HIP TO BE SQUARE: Working with an architect, a builder, and an interior designer, Cate and Hugh Leatherman updated a boxy brick Colonial-style house South of Broad to suit their brood. “I love how neighborhoody it feels here,” says Cate, who grew up around the corner. “It has a family vibe.”
Cate and Hugh Leatherman, their two boys, four-year-old Hicks and Tucker, and two Labs
SITTING PRETTY: Cate’s art collection set the palettes for the interiors, including this striking figurative work by Anne Darby Parker overlooking a vibrant blue Jonathan Adler velvet sofa and pale blush of the Schumacher fabric-covered club chairs.
NEUTRAL TERRITORY: Benjamin Moore’s ‘Simply White’ is the backdrop for a mix of natural hues throughout the home, from white oak flooring to a Fibreworks rug, allowing certain pieces to pop, such as this bamboo cabinet from Acquisitions and Sandy Ostrau abstract oil painting from Meyer Vogl Gallery.
GOING WITH THE FLOW: A key piece of the renovation was the formerly enclosed kitchen. Architect Tyler Smyth reconfigured the layout by removing one interior wall and adding two peninsulas. The resulting open space flows from family room to breakfast nook and provides easy access to the mudroom and dining room at the far end.
Cabinets by Hostetler Custom Cabinetry with Carrara marble tops continue the bright, light theme
Pops of pastel color are introduced in the aqua-colored pendant lights from Urban Electric, a vintage rug, and a Sally King Benedict painting above the deep blue banquette.
Craving a stylish, yet practical breakfast nook? Polycarbonate Philippe Starck chairs, a banquette covered in vinyl from Kravet, and a fuss-free, Saarinen-style table from All Modern make the grade in one young family’s South of Broad home.
COORDINATED COMFORT: In the laid-back but still stylish family room, a burnt brass-finished cocktail table from Arteriors fills the space in front of the U-shape sectional sofa from Lee Industries. Sally King Benedict paintings, along with scattered throw pillows encased in fabrics from Pierre Frey, Mally Skok Design, and Villa Nova, add color.
The voluminous drapes, also in Villa Nova fabric, bring warmth and texture to the walls, where a PANDA surfboard nods to Hugh’s passion for the sport.
OUTDOORS IN: A glassed-in sun-room was converted into a screened porch to provide more airflow and outdoor space. The Lloyd Flanders sofa from GDC Charleston is often the domain of older Lab, Margot.
Just inside, the dining room’s grasscloth wall covering from Kravet lends an earthy, outdoorsy feel to this elegant space, which welcomes in even more natural light thanks to a window relocated from the master suite.
A Serena & Lily bar cart anchors a painting by Michigan artist Richard Kooyman.
STYLISHLY SUBDUED: Full of warmth and texture courtesy of a Kravet grasscloth wall covering, floor-to-ceiling drapery by Casamance, and yellow lamps from Shades of Light, the master bedroom was originally much bigger. The team stole some its square footage to create a larger bathroom to accommodate a freestanding tub from Ferguson, from which views of the Ashley River can be seen.
FLAIR PLAY: After connecting the room above the garage to the house via a new multipurpose laundry room/office, it became a playroom, with plenty of space for Tucker and Hicks to commune with their toys and their dad’s poster collection.
Scion “Flight” wallpaper in the en suite bath.
COOL BLUES: In the main house, the boys’ bedroom bucks the white trend with a Philip Jeffries vinyl wall covering that’s a cinch to wipe clean.
SWEET DREAMS: The nursery will become a guest room when baby Tucker (whose crib is not pictured) joins his brother in the “boys’ room.” Dominated by an Elson & Company rug, the space blends elegance and whimsy, from the Benjamin Moore “Ice Cap” paint to the coral bedside tables from Elizabeth Stuart Designs to a friendly stuffed giraffe.
One young family marries design with daily life on South Battery
