back with their families one day and all spend time together,” Naramore says. “So they were anxious to capitalize on our knowledge of best building practices and take advantage of the latest products, methods and efficiencies to create a tight building envelope. We worked with the homeowner to install geothermal HVAC units, discreet rooftop solar panels that are invisible on the street side and Tesla Powerwalls for reliable backup power.”

The outdoor living spaces almost double the entertaining area of the home. The design and construction team came up with a novel cantilevered back porch to shade the pool deck, combining an architectural statement with functionality. Wraparound decks provide lots of relaxation space off the main living area and individual bedrooms. The entire ground level provides covered outdoor entertainment space, including multiple lounging areas, a backyard firepit, a pool and whirlpool spa, and a game area. A rooftop deck with amazing views is accessed via a spiral staircase. “There are lots of spaces and places people can go to rest or for quiet conversation,” the homeowner says.

To create a cohesive interior design plan, the homeowners leaned on their good friend and interior designer Angie Persson of Swell Décor. She had worked with them on multiple projects at their former Charlotte home and had become close friends with them over the years. Their special relationship gave her keen insight into their design aesthetic and lifestyle. “Angie created individual design presentations for our kids,” says the wife. “The personal touches she included in each of their bedrooms exemplifies each of their grown-up personalities. She really knows us and our kids. One of our daughters said, ‘This is my dream room that I imagined but didn’t even know I wanted.’”

The homeowners wanted color, not an all-white, pristine beach home. Persson created a custom palette that embraced everyone’s favorite colors, a soft blend of purple, blue and blush. She used a Romo plaid fabric on Lee Industries living room chairs as a starting point, repeating the palette throughout all of the rooms. She wove in subtle nautical nods as an acknowledgment of the homeowner’s upbringing. Custom recessed niches on each side of the living room fireplace provide a space for the sand dollars the wife collects on her morning beach walks. A statement oyster wall in the main-level powder bath and an extra-large bespoke oyster shell chandelier in the entryway speak of the sea. Woven chandeliers, wicker furnishings and rattan accessories provide natural texture.

“We have living artwork outside the windows that we could spend all day watching,” says the homeowner. “We can see both the Sullivan’s Island Lighthouse and the Morris Island Lighthouse. From the kitchen, we can catch the sunsets. We have to stop and take a moment to appreciate what we have. We can’t believe this is our home.” *

Dana W. Todd is a professional writer specializing in interior design, real estate, luxury homebuilding, landscape design, architecture and fine art.

The kitchen is a mixture of old-school beach house details and contemporary furnishings. Urban Electric pendants and custom-upholstered Lee counter stools blend with reclaimed heart pine flooring and salvaged timbers. “We manipulated the stain on the floorboards to get just the look the homeowners wanted,” says builder Zac Naramore.

Book-matched porcelain slabs in the primary shower provide an artistic focal point.

The Romo fabric chosen for the living room chairs informed the color palette for the main living spaces. “The homeowner definitely wanted color and a relaxed style. This is a home where you can kick your shoes off,” says designer Angie Persson.

The tucked-away spiral stairs lead to a rooftop deck that provides even more spectacular views.

The couple sat down with the team and gave them a wish list: a home that maximized views, with space for hosting traditional family gatherings while exuding the spirit of old-school beach houses.