RYAN KERLIN PAINtINg & Power Washing 910-617-8 252 Serving Coastal Carolina Since 1997 “People try to build a new house with an old house feel,” Laurie Sugg says. “People will see there are ways to get there. Building a new house is hard too.” designation would entitle them to North Carolina tax credits, the Suggs were inspired to fund the extensive custom plus restoration. “The tax credits motivate you to do the right thing. Done right it’s a very healthy economic incentive for North Carolina,” Sam says. “One of the purposes of the tax credit, not all of the money goes to the big-box store.” The Suggs bought the house as is and donated many goods and building materi-als to local charities like the Cape Fear chapter of Habitat for Humanity for resale in its ReStore. Heart pine pilings were donated to the woodworking program of Kids Making It. The Suggs are proud of the hand-turned wooden bowl that rests on a foyer table and also of an award from the Historic Wilmington Foundation in recognition of their National Register designation, the first in Wrightsville Beach history. To earn the accolades, Sam says, “The exterior has to stay very true to the detail.” Interior details include original nine-foot, four-inch ceilings, multiple sets of two-panel French doors and a diminutive claw foot tub in the master bath. Local historian John Debnam, who owns the 1935 Hanby Cottage a few paces away knew the Sprunts and relays Frances Sprunt’s house rule: if you were an evening guest and came for dinner, you were required to spend the night to enjoy breakfast. If you were invited for an evening stay and arrived after dinner, you were required to spend the night and stay for breakfast and lunch. No one left without sharing two meals. As Humphrey points out, “It took so much effort to get to the beach … you had to spend the night to enjoy it yourself." The cottage was designed for neighbors to call on one another, informal gatherings and bridge parties. “A good surprise was learning how many people had been here to be entertained,” Sam Sugg says. “The whole house was about hospitality.” With Susan Tollefsen of Susan Tollefsen Interior in Raleigh, Laurie Sugg set the tone for her brand of entertaining. Tollefsen recommended the all-white backdrop, setting the stage for bold splashes of color while emphasizing design details found in mantle pieces and wallboard ceil-ings secured in place with intersecting beveled medallions and battens. Tollefsen says the interior was a collaboration with Laurie Sugg. “She understands color and design, she’s really fun to work with,” Tollefsen says. Once Laurie set the color parameters — blue and green in shades of emerald and navy for the primary living area — Tollefsen set out to see what she could find, sourc-ing furnishings and fabrics in Palm Beach and Atlanta. She found a boutique textile designer, Cotton and Quill, in Birmingham, Alabama. “Then she would find these little treasures,” Tollefsen says, “Newer stuff is more my thing. Older stuff, her thing.” “People try to build a new house with an old-house feel,” Laurie Sugg says. “People will see there are ways to get there. Building a new house is hard, too.” “For us, this home lives very well,” Sam says. With a guest bedroom suite on the main living, dining and kitchen level, Laurie says, “We hope this may be a retirement home for us.” A guest suite on the main level enjoys direct access to outdoor spaces. 46 WBM july 2014
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