Hilton Head Monthly Connecting the Lowcountry 
What is this year’s trend in the Lowcountry homebuilding industry? We reached out to four local professionals to find out.
Ken Crast
Owner Crast Custom Homes, Hilton Head
“Our clients want to design and build homes to retire in instead of building rental and second homes. They want their homes to feel warm, as if they were built many years ago to include old world craftsmanship. Our clients want their homes to feel old, although they want all of the latest modern technology.”
The numbers from last year tell the residential construction stories in Hilton Head and Bluffton. Both stories being told are good ones, but for different reasons.
On the island, fewer homes are being built but they are more expensive than ever; whereas, in Bluffton, there is an unprecedented new-home construction boom that topped 2013’s number by 50 percent.
On the island, the number of single-family home building permits dipped slightly from 177 in 2013 to 168 last year, but the valuation of those homes rose 20 percent, according to data from the Hilton Head Community Development Department.
Green has been the lifeblood color for Hilton Head Island couple Ray and Sandra Wenig for decades. But it’s not just a color Sandra Wenig uses in her work as a fine artist, and it’s not just something Ray Wenig considers in his work as an industrial engineer and consultant.
25 trends in home and garden design for this year:
Tucked away under a canopy of towering pine trees at The Village at Wexford is Mum’s the Word, a retail shop showcasing flowers, antiques, painted furniture, books, artwork, gifts and an assortment of other interesting home accessories. On one particular mid-week afternoon recently, six enthusiastic students in painter’s smocks are seated at a large wooden table with brushes in hand ready to paint their newly inspired creations on workshop wood.
Spring Island residence is surrounded by nature’s beauty(PHOTOS BY ATLANTIC ARCHIVES, INC./RICHARD LEO JOHNSON)
As much as Steve and Michelle Karol enjoy their life in Boston’s historic Beacon Hill and the convenience of strolling from their tony townhome to a nearby grocery store in the city, they’re more than delighted to spend time a world apart in nature’s splendor and the great outdoors at their sprawling residence on Spring Island.
Reclamation by Design Ltd. in Bluffton won the New Home Construction award in the $500,000-$749,999 category presented by the Home Builders Association of South Carolina (HBASC) last month in a ceremony on Hilton Head. Company owners Ron and Patricia Strimpfel of the Hilton Head Area Home Builders Association received their prestigious Pinnacle Award at the 12th annual awards presentation ceremony, earning one of 15 awards given in five categories for superior craftsmanship in new home building and remodeling.
The HBAC membership is composed of home builders, trade contractors, suppliers and industry professionals. Marc Ellis of Hilton Head is the state representative of the association.
J Banks Design Group of Hilton Head earned first place in the 2014 American Society of Interior Designers Carolinas chapter for its work on a first-class healthcare facility in the more than 7,000 square feet category. Banks’ owner and president Joni Vanderslice, ASID member, and Jennie Ladutko, allied member, shared this honor. Ladutko also placed second in the hospitality design category by the association.
Thirty construction companies and builders that are members of the Hilton Head Area Home Builders Association (HBA) have something new to add to their office display case: a lighthouse-shaped marble obelisk 2014 LightHouse Award for industry excellence as craftsmen.
“For 15 years now the Lighthouse Awards have been recognizing builders with exceptional talents,” said Dan Monroe, chairman of the LightHouse Awards program since its inception in 1999. “Each year, winners redefine excellence for not only the home building industry, but for our Lowcountry community.”
Brian Esposito of Esposito Construction Inc. in Bluffton had won one award already that day and wasn’t expecting another.
“I was very surprised because I had won a previous award,” said Esposito, who founded his company in 2008. “It was very surprising, humbling and gratifying.”
Our gift to you this season: three inspirational ways to dress up a room in your home for the holidays. We asked J Banks Design Group, Planatation Interiors and Pyramids to deck the halls of their showrooms to prove there are options to that twisted know of blinking lights hanging out in the garage. The results were stunning. We hope these images inspire you to create a holiday display so elegant, you just may keep it up all year.
