Southern Living Home Hallsley
Don’t miss your chance to experience this Southern Living gem: a brand-new 4,700 square-foot showcase house in the Hallsley development in Midlothian. It’s open to the public through Sunday, July 6, at 5 p.m.
Custom-built by the local firm Creative Home Concepts, the welcoming house, with two inviting porches, five sizable bedrooms and four fashionable baths, was designed and constructed as part of the 2014 Southern Living Custom Builder Program.
The house impresses with its smart mix of sophisticated cottage living, fine craftsman details and cool conveniences. The design thoughtfully reflects how today's families use and entertain in their homes.
It delivers with an expansive, open and elegant kitchen and living space, huge, light-filled family homework “command” center and roomy, well-appointed “drop zone” for sports stuff and backpacks. It also provides private rooms, like the office/sitting room with its pocket door at the front of the house to an out-of-the-way man cave with beverage spot. The scale and room proportions, trim details and window placements really set this place apart.
The house is wired for modern life, too, with whole-home built-in speakers that can be controlled by a cell phone, Apple TV and four heating and cooling zones.
At more than 4,500 square-feet, the showcase house still feels comfortable, cozy and stylish. The exceptional craftsmanship stands out, for sure, and the interior design and decorating contribute as well. Shannon Horan, who co-owns Creative Home Concepts with her brother Bryan Smith, is the designer. The magazine-worthy decorating was achieved by Diana Ragsdale.
It’s fun to imagine living in the house – it’s for sale for $975,000 and can be custom-built anew – and it’s fun to glean design ideas from show homes like this one.
Here are six design and décor ideas that I left excited about. Add them to your redecorating, remodeling or custom building idea list.
- Don’t overlook the ceiling. The working part of the kitchen in the showcase house has its own ceiling pattern. Custom shallow coffers flow across the whole living space but those over the kitchen are positioned in a diagonal pattern. It’s a slight nod to a Renaissance motif but more importantly, the slant adds energy, interest and rhythm. It also gives the kitchen its own identity in a vast open space.
- Neutrals are not created equal. Walls in the house are painted a sophisticated mix of beiges and grays that flow together well. But it’s the “Urban Bronze” paint by Sherwin Williams in the man cave that delivers the most style. Still related to the other colors pigment wise and a neutral in itself, its rich dark green/brown tone shows how sage, pebble and putty tones can speak volumes to each other and alone.
- Make it work. Houses need to function as well as they look. Simple, thoughtful built-ins like the mail slots near the kitchen make organizing easy and attractive.
- Wow ’em with woodwork. Wainscoting doesn’t need to stay under a chair rail. When run up to the ceiling and between two windows, creative paneling like this make a second-floor bedroom special.
- Get creative with curtains. The curtain panels in the home’s dining room have a clever design. They’re banded in the middle with an expensive and graphic designer fabric. Above and below, the curtains are made of plain white fabric. The look is modern and upbeat, and a great way to splurge and also save.
- Think outside the closet. Many new homes have “bonus” spaces and peculiar storage areas. One bedroom in the show house has a long skinny closet with hanging poles along one side and a small section of shelves. The ceiling is low and peaked. Decorator Donna Ragsdale cleverly turned this potentially awkward closet into a well-dressed hangout with a desk, rug, wing chair and bean bag. It’s inviting and useful.
The Southern Living Showcase Home is at 15930 Drumone Rd. Visit 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. through Sunday, July 6. The house will be closed on July 4. Tickets are available at the door for $10 per person. Children 12 and under are free.
