The Making of a Show-Stopping Colleton River Staircase
From architectural plans to a 12-man installation, one sweeping curve proves that bringing a show-stopping idea home is all in the details.
Story by Alea Wilkins
Photography by Andrew Frazier, Voyage Creative
Key Points
● A sweeping staircase in this Colleton River Club home began with the homeowner’s childhood wish for the kind of grand entrance she had admired in movies.
● Pearce Scott Architects and StairCrafters Inc. collaborated across South Carolina, trading plans and dimensions to turn the curved design into a buildable centerpiece.
● Unlike a conventional staircase assembled piece by piece on site, the structure arrived by trailer and required a team of about 12 people to carry it into the house.
● A crystal chandelier crowns the finished staircase, adding another layer of drama against the foyer’s crisp white walls.
As far as entrances go, this grand staircase takes the foyer to the next level. In a majestic curve, it rises to the second-floor landing of this Colleton River Club abode, ushering in stately elegance with every step.
The feature fulfills one of the homeowner’s childhood fantasies. She envisioned one day having a staircase like those she had seen in movies. Pearce Scott Architects translated that dream into a real, livable home, but making it happen was far from simple.
“When you have this floating curved stair, nine times out of 10, they’re built off-site in a factory,” says David McKinley, principal architect of the project.
Pearce Scott partnered with StairCrafters Inc., a contractor based in Easley, South Carolina, to bring the homeowner’s vision to life. Working from opposite sides of the state, the two teams sent ideas, plans and dimensions back and forth to create the perfect stairway. When it arrived, McKinley was startled.
“It actually came on a trailer,” he recalls. “It wasn’t completely finished, and they had like 12 guys pick it up and carry it into the house.”
However, after tightening the final nuts and bolts, McKinley says that the extra effort was worth it.
“It’s one thing to draw it, but to then see it come to life like that is pretty cool,” he says.
