Coming Home ─ The Southern Vernacular House

Beautifully photographed country houses, mountain retreats, and coastal cottages located in and beyond the American South demonstrate this prestigious firm’s talent for translating traditional architecture into charming and inviting designs. Interiors and exteriors combine the formal and informal—drawing equally from refined houses in Beaufort, Charleston, and Savannah, as well as rural farmhouses and rustic cabins in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Simultaneously elegant and casual, a Beaufort-style house combines classic revival details with painted plank walls. A waterfront retreat overlooking a tidal marsh mixes eclectic elements from Southern coastal cottages, such as a tin roof and sleeping porch, with Caribbean details like French doors and Bermuda shutters. Reclaimed planks and beams in a barrier island vacation home capture the romance of living in a converted barn.

Designed for relaxed family living, these homes often include screen porches with swinging daybeds, great rooms with rough-hewed beams and stone fireplaces, and light-filled master suites. Their traditional materials, artisanal craftsmanship, and atmosphere of comfort and hospitality express the spirit of Southern style.

James Lowell Strickland is the president and senior partner of Historical Concepts. Established in Atlanta in 1982, the firm has designed plans and buildings for the South’s most respected communities. Their work has earned prestigious design awards and has been featured in numerous magazines. Author and journalist Susan Sully is one of the leading experts on Southern regional architecture and design.