Inside the Barons’ Berkeley Hall Great Room: Style Meets Comfort
Where kitchen meets living room and past meets present, this great room in Berkeley Hall is meant for gathering.
STORY BY ALEA WILKINS + PHOTOGRAPHY BY MATT HOLMES
Welcome, one and all, to a room built to be shared. Encompassing the kitchen, living area, dining table and a breakfast nook, this expansive multipurpose room leaves a seat for everyone. Morning cups of coffee brighten with the company of another early riser. Home-cooked meals are savored more when served around a full table. Built to connect, the great room of Jeff and Deb Baron’s home in Berkeley Hall achieves this goal two-fold. Not only do friend groups mingle, but mementos of their previous home in Boston blend with their new roots in the Lowcountry. Connecting past with present, neutrals serve as the perfect background while packing personality of their own. Spacious, modern and full of heart, it’s a great room, indeed.When designing the space with the team at May Residential, the Barons embraced their new surroundings.
Large windows appear on either end of the great room, and 10-foot sliding glass doors lead to a backyard patio that basks in the southern sun. On the inside, furniture sourced from up and down the East Coast speaks to the couple’s history. The dining table, handmade from the wood of a deconstructed Jim Beam rickhouse, brings Boston’s edge to the Palmetto State. Meanwhile, the chandelier overhead comes from just around the corner. Lowcountry Originals in Bluffton carried the sculptural light fixture that depicts feathered palm leaves, an homage to the couple’s new home. These subtle nods allude to their journey without knick-knack clutter, thoughtfully honoring their past while saving space for new memories.
Between the meaningful decor, playful neutrals bring the room together. Curved armchairs add personality with a wood frame wrapped around the back, mirroring the oversized wood beams on the ceiling. The glass coffee table serves as the perfect pedestal for literature and florals, and the cabinetry glows like a trophy case. Standing out from the cream walls, the natural stone fireplace draws attention without distracting from the rest of the room. It beckons the eye to look around but never stray too long — there’s more to explore and enjoy in this great room. Altogether, it resembles a fresh start for the couple down South, but its history fills it with heart. It welcomes guests to come on in and stay awhile. Here, there’s room for everyone.
