SPECIALTIES
Low Country Home Designs
There are few architectural styles more American than Low Country home designs. Explore more about these unique residential designs and how 42º North can provide a taste of South Carolina wherever you live.
What Is Low Country Design?
Low Country, sometimes spelled Lowcountry, design is a style that’s characteristic of older homes in the southeast—particularly along South Carolina’s coast. It takes influence from French and English designs and is meant to marry the feelings of airiness and formality into a single space. Many are rectangular or square and feature wide-set columns and plenty of symmetry.
Here are some of the other hallmarks of the Low Country architecture style.
High Ceilings & Open Layouts
This is no surprise to anyone who has spent even a few minutes in South Carolina: It’s hot. Because of this, most Low Country floor plans use tall ceilings and open floor plans to help with airflow. This has been used long before air conditioning was a common feature to keep homes cool during the hottest months the region has to offer.
“Haint” Blue
“Haint” blue refers to a blueish-teal color that’s commonly used in Low Country homes. It has its origins with Black Gullah Geechee people in the region, who historically painted their porch ceilings blue to ward off evil spirits, also called “haints” in the Gullah Geechee language.
Be it for warding off ghosts, deterring bugs, or as a byproduct of merging cultures, blue ceilings are a hallmark of the Low Country architectural style.
Verandas
Almost every piece of Low Country architecture features a veranda or covered porch in the front of the house. Some may be screened in or set up as sunrooms. These are more than just statement pieces, however—they originally prevented the sun from beating down on the front of the house and making it even warmer inside.
Our Award-Winning Prairie-Style Homes
We’ve worked on some stunning Prairie home designs in Michigan and beyond over the years. Here are just a few of our award-winning Prairie homes.
Why Choose Us for Your Low Country House Design?
We’re Not Like Other Architects
In other words, we’re not a bunch of stuffy visionaries. We started our residential design firm to get away from those types of architects.
We also know we’re designing a space where you’ll spend most of your life, so we want to ensure your new home has everything you need and want. Even more than our design skills, we value our ability to listen to your desires. Our team also considers itself design agnostic—so we won’t force you to choose from a limited selection of styles just because we like them ourselves.
What to Expect When We Work Together
No matter which design style we’re following when we create the floor plans for your new home, we have a process we like to follow. Here’s what you can expect that process to look like at a glance:
Connect with Us
We’ll get to know each other before we commit to building your home together. Expect to grab a drink with us so we can learn more about you before we get down to business.
Share Your Vision
Our most important design tools are our ears and eyes. We’ll learn about your current space through questionnaires and observations—including what you love and hate about your home, and what you like most about different homes you’ve visited.
Give Us a Tour
We’ll see your current space for ourselves when we take a home tour with you. This lets us see the spatial relations, and scale of your current home in person so we can design your new home accordingly.
Watch Us Work
We use the latest architectural CAD software to give you an exact visual of what your home will look like, down to the wood grain on your front porch.
Make Us Your Consultant
Don’t expect your final approval to be the last time you hear from us! We’ll stay in touch during construction and even after you get the keys.
Make Us Your Low Country Home Designer
Let’s bring those ideas and visions for your dream home to life! Connect with us to get started and make us your home design partners.