Architect Gil Schafer Crafts the Most Linger-Worthy Veranda with Southern Hospitality in Mind
Gil Schafer had more than a vision for a porch in the deep South. He was steeped in memories of it. “I grew up going to my grandmother’s house in Georgia. It was an old shooting property with a deep porch and old wicker that had been painted,” he recalls.
So when he embarked on this project (a new hunting retreat in the same area), a fair amount happened at the gut level. “I knew how important porches, and access to the outdoors in general, are to how you spend your days.”
The resulting deep veranda wraps three sides of the stately Greek Revival–style house. The back porch is used as a central gathering area, “so we needed lots of seating, and we wanted it to be lively,” says Schafer. “A house like this is often used primarily in the winter, when the landscape is more muted, so we wanted to bring in plenty of color.”
The bright arrangement continues the balance of rustic and refined inherent to these natural—and highly social—retreats. “Out here, there’s a constant duality of being in a really wild place but living in a very elegant way.”
This article originally appeared in the March/April 2020 issue of VERANDA.
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VERANDA2020 World's Most Beautiful Gardens winner for Most Linger-Worthy Veranda
Design by Gil Schafer and Deborah Nevins
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