Take It Outside: A Stunning Outdoor Living Room on Palmetto Bluff’s Waterway

A dizzying sense of scale and inspired materials carry outside to a porch built for entertaining.

Story by Barry Kaufman + Photography by Kelli Boyd

Set along Palmetto Bluff’s inland waterway, all this screened porch really needed to do was exist. But in a home where the entire mandate was to tweak the formula, the teams at Element Construction and Court Atkins Group took a different approach.

“Obviously any time you can get a water view, it’s about maximizing how much of the living space will capture the views,” said Brandon Edwards of Element Construction. “Court Atkins’ design achieved this for this property.”

The living space along the screened porch allowed it to stretch the entirety of the home’s rear, adding to its appeal as an entertaining space. “It increases connectivity, having all those rooms along the porch,” added William Court of Court Atkins Group. “This design allows the study, the master bedroom, the great room, the kitchen and the back kitchen to all have immediate access, and it becomes essentially an outdoor living room.”

Grounded in style 

While it appears to be blue stone, the flooring found throughout the outdoor spaces is actually a porcelain tile. Informing a bold sense of color found in the black framing on the windows and doors, it ties the porch’s aesthetic together. “That floor is a great example of the way they took in so many textures and brought them together,” said Andrea Eldred with Element Construction. 

Party perfect 

Even with its impressive footprint, several brilliant design elements have added even more functionality to the porch. The first is in the pass-through window leading into the kitchen, creating bar seating along one wall. Another was in the way the grilling porch was moved outside. “Most people have their grill inside the screened porch, but by moving it onto the patio — the outdoor living space is extended and it encourages flow out of the porch,” said Eldred.

A bold take on tabby

One area where the playful tweaking of materials that define the home’s interior makes its way outside is in the fireplace. Rather than the scattering of oyster shells found in the typical tabby, the Forlenzas went with a stacked oyster-shell look. “We suggested it to her to bring in a little bit more texture,” said Eldred. “This tabby style gives homage to the historical construction of tabby structures seen throughout the Lowcountry.  We don’t have the opportunity to integrate it very often, but it really worked here.”