Southern Lady Southern Cottages 2022

When Sarah and Hiliary Henderson decided it was time to move their growing brood to a new dwelling, the husband-and-wife duo combined their skill sets to create an abode with imaginative flair that would suit their lifestyle in Mountain Brook, Alabama. Hiliary, who works in multifamily residential development, managed the building phase; while Sarah, an artist who also dabbles in interior design, took charge of decorating the home to reflect an au courant yet relaxed sensibility. “I wanted a home that was easy and comfortable for my family to live in and enjoy,” Sarah says. “We have a lot of family in the area and wanted a nice flow for entertaining. We plan on this being our home for along time.” Sarah worked to fill the house with adeptly layered elements, a…

Melinda and John James were bent on keeping it simple this time. Having scaled down from a grand family home to a much smaller cottage, the husband-and-wife design team tried their best to channel breezy comfort rather than the opulent style they usually prefer. But decorating habits die hard, and they couldn’t resist slipping in a splash of glamour along the way. “When we try to dress something down, it usually gets dressed back up,” says Melinda, founder of M. James Design Group and a Beaumont-area native. That’s not to say the result is fussy. Fine European antiques and Southern treasures mingle like old friends against a quiet backdrop, fostering come-on-in warmth enlivened by shine and sparkle. It’s a haven with heart, elegant without being ostentatious—a perfect reflection of the gracious…

After a decade of enjoying their vacation home on 140 acres of working farmland in South Carolina, Leslie and Bob Harris decided to make a permanent move to their peaceful haven—but not without substantial fine-tuning to suit Leslie’s clear, creative vision. It all started in 2000, after stumbling upon the house for sale while visiting Bob’s hometown of Indian Land. They purchased it on the spot, bringing the property that had belonged to his great-grandfather—and subsequent generations—back into the family. Situated on a road named for Bob’s grandfather, the farm had been sold in the ’90s to another family who replaced the existing home with a quaint farmhouse. For 10 years, the property served as a weekend getaway for Bob, Leslie, and their six children. When the couple made it their primary…

An alluring outdoor entry hall and striking moss rock fireplace lay the cornerstone for a cottage garden nestled amid the wooded beauty of the Appalachian foothills in a quiet neighborhood where golf is king. Towering oaks and pines create a breathtaking backdrop for Dana and Mark Gray’s recently refreshed Shoal Creek yard, perched on the edge of one of the country’s preeminent golf courses. Landscape designer Troy Rhone worked closely on the project with Dana, whose lifelong passion for gardening is evident in the well-manicured space. “We wanted to keep more of a woodland feel, but a dressy woodland,” says Troy, whose firm is in nearby Birmingham. The Gray home and the subdivision’s private club were styled after Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, which made incorporating elements of a formal English garden an easy…

Breathing in fragrant floral scents or strolling through the circuitous wooded paths of Laura Hearn’s garden, you feel the sense of historic inspiration revived by a fresh outlook, thanks to her longtime collaboration with landscape architect Chip Callaway. Unlike the Depression-era plan upon which it was based, Laura’s cottage-style plot brims with interest year-round, as inviting in February as it is in May when the colors and textures are a visual feast. “The thing I like most is the twelve months’ presence,” says Chip, principal of Callaway & Associates in Greensboro, North Carolina. “Even in the winter, it’s got strong form. It doesn’t have to be in full bloom for it to be a place you want to be.” Laura, whose late husband Thomas K. Hearn Jr. served more than two decades…