Plantation Grandeur Rises in a Home's Back Addition
“Often plantation houses needed to look impressive from the front, and then whatever happened on the back just happened," says architect Cameron Scott. The hodgepodge he encountered along the back of his clients' historic house in Jackson, South Carolina, was no exception. When the home was built in 1904, a separate smokehouse had served as the spot where servants would prepare the meals. Haphazard renovations over the years clumsily connected the abandoned smokehouse to the main house and added a cramped and dark galley kitchen elsewhere in the back of the main house. The current owners wanted a kitchen that would serve as the heart of the home, where they could prepare their meals, eat, relax and spend time together.
Scott designed a beautiful 1,000-square-foot addition that gave the back facade a symmetrical and refined look worthy of the plantation house's grand style. A large kitchen and screened-in porch provide a comfortable, modern-day living space. Extending the back facade's new formal style, he also sited and designed a new garage on axis with the house, providing room for refined Southern gardens in between.
The facade on the front of the home, built in 1904, is very impressive.
Out back the structure on the left was formerly a detached smokehouse.
When Scott, of Cheatham Fletcher Scott Architects, arrived on the scene, a haphazard walkway attached the smokehouse to the main house. Now the transition is seamless; the hip roof portion on the right side of this photo is the original smokehouse; the rest of the roofline is all the new addition.
Scott used the smokehouse's hipped roof as inspiration for renovating the entire back of the home. He mirrored the roof structure on the other side to create symmetry and extended the kitchen from the back of the main house into the smokehouse and behind the new screened-in porch.
Also, the renovation created a formal plan that connects the main house to a new garage. The brick path marks the axis from the back of the house to the garage.
The new roof on the right contains a large screened-in porch that wraps the side of the house.
Historic details were carefully matched to make the new construction appear original. These include a wood balustrade that matches the one on the roof, a painted tin roof, shiplap siding, windows and shutters.
Over the past 150 years, the kitchen had evolved from the original smokehouse into a cramped galley in the main house. The new addition makes the kitchen the true heart of the home.
A large island with counter-to-ceiling cabinets on each end separates the utilitarian zone in the kitchen. This helps hide the food-prep mess in the open kitchen.
There is a comfortable lounge area at one end of the room, which abuts the new screened-in porch. The knee wall on the right separates the breakfast nook, which occupies the old smokehouse space. French doors on the right lead to the backyard.
The new screened-in porch wraps around the side of the kitchen and extends down to an office in the main house.
The porch's painted pine floors contrast with the white paint, while the hip roof allows for an interesting high ceiling. Beadboard lends a historic look to the ceiling, making the porch look like it has always been there.
The couple now enjoys views of the new formal backyard from this end of the porch.
The office at the end of this shot also has access to the side porch.
The right half of the plan shows the scope of the renovations.
This photo was taken from the door into the new garage and shows off the axial plan of the backyard. A circular garden and fountain occupy the space between the garage and the main house, with the brick path serving as a strong axis connecting the two.
The path extends up a few terraces to a new three-car garage. Boxwood hedges and brick walls define the space, while crape myrtles add shade, sculptural forms and flowers.
The new garage takes its style cues from the main house, including the painted tin hip roof and colonial style.
The garage's second floor is a large guest suite complete with a kitchenette and wood-burning fireplace.
