Bright Ideas: H2 Builders’ Palmetto Bluff Model Home

Lowcountry homebuilder, H2 Builders, spared no expense on model home in Palmetto Bluff.

Story by Dean Rowland + Photography by Krisztian Lonyai

Great ideas are meant to be shared, especially when they involve homes, and especially if you build it, interior design it, live in it, and show it to friends and clients.

“It’s probably the most beautiful home, the most attentive to detail, that we have ever done,” said Tracy Hawk, the home’s interior designer and wife of H2 Builders founder/owner Todd Hawk. “We haven’t spared any detail, down to the door hardware, cabinets and hinges; it’s all high-end.”

The multiple award-winning, Bluffton-based custom homebuilder has constructed more than 350 homes in Lowcountry communities since 1996.

“It’s a signature H2 home; it’s rustic, industrial and a modern style to make what we like to call the Lowcountry transitional home,” said Tracy Hawk, who also serves as H2’s marketing president.

Even though the 3,500-square-foot home is an “idea home” for past, present and future clients, the Hawks and their teenage son personally enjoy it as a weekend getaway retreat from their main residence on Hilton Head. Yes, Palmetto Bluff is a nice respite from the island.

And what a retreat it is. It’s not stately in size, but it’s stately in its craftsmanship, visual splendor, comfort and elegance. Here, there and everywhere are superb touches of contrast, textures, materials, colors, angles, light and furnishings.

The combination of materials and application of a neutral color palette evokes Palmetto Bluff’s natural beauty and strikes visual “drama and interest” for family, friends and guests, Tracy Hawk said. “I wanted to strike a sophisticated balance between soft and edgy on the inside. We wanted to make sure our house was the best Idea Home, cutting-edge house out there.”

Two of the four sets of doors in the front of the house open to the large Lowcountry front porch, which is graced with “phantom” screens that raise and lower between the columns with smart-home activation. It’s a grand welcome to the residence.

“When you walk into this house and the entrance foyer into the open dining room, great room and kitchen area, it has to be welcoming to people,” Tracy added.

An outdoor porch with a working kitchen, sitting area, complete with a step-down to a sectional sofa in front of the fireplace, has been constructed between the garage and main residence.

“My take on outdoor living requires a harmonious relationship between the exterior and interior,” Tracy Hawk said. Mission accomplished.

The Hawks decided to build their Idea Home in Palmetto Bluff less than two years ago, and construction on the Court Atkins Group-designed project was completed last October.

Tracy Hawk encourages Palmetto Bluff lot owners to contact H2 and arrange for a personal tour of the home for inspiring new ideas and to “see new, state-of-the-art technology, creative think-forward design trends and smart-home features.

“It has been a huge success for us, and we’ve gotten incredible feedback, including from the Palmetto Bluff sales team,” Tracy Hawk said.

The home team.
Builder: H2 Builders Architect: Court Atkins Group Interior Design: Tracy Hawk
Cabinets & Flooring: H2 Design Gallery Appliances: Billy Wood Appliance Blinds: Budget Blinds
Glass & Shelving: Low Country Shelving & Glass Building Supplies: Grayco Stairs & Railings: Staircrafters Inc. HVAC: E.A.C Heating & Air

NEW TRENDS Part of the home’s aesthetic allure can be attributed to the couple’s pursuit of influences and trends beyond the Lowcountry, whether it be regional markets, California or New York. “Everything you see in the home is from different lines and vendors from market,” Tracy Hawk said. “We also always try to go out of market to bring new trends and materials here.”
BRICK ABODE The tour-de-force in the home might be the reclaimed brick in the custom-built living room fireplace with custom built-ins on both sides, the reclaimed brick in the outdoor summer kitchen and art hanging on a reclaimed brick wall, all cleaned and shipped from an old cotton mill in North Carolina.
GOOD NIGHTS The master suite is downstairs, complete with a vaulted ceiling and shiplap walls. Two guest bedrooms and two adjoining bathrooms are upstairs, with a custom-built bunk room that sleeps six.
PEEK-A-BOO Reclaimed barn wood anchors the ceiling that can be seen through peek-a-boo windows in the transom in the kitchen. “It brings texture and depth to the overall kitchen,” Tracy Hawk said. The wood also contrasts nicely with the sleek white custom-made cabinetry, quartz waterfall countertop, the clean lines in the bar area with swivel bar stools, a custom-ordered turret range hood above the stove and a hint of brass in the hardware. Reclaimed antique oak hardwood, specially fumed by a company in Charleston, stretches below the kitchen ceiling, creating a gray tone that complements the barn wood.

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