Thursday, June 5, 2014
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Architectual Digest did a great piece on John Mellancamps Beach House in Daufuskie Island.
The
Gothic Revival House is in Bloody Point on Daufuskie Island, SC 29915.
The back of the house is my favorite part. It opens up to the wide
Atlantic Ocean with an infinity pool and two beautiful covered porches,
both with fire places. An outdoor kitchen offers year round relaxed
living right on the beach.
Some 30 years ago John Mellencamp discovered Daufuskie Island, a relatively unspoiled spot in South Carolina, just across the border from Savannah, Georgia. Fascinated by the island's history (until the 1980s it had been inhabited largely by the Gullah, descendants of freed slaves) and enamored of its privacy (it can only be reached by boat), the singer-songwriter purchased several acres on the Atlantic Ocean. But the land sat empty for more than a decade. "I had every intention of building a house—I just never got around to it," says Mellencamp, who is also an accomplished painter, occasional actor, Farm Aid cofounder, and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer. (The recently released box set John Mellencamp 1978–2012 features 19 of his studio albums, including 30 Billboard Hot 100 singles.) Then one day he snapped a photograph of a church in Myrtle Beach, and the structure's shape inspired him to finally hire an architect.
The finished residence—the work of Neil Gordon, whose office is on neighboring Hilton Head Island—bears ample evidence of that church's influence, with pointed-arch windows and doors and a navelike central living hall that is ringed by a gallery reminiscent of a choir loft. Mellencamp filled the rooms with odds and ends from storage, but the home, like the property before it, "just kind of sat fallow," he says. It's not that he didn't love the area. Two of his five children grew up nearby, and he has lived part-time in the region for more than half of his life. But this particular house never felt right. Mellencamp's girlfriend, actress Meg Ryan, however, thought the place had promise, and asked last year, "Why don't you make it as beautiful as it can be?" Energized by her enthusiasm, he called New York City interior designer Monique Gibson, with whom he'd collaborated on three previous dwellings, including his Indiana home base.
The decorator headed to Daufuskie "to let the house tell me what it needed," she says. "I'd walk around on the phone and tell John, 'This kitchen makes no sense' or 'These doors are too small.'" Thus, the kitchen was redone, the doors were enlarged, and the woodwork was stained to give it depth. Gibson played off the peaked windows by incorporating their shape into the metal base of the 27-foot-long table that bisects the living hall. On one side of that space is a library rich with art books; on the other is a movie room, where classic films are a regular after-dinner feature. Mellencamp is notably partial to movies with screenplays by Tennessee Williams—he can recite whole stretches of dialogue from Baby Doll, and a prized possession is a poster of The Fugitive Kind, a gift from his friend Joanne Woodward, who starred in it.
One of Gibson's first clients was Elton John, so she is especially comfortable working with creative powerhouses. (Jon Bon Jovi is another client.) On their first project together, long ago, Mellencamp gave the designer a tight budget and a six-week deadline, all without actually meeting her: "The first time I saw him was when he rang his own doorbell," she says. Fortunately, he liked what he walked into. "John's a tough businessman, and he's very clear about how he wants to live," Gibson continues, adding that the musician's not above making his own contributions. During the improvements on the Daufuskie house, Mellencamp inquired if she had selected any art for an unusually large expanse of wall in the living hall. "When I said, 'Not yet,' he got his stencils out," the designer recalls. The result is a mural that reproduces the lyrics to his song "For the Children."
"I meant it as a blessing for the house," Mellencamp says with a grin. "Then my kids saw it and laughed at me."
Artworks by Walt Kuhn, Marvin Cherney, and Jack Levine are displa ed everywhere—from the shelves in the kitchen to the wall above the headboard in the master bedroom—the expressive social-realist portraits evoking the characters in Mellencamp's gritty songbook. (The musician is currently working on his first solo album in four years, with producer T Bone Burnett.) Mixed among that boldface art are cherished bits of ephemera, such as vintage signs from a now-demolished mental hospital; the gilt letters of one spell out the institute for wayward young women.
Gibson added warmth and texture to the airy interiors and generous porches with lots of linen and leather upholstery and furnishings that are either sculptural, comfortable, or both. But she remained acutely aware that the house serves as laboratory for one man's rampant creativity. "There is always something going on in that big brain of his," she says. "He's always making something: music, art, houses, chaos!" Mellencamp often paints in a studio located on the second floor; nearly 40 of his works were recently exhibited by the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio, in a show that will travel in the fall to the Museum of Art–DeLand, Florida.
While Daufuskie is Mellencamp's refuge, he readily throws open the five guest rooms to friends and family, proof that a once forlorn and overgrown piece of real estate has become absolutely essential. "John really uses this place now," Gibson notes. "I take that as a huge compliment."
John Mellencamp's South Carolina Island Getaway
The musician's Daufuskie Island retreat, designed by Monique Gibson, is a striking complement to his all-American songs
Some 30 years ago John Mellencamp discovered Daufuskie Island, a relatively unspoiled spot in South Carolina, just across the border from Savannah, Georgia. Fascinated by the island's history (until the 1980s it had been inhabited largely by the Gullah, descendants of freed slaves) and enamored of its privacy (it can only be reached by boat), the singer-songwriter purchased several acres on the Atlantic Ocean. But the land sat empty for more than a decade. "I had every intention of building a house—I just never got around to it," says Mellencamp, who is also an accomplished painter, occasional actor, Farm Aid cofounder, and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer. (The recently released box set John Mellencamp 1978–2012 features 19 of his studio albums, including 30 Billboard Hot 100 singles.) Then one day he snapped a photograph of a church in Myrtle Beach, and the structure's shape inspired him to finally hire an architect.
The finished residence—the work of Neil Gordon, whose office is on neighboring Hilton Head Island—bears ample evidence of that church's influence, with pointed-arch windows and doors and a navelike central living hall that is ringed by a gallery reminiscent of a choir loft. Mellencamp filled the rooms with odds and ends from storage, but the home, like the property before it, "just kind of sat fallow," he says. It's not that he didn't love the area. Two of his five children grew up nearby, and he has lived part-time in the region for more than half of his life. But this particular house never felt right. Mellencamp's girlfriend, actress Meg Ryan, however, thought the place had promise, and asked last year, "Why don't you make it as beautiful as it can be?" Energized by her enthusiasm, he called New York City interior designer Monique Gibson, with whom he'd collaborated on three previous dwellings, including his Indiana home base.
The decorator headed to Daufuskie "to let the house tell me what it needed," she says. "I'd walk around on the phone and tell John, 'This kitchen makes no sense' or 'These doors are too small.'" Thus, the kitchen was redone, the doors were enlarged, and the woodwork was stained to give it depth. Gibson played off the peaked windows by incorporating their shape into the metal base of the 27-foot-long table that bisects the living hall. On one side of that space is a library rich with art books; on the other is a movie room, where classic films are a regular after-dinner feature. Mellencamp is notably partial to movies with screenplays by Tennessee Williams—he can recite whole stretches of dialogue from Baby Doll, and a prized possession is a poster of The Fugitive Kind, a gift from his friend Joanne Woodward, who starred in it.
One of Gibson's first clients was Elton John, so she is especially comfortable working with creative powerhouses. (Jon Bon Jovi is another client.) On their first project together, long ago, Mellencamp gave the designer a tight budget and a six-week deadline, all without actually meeting her: "The first time I saw him was when he rang his own doorbell," she says. Fortunately, he liked what he walked into. "John's a tough businessman, and he's very clear about how he wants to live," Gibson continues, adding that the musician's not above making his own contributions. During the improvements on the Daufuskie house, Mellencamp inquired if she had selected any art for an unusually large expanse of wall in the living hall. "When I said, 'Not yet,' he got his stencils out," the designer recalls. The result is a mural that reproduces the lyrics to his song "For the Children."
"I meant it as a blessing for the house," Mellencamp says with a grin. "Then my kids saw it and laughed at me."
Artworks by Walt Kuhn, Marvin Cherney, and Jack Levine are displa ed everywhere—from the shelves in the kitchen to the wall above the headboard in the master bedroom—the expressive social-realist portraits evoking the characters in Mellencamp's gritty songbook. (The musician is currently working on his first solo album in four years, with producer T Bone Burnett.) Mixed among that boldface art are cherished bits of ephemera, such as vintage signs from a now-demolished mental hospital; the gilt letters of one spell out the institute for wayward young women.
Gibson added warmth and texture to the airy interiors and generous porches with lots of linen and leather upholstery and furnishings that are either sculptural, comfortable, or both. But she remained acutely aware that the house serves as laboratory for one man's rampant creativity. "There is always something going on in that big brain of his," she says. "He's always making something: music, art, houses, chaos!" Mellencamp often paints in a studio located on the second floor; nearly 40 of his works were recently exhibited by the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio, in a show that will travel in the fall to the Museum of Art–DeLand, Florida.
While Daufuskie is Mellencamp's refuge, he readily throws open the five guest rooms to friends and family, proof that a once forlorn and overgrown piece of real estate has become absolutely essential. "John really uses this place now," Gibson notes. "I take that as a huge compliment."
John Mellencamp
How to get to paradise---Daufuskie Island, SC 29915
Getting to Daufuskie Island, SC. 29915
First
you must make your way to Broad Creek Marina on Hilton
Head Island and wait for one of the few boats that arrive each day to
take you
on the 45-50min cruise over to Daufuskie Island. It has no bridge from
or to
the mainland. You start to feel all the stress drain out of your system.
The tickets run about $33 a person unless you live or have a residence
on Daufuskie Island. You will also pay $5.00 a day to park and can only
take two bags. Golf clubs and large bags will be subject to an
additional fee. Also be sure to call and make reservations. (843)
342-8687.
Monday, April 21, 2014
Congratulations to Matt Kuchar on winning the RBC Heritage Classic
Congratulations to Matt Kuchar on winning the RBC Heritage Classic played on Hilton Head Island at Sea Pines Plantation. The wind was strong and it was difficult play for everyone. Boats filled the Calibogue sound many from Daufuskie Island watching the golf event.
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Environmental Committee works for sustainable living at Haig Point
The residents of the Haig Point community on Daufuskie Island are united by their love of the area’s natural beauty. And for the past four years the community’s Environmental Committee has been working to make sure its natural beauty endures.
“We want to be recognized for being a sustainable and green community,” said Yvonne Clemons, chairwoman of the seven-person group that has brought recycling and water conservation initiatives to the residential development where electric golf carts are the only mode of private transportation.
“The things we are doing are good for the residents and good for the community,” she said.
The committee also has positioned Haig Point to be a leader in building environmentally sound homes, complete with water conservation methods and native plants that will reduce the amount of water needed for lush, green lawns.
And while South Carolina is still behind the curve when it comes to recycling, Haig Point now has a community program where recyclables are collected from each household on a regular schedule.
“It can be hard to break old habits, but we have to rethink our ways, Clemons said. “Recycling was the committee’s first initiative and we have made great strides, and we have saved the community money in the process.”
The committee also is seeking recognition for its Rees Jones Signature golf course as an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary. And its members are revitalizing a nature trail in the center of the community that winds through an old Gullah cemetery.
On an island-wide scale, the committee shares a common bond with the Daufuskie Island Conservancy that includes five Haig Point members on its board and has more than 100 members total.
Recycling is a once-a-week collection at curbside for each homeowner. In addition, there are recycling bins at other businesses around the island inclduding the restaurants, golf club, visitor center and mansion. The recyclables are then collected, loaded on a ferry and delivered to a company on Hilton Head.
“You have to love this island first,” said Clemons, who relocated with her husband, Michael, to Haig Point from Columbus, Ohio, seven years ago. “I was in the fashion industry, so this is like a whole new second life to me. I love this place. And I want it to look this beautiful for a long time to come.”
Friday, January 24, 2014
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Thursday, January 23, 2014
Minor fire reported on Daufuskie ferry
rlurye@islandpacket.comJanuary 22, 2014 Updated 14 hours ago
Fortunately, a fire chief was among the ferry's 50 passengers, Hilton Head division Battalion Chief Mick Mayers said.
Daufuskie Island Fire District Chief Eddie Boys used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames, which originated from a fan in the bathroom shortly before 4 p.m., Mayers said. The fire was out by the time the boat arrived at the Haig Point Embarkation at 4:06 p.m., Mayers said.
The fire, which spewed smoke throughout the ferry's cabin, caused about $1,000 in damage, he said.
No one was injured.
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Hilton Head Island liquor store owner, distiller team up with Gullah women to produce moonshine
Hooch, White Lightning, Hillbilly Pop, Radiator Whiskey and Mule Kick are just a few nicknames for moonshine, an illegal spirit distilled in backwoods Appalachia since the 1800s.
Moonshine has Lowcountry roots as well. On Daufuskie Island, the Gullah called it "scrap iron," perhaps for the metal still it was made in or the iron will it took to drink it.
If the self-explanatory monikers are any indication, then moonshine is not something one consumes quickly or easily.
The original name, "moonshine," is said to emanate from bootleggers who illicitly distilled the unaged corn whiskey by the light of the moon, far away from the prying eyes of Prohibition revenuers.
Thanks to new South Carolina micro-distillery laws, moonshine is now legal -- if the appropriate taxes are paid -- and coming back in a big way.
In accordance with its increasing trendiness, its nicknames are getting more inviting. At Sea Pines Liquor and Market on Hilton Head Island, moonshine goes by Midnight Moon, Tillman's Baby and Black Spirit.
It used to come in one flavor: alcohol. Now, the mind-bending proofs are sweetened with the flavors of apple pie, raspberry and lemonade.
"The first perception of moonshine is that it's made in a radiator and that it'll blind you. Once people get past that and actually taste it, they realize it's as tasty as anything they've ever had," said Jeff Gould, the owner of Sea Pines Liquor and Market.
Gould is one of the handful of South Carolinians taking advantage of moonshine's new legality.
Two years ago, Gould had two varieties of moonshine available in his store. Now he has more than 100.
"We see the whole liquor store turning into moonshine," he said. "It's amazing where this has gone in just a short period of time."
As a top moonshine retailer in South Carolina, Gould is working to rapidly expand his business, even shipping cases of 'shine overseas.
Gould owns five distilleries, two of which are in South Carolina, and a spring in the North Carolina mountains, because "moonshine is meant to be made with pure mountain spring water, just like Kentucky bourbon is made with limestone water," he said. He also owns an orchard in North Carolina that provides the fruit for the apple pie moonshine, his best seller.
"What you're seeing here is a new twist to an old industry," Gould said. The twist is the abundance of flavors, the fancy, health-code-abiding distilleries and the aggressive business plan. But the base is a collection of old family recipes and an appreciation for where moonshine came from. Both Gould and his wife, Debby, are from North Carolina and familiar with moonshine.
After opening a retail store on Daufuskie Island, Gould discovered the Gullah had a similar appreciation. He approached three Gullah sisters about adding their family recipes to his moonshine.
Janice Gordon, Amelia Stevens and Cynthia Murray grew up on Daufuskie Island. Their grandmother used to sell moonshine made from a still their uncle operated. Moonshine was a part of their family and their culture. It was used in times of sickness and in health, in celebration and in sorrow.
When someone took sick on the island, they would send for Meme, or Lemon, as their grandmother was called by non-family members. Before leaving, she'd grab a couple jars of roots brewing in moonshine and a handful of dried herbs for making a Gullah hot toddy.
"I didn't go to the doctor until I was 13. Any ailments I had, my grandmother treated. It apparently worked," Gordon said.
People up in the mountains of North Carolina have moonshine in their medicine cabinets, too, Gould said. "When I came here to the Lowcountry and found out the Gullah had done the same thing, I saw the link between the two," he said.
When someone died on the island, friends and family of the deceased would have a "sittin' up," where everyone would stay awake through the night, sipping moonshine and telling stories. It was also a big part of Christmas season, for visiting relatives and sharing a drink.
But most importantly for the sisters, it was income.
"Meme had to make a living off the island and its surroundings," Gordon said. She would sell crab and shrimp to tourists from Savannah, along with her moonshine, but only if they knew to ask. She kept it in brown paper bags hidden under the table until it was requested. A half pint cost 75 cents.
Eventually, revenuers discovered their uncle's still and destroyed it, bringing the family's moonshine business to an end.
Now, Gordon, Stevens and Murray are reviving it, with Gould's (and the law's) help. They created Meme's Fuskie Gals, a homemade moonshine and wine label with products that will be made in Gould's distilleries and sold in his stores.
Their homemade wine, called Black Spirit, is already available, and they have three moonshines coming out in March.
There will be a Black Spirit 'shine, Fuskie Mysteek, which is intended to be used for medicinal purposes, and Ole Red Eye, for the reddish color moonshine took on when tree bark was added to it.
"We're committing as much time to it as possible," Stevens said. "This culture is near and dear to us, so this is a venture that we're very proud of."
Like Appalachian moonshine, the Gullah spirit didn't have much flavor, so the sisters are working off the family recipes and tweaking them.
"It's reimagining the moonshine we grew up with," Gordon said. "The moonshine business was good to our family while it lasted. Looks like the good times are here again."
Follow Erin Shaw at twitter.com/IPBG_ErinShaw.
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Plan a golf outing to Daufuskie Island, SC.
With three professionally designed courses Haig Point, Bloody Point and Melrose on the Beach Daufuskie Island is a golfers paradise.
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Preservation two-step: Saving a home and its current ownership
Robert Behre
Posted: Thursday, December 26, 2013 9:00 a.m.
The Daufuskie Endangered Places Program was made possible through a $150,000 grant from the 1772 Foundation, a Connecticut-based nonprofit that supports preservation work across the country.
In some homes here, Jones' picture hangs on the wall alongside Martin Luther King Jr. and President John F. Kennedy.
Bedenbaugh knows a lot is riding on the success or failure of Jones' house.
Posted: Thursday, December 26, 2013 9:00 a.m.
DAUFUSKIE ISLAND - David Helmuth steps between the hodgepodge of exposed floor joists and walls studs inside the early 20th-century cottage here at 188 School Road, as he finishes removing the last of its termite-damaged wood.
Helmuth, a contractor, is working for the Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation, a state preservation group working to save this remnant of the island's once-thriving Gullah culture.
This cottage is more historic than most because it once was home to Frances Jones, a revered community figure who taught black schoolchildren on this remote Sea Island and who also helped many of their illiterate parents.
But the most significant aspect of this ongoing restoration is not Jones' story, nor the uniqueness of the structure itself.
Instead, it's the innovative deal that the Palmetto Trust struck that not only aims to restore the home but also to preserve its ownership by Jones' descendants, even though they currently cannot afford the repairs.
Michael Bedenbaugh, the trust's director, came up with the program to try to save a historic house while also preserving its ownership by a family whose ancestors created a thriving community here a few generations ago, when timbering and oyster factory jobs were plentiful.
"The hope is it goes beyond this house," he says, "and there will be others."
How it works
The Daufuskie Endangered Places Program was made possible through a $150,000 grant from the 1772 Foundation, a Connecticut-based nonprofit that supports preservation work across the country.
The grant is helping the trust finance the current restoration work, which is expected to be finished in June. The Palmetto Trust is leasing the house from Jones' family for 30 years and plans to rent it out to island visitors for about $150 a night.
Bedenbaugh says that income - and other donations - will help the Palmetto Trust recoup its costs over time.
"If we do it right, we might raise more money from donations" than rentals, he says. "While we do this, they (family members) can stay there any time it's not rented."
The Palmetto Trust has received support beyond the 1772 Foundation. Haig Point, a private development on the island's northern end, has helped Bedenbaugh with logistics, and many island families also have helped out.
Once the trust gets its investment back - which could happen in just a few years - it will end the lease and turn the home back to the Jones family with a protective easement. The family could keep leasing it out or just enjoy it privately.
And the trust then would hope to restore another home here on similar terms. The island's historic district still has about 16 black-built cottages from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Bedenbaugh says the next home could be leased out as a residence or it could become a restaurant or distillery or have some other income stream.
"We see ourselves as nurturing this systematically and letting it go," he says. "I think it will work, but the mechanism will show itself going forward."
If it works, it could prove an important new strategy for preserving historic buildings owned by Lowcountry families who don't have the means to repair them but also don't want to sell the land.
Frances Jones
In some homes here, Jones' picture hangs on the wall alongside Martin Luther King Jr. and President John F. Kennedy.
She taught school for many decades, and her retirement opened a teaching slot filled by a young white Citadel graduate named Pat Conroy, who chronicled his time here in his 1972 memoir, "The Water is Wide."
Despite Jones' status as a leading figure, her home was modest. Its foundation included mostly cinder blocks stacked on the ground - and an occasional tree stump. Its wall joists show markings of plaster and lathe - a sure sign they were salvaged from an earlier building. The house's bones also show its oldest part is an 11-by- 18-foot cabin that was added to over time until it reached about 900 square feet.
Bedenbaugh says the restoration aims to keep as much of its old charm as possible while creating two bedrooms and a working kitchen and bathroom.
"We're going to keep it on the concrete blocks," he says. As he talks, he and Helmuth debate where would be the best place to put a washer and dryer. They agree only to discuss it more in a few weeks, and the work is expected to continue at least through May.
"We've got a ways to go before we get down to the lip gloss and makeup," Helmuth says.
Will it work?
Bedenbaugh knows a lot is riding on the success or failure of Jones' house.
This island, reachable only by ferry, once was inhabited mostly by blacks, descendants of slaves and those who came here to work in the oyster factory.
But in recent decades, that population has dwindled as private resorts have cropped up. The changing nature of these islands, and the gradual loss of black residents and black-owned properties, have created a political tension.
Leon Love, chair of the South Carolina African American Heritage Commission, is among those excited by the Daufuskie Endangered Places Program.
"When you say Daufuskie, people think of Hilton Head a long time ago. There's a natural suspicion that someone is trying to take African-American-owned land and turn it into a resort," he says. "What Daufuskie needs is a victory. If they take the Jones home and make it work, it could serve as an example for others."
Love says the impact could even extend beyond the island.
"There's a lot of heirs property and a lot of property people can't afford to maintain," he says. "That's why I think the method they're using on Daufuskie is so creative. You're maintaining ownership even though you're sharing it with a developer."
But Ervin Simmons of the Daufuskie Island Foundation is not so sure.
The foundation continues the tradition of the Daufuskie Day celebration that Jones first held in 1976.
"My concern is land, and the risk of blacks losing land," he says. "I've said it many, many times. We've had a lot of land stolen from the black community or manipulated or swindled or however you put it."
Simmons says while he doesn't know all the deal's details, he is concerned that there are strings that could lead to the property changing hands.
Bedenbaugh says he accepts that the only way to counter such skepticism is to make the program succeed by preserving not only historic homes but also longtime family ownership.
"We'll see if it works. It's better than sitting back and watching them fall back in and rot," he says. "There's no place left like this on the coast of South Carolina."
Reach Robert Behre at 937-5771.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
8 American beaches that are warm NOW
http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2013/12/16/8-american-beaches-that-are-warm-now/
By Mark Sullivan
Budget Travel
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Spring is the official start of vacation season and planning for Daufuskie Island, SC 29915
Check out this group on facebook Daufuskie Island, South Carolina They have all the lastest updates and tips and tricks for making your vac...
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The Gothic Revival House is in Bloody Point on Daufuskie Island, SC 29915. The back of the house is my favorite part. It opens up to the w... -
The Story of Scrap Iron In the early 1900's more than 2000 black African Americans lived on Daufuskie Island. They made their living ...