Louis Joyner served as a one-man dynamo in the Southern Living Homes department for nearly three decades. He brought our readers up to speed on the newest home-improvement tips and residential products. So when he and his wife, Gaye, built a new home in South Carolina, we couldn't resist visiting once the sawdust had settled.
Getting Started
How does someone such as Louis design and decorate his own place? "After 27 years of writing about interiors and architecture,
I probably knew too much for my own good because there was a temptation to put in every good idea that I'd ever seen," Louis
admits. "Gaye and I went through our files of tear sheets and narrowed them down."
The couple also worked with a talented group of professionals to bring their goals to fruition: residential designer Miles Gandy Whitfield, builder Tim Hager, designer Carol Lund, and landscape architect Andrew Smith.
A New House With Age
The Joyners relocated to the new community of I'On in Mount Pleasant. They favored this development because of its commitment
to traditional neighborhood and architectural values. "We wanted a new house that looked as if it had been around for years,"
explains Louis, "and I'On was a great place to accomplish this."
The couple sought the best of both worlds by building a new home with modern comforts that captured a heritage and craftsmanship of the past. "The concept was to create a house that looked as if it had been added on to over time," Louis explains.
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