Home Idea Houses Southern Living Idea House 2024: A Lowcountry Classic This year, we're building our dream home in a coastal community near Charleston, South Carolina. By Betsy Cribb Watson Betsy Cribb Watson Betsy is the Senior Home and Features Editor at Southern Living. She writes about a veritable potpourri of topics for print and digital, from profiling Southern movers-and-shakers and celebrating family traditions to highlighting newsy restaurant openings and curating the annual holiday gift guide. Prior to joining the Southern Living team in 2017 as the style editor, she worked at Coastal Living as an assistant editor covering pets and homes. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Updated on March 13, 2024 In This Article View All In This Article Meet The Team Tour Our Idea House 2024 Idea House National Sponsors Trending Videos Close this video player Photo: MHK Architecture For more than 35 years, Southern Living has partnered with builders, architects, and designers to produce custom houses that simultaneously celebrate the Southern lifestyle and the latest innovations in home design. This year, we are delighted to announce our Idea House is under construction in Kiawah River, a coastal community just 20 miles from historic Charleston, South Carolina. With thoughtful consideration for the natural landscape and an appreciation for the Lowcountry lifestyle, this year’s Idea House is designed to reference the simple beauty of the farmhouses that have historically informed the architectural vernacular of the region. Carefully positioned between two sprawling live oaks, our main house and adjacent carriage house make the most of their site on the banks of Abbapoola Creek, with views from nearly every space in the house (including the powder room!) and a floor plan that emphasizes an easygoing flow between indoors and out. Even the smallest details have been selected with the Charleston community in mind. In addition to including handcrafted products from area farm vendors, the team is also curating a collection of local art, like the sweetgrass baskets of 6th-generation artist Andrea Cayetano-Jefferson. Together, these elements celebrate Lowcountry traditions, honor the neighborhood’s agrarian roots, and welcome the future in a mindful way. Meet The Team To make the vision for this year’s Idea House a reality, we’ve assembled a talented team with a unique understanding of the Lowcountry, as they’re all based in the Charleston area: the developers Kiawah River, builder Dillard-Jones, architect MHK Architecture, interior designer Allison Elebash, and landscape architect DesignWorks. MHK Architecture Tour Our Idea House Our 2024 Idea House will debut in the September 2024 issue, and launch online in August. The Idea House will be open to the public for tours from August 9 through December 22, Thursday through Sunday. (Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays from 1 p.m. to 5 pm. It will be closed for tours on Thanksgiving Day). Stay tuned for the link to purchase tickets. 2024 Idea House National Sponsors Alabama Stone Co. (A Division of Vetter Stone) Clopay ® Command ™ Brand 3M CLAW ™ Heavyweight Hanging Solution James Hardie Kerrygold Marvin ® Monogram Luxury Appliances PEDIGREE ® Brand Propane Education & Resource Council Regina Andrew ® Sherwin-Williams ® Southern Living ® Home Collection Exclusively at Dillard’s Southern Living ® Plant Collection Zuri ® Premium Decking Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit