Rich architecture, charming furniture, and everyday Southern comfort share the spotlight in a Green Island house designed with family and entertaining in mind.

By Abby Brown

Five years ago, after living in New York, Atlanta, and Chicago, Columbus natives Beth and Lenny Beaudoin found their way back home. The Beaudoin’s weren’t even actively looking for a new home to live in when they saw this one listed, but the u shaped layout immediately drew them into making this their new home. Beth and Lenny have two sons, Leo and Charlie, who both attend the University of Georgia and two dogs George and golden doodle Reggie.

Wanting to make the home their own and fit their needs, the Beaudoin’s did a complete renovation on the original home with Lenny serving as their architect and Beth the interior designer. The original home was built back in 1980 and the home needed a total gut renovation so they enlisted the help of contractor Jamie Herndon. They started by enclosing the garage making it the perfect space to add Lenny’s office, a guest suite and a sitting room. Then, they built a new garage, moved interior walls around, and re-configured the interior space to better suit the family’s needs. Beth set the interior design direction. With both spouses having a shared vision for the house, it was a ton of fun and hard work together. An extensive amount of landscape work was needed, and Chris Harman with Wildwood Gardens successfully fulfilled the Beaudoin’s needs. The challenges they faced included filling in a pool that had been in the front yard, reshaping the driveway, and adding a serious retaining wall. The finished product of the spacious home leaves a west coast feeling, with 4500 square feet, 4 bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms.

TNT Cabinets custom built the cabinets and shelves providing storage as well as a great display space for some of the Beaudoin’s favorite objects. The fireplace features modern fireballs from the Grill Outlet and really warms up the room in the winter. The lounge area behind the sectional serves double duty as both a sitting room and a casual dining space, as it is directly off the kitchen. The owner's favorite piece is the nautical chain link table she had custom made by Olde Good Things in NYC. The sunken living room feels like you have stepped back in time to California circa 1970. One of Lenny's top priorities for the house was to have a big, cozy sectional in the living room, so the space was designed around that piece. The modern fabrics on the pillows are from Jiun Ho and Highland Court, while the marble from Elegante Surfaces was made into a coffee table made by Brent Miller. He also made the elmwood and steel console table behind the sofa.

SOUTHERN COMFORT