Christophe Harbour, the latest venture from Kiawah Development Partners is a 3,000- acre upscale development on the southeast peninsula of the island of St. Kitts. 

A number of architectural firms were invited to a kickoff meeting to learn more about the Christophe Harbour project. Layne Nelson, design director at Herlong & Associates says, “We got so excited about the project that we immediately started doing sketches.” Nelson has been working closely with company owner Steve Herlong to create designs for potential rental properties in the developments first phase, Sandy Bank Bay.

Though our architects are used to designing homes for coastal living, these island homes are a very different style, Nelson explains. Because the average temperature remains in the 80’s year-round, the homes are typically very open and usually don’t have heating and air conditioning units.

Herlong designers are taking their experience creating outdoor living spaces here in the Lowcountry, and using it to design island homes, where the living areas are a seamless blend of indoor/outdoor space. The homes, Nelson says, are typically a collection of independent dwellings with open living areas and private bedroom suites woven together by water features and the lush tropical landscape.

Even though Herlong has long done projects throughout the Southeast and along the Gulf Coast, this is its first project in the Caribbean and a great new venture. “This is just a brand new door that’s opened that we’re exited to walk through,” Nelson says.

Check out the On the Boards section of our site for more Christophe Harbour designs.

When you live in a place as beautiful as the Lowcountry, you can’t help but spend lots of time outdoors. Along the coast, we continue to see a demand for outdoor rooms and living spaces that take advantage of marsh views and ocean breezes.

Particularly in this current economic climate, people are sticking close to home and curtailing their travel. This means finding a way to enjoy your time at home, and landscaping and outdoor rooms are a large part of that.

At our firm, we tend to design houses with a lot of outdoor space and porches, as well as lots of windows to maximize the views and continue to bring the outdoor feeling indoors.

An outdoor room can add significant value to a home. It becomes another useful space and adds to the homeowners’ quality of life. A typical 3,000-square-foot house can feel like a 4,000-square-foot house when an outdoor living space is factored into the home’s usefulness.

Many homeowners add outdoor kitchens and fireplaces to create an entire other room that has both aesthetic value and a high level of usefulness.

As you’re thinking about the design of your outdoor space, keep these tips in mind:

1. Make sure the outdoor spaces easily connect to the indoors. That indoor-to-outdoor connection is the most critical element. If an outdoor living space is tough to access or set apart from the rest of the house, it probably won’t get much use.

2. In the Lowcountry where mosquitoes are often referred to as the state bird, spending time outside could turn into an itchy aggravation. One option is installing an automatic insect spray system to keep the mosquitoes at bay. This eliminates the need for a screen that can obstruct your views.

3. Use care when selecting your outdoor furniture and equipment, such as a grill or outdoor cooking area. The salt in the air can quickly rust your new furniture or the fasteners in your chairs.