Monday, November 10, 2014

Southern Living Showcase Home- Williamsburg


While visiting my brother on the eastern shore and a dear friend in Williamsburg last weekend I explored the Southern Living Showcase Home. 



It is a 3400 square foot traditional ranch at the entrance to Ford's Colony in Williamsburg.  As I opened the 12' tall glass and wood front door, I was impressed with the
fine architectural details and masterful carpentry as I looked up to see a coffered ceiling over the open formal dining room, 6" crown molding in every room, 5 panel custom doors and pocket doors in most of the doorways. 

 The entire palette was gray and white with a minimal furnishings.  The finishes were what intrigued me the most, complimented with glass door knobs and beautiful quartzite, marble and tile selections.

I'll just let you take a look...




This is the jack and jill galley style bathroom between the two small guest rooms.


There was one all purpose living/family room in the house separated by the island into the kitchen.  There was a bonus/media room room over the garage but the three dining areas seemed to overwhelm the floor plan.





The master bathroom had a women's full bath side with separate facilities and enormous L-shaped vanity and a men's side with a separate vanity and watercloset, with this walk-thru shower separating the two sides. I would venture to guess the entire master bath was about 24' x 18' and included 2 walk in closets.  Four different tiles in the shower may be a bit much...do you think?


 This was a cute powder room.  Do you know we have an affinity for ceiling treatments?


The outdoor porch dining area off the living room, was one of my two favorite spaces.  It had a stone wall with a built-in grill, wine fridge, tv and buffet area and would serve as a lovely three season casual dining area.


My other favorite was the dog wash stand with pull-out stairs in the garage, although clearly made to accommodate small dogs.  My Gibbs would have a hard time getting up those narrow stairs, but great idea!


 The builder, Wayne Harbin, did a beautiful job on the building.
I felt that the selection of fabrics and furnishings didn't quite match the sophistication of the architectural details although there were a few nice antique pieces I liked, which added some character to the mix.   
Personally, I would have loved to see more character and warmth injected into the spaces and less of a catalog look. 

The show house is open until November 23rd.

What do you think?



9 comments:

  1. I agree with you about the bathroom tile. Looks like a beautiful house. I love that little bedroom! Not sure how I feel about the tv room/living room space...
    Thanks for sharing!

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  2. I agree Nancy. The main spaces looked rather cold despite the high-end furniture.

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  3. Love the outdoor space, and yes, what kept grabbing my eye was the architectural pieces (that dining room ceiling!!).

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  4. My initial impression is that the designer crammed everything but the proverbial kitchen sink into there. Too much going on, to be sure. (With such a high end looking ceiling treatment in the powder room, ya think someone would have thought to camouflage the glaringly-white vent fan.)

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  5. What a beautiful home full of so many great ideas. I love the dog wash station. :) And the outdoor space is perfect.

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  6. The house is very well designed but surprised by the fabrics and furnishings too. They really missed an opportunity to use the new Williamsburg fabrics didn't they? Thanks for sharing Nancy! Great post!

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  7. I just did a post on the Trad Home Showhouse here. It is so fun to see the contrast between the East and West. I agree...love the outdoor area. That powder room is wonderful as well!

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  8. I love that SL did not do a ginormous home, this one shows you can go big on details in a decent sized home. Agree with you on the tile and the lack of warmth.

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