H
ome // Tour
Open Spaces
Atop Palmetto Bluff, smart architecture and
strategic ventilation make for easy, breezy living for
a designing couple. Judy Bean has the inside story.
Photography by Richard Leo Johnson
A
hhh, air conditioning. Who among us hasn’t prayed on
a sweaty day to feel that magical, frosty blast? In our punishing
summers, good ol’ AC makes office work more tolerable, midsummer sleep possible and companions more, well, companionable.
On sweltering days, it’s tempting to reset our ’stats to the 60s; fossil fuels and power bills be damned. But Arlene Flick and husband
Bob rarely lower their thermostat below 79 degrees. And they declare
themselves blissfully comfortable in their passively cooled, cupola-topped dwelling in the sustainably planned community of Palmetto
Bluff. Even Nikita, their longhaired Siberian forest cat,
seems to con-purr.
THE FLICK Stats
Stay Cool
Inspired in part by traditional low country architecture,
the Flicks’ sumptuous cottage features plentiful doors
and full-length windows for
cross-ventilation. High ceilings
Owners: Bob and Arlene Flick
Year built: 2013
Square footage: 3,379 in main house,
529 in guest house above garage
Accommodations: 3 bedrooms, 3
baths in main house; 1 bedroom,
1 bath in guest house
Time to complete: 1 year
Adapt and Re-use. Large doors on either side of the living room
cross-ventilate the space, and hot air whooshes up through remote-control
windows in the cupola above. The rafters came from a demolished Greenville
warehouse, the ceiling wood from an old barn and the floorboards from a
cotton mill. The sculpture to the right of the Francois and Company fireplace
in Atlanta was made by Bob’s brother, Michael. They found the Shane Snider
sculpture on the left in Asheville, North Carolina, and the painting by Elenora
Chambers in Miami.
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H
ome // Tour
allow warm air to rise above living areas,
where a cupola at the ceiling’s peak expels
heat through small open windows. The result
is a remarkably energy-efficient home without
any loss of comfort, designed by Savannah
architect Becky Lynch of Lynch Associates
Architects and built by Richard Best Custom
Homes.
Great Minds
A successful color forecaster, Arlene
found a second passion—and earned a midlife master’s degree—in sustainable design.
LEED-certified, she now owns Silver Belle
Concierge, an environmentally conscious
company that manages Palmetto Bluff rental
properties. Bob shares her passion and
integrates it into his work as a residential
developer.
Interiors have been this couple’s common
interest since the very beginning. They met
during a design consultation in Atlanta, where
she worked in research and development for
Herculon Fibers, and he owned a Dalton carpet mill. When Bob sold his mill, they moved
to San Francisco and owned retail flooring
stores for 20 years. After selling that business, they moved to Philadelphia for a year,
where Arlene earned an advanced degree at
Philadelphia University. Meanwhile, Bob
“kind of fell into real estate” as he puts it,
“taking old buildings and turning them into
sustainable apartments with low-VOC finishes, recycled-content carpet, recycling
stations and such.”
The Flicks’ move to our neck of the
woods was inspired by a desire to live in the
Southeast, close to a body of water. They
Open Up. (right) Doors, doors everywhere—
including these two in a gallery along the back of
the U-shaped house—bring in the breezes. The
tongue-and-groove wall offsets the couple’s larger
art pieces, including the foreground painting by
Polish artist Joanna Zjawinska. The back porch
and river are visible through the foreground door.
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Arlene, who designed most of the interior, gravitated toward
“simple lines with lots of texture that makes you want to
come closer, where you can see more detail close up.”
Ditch the Switch. Along with passive
cooling, passive lighting was also built into
the home via features such as over-door
transom windows and the kitchen dormer
windows, which keep the room bright into
the evenings. “In midsummer, we don’t
have to turn the lights on until after eight,”
Arlene notes.
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course, given her background, she loves pops
of color. Her favorite hues: fuchsia set against
the home’s shades of gray.
Of course, the true defining color of this
project is the green of eco-consciousness.
“Becky really nailed the design and made it
sustainable for the Flicks,” says construction
foreman Chris White of Richard Best Custom
Homes. “The energy efficiency is mind-boggling.” He recalls driving onto the job site one
day and seeing “cardboard flying out of the
dumpster.” Peering inside, he found Arlene
in the bin, digging out recyclable materials.
“I’ll never forget that sight. She took that
EarthCraft certification seriously. But it was
a fun build.”
He adds, “It’s an awesome house. It feels
good to be in it. It’s very comfortable. You can
walk around and feel yourself relaxing. You
just feel your heart rate slowing down.” T
The FLICK Referrals
chose Palmetto Bluff for its sustainable philosophy, as well as for its destination inn.
“We like meeting new people,” Arlene
enthuses.
Contemporary Cottage
Although it was designed to meet the
certification standards of EarthCraft—the
organization that promotes “energy, water
and resource-efficient buildings throughout the Southeast”—the home manages to
avoid feeling formulaic. Instead, it reflects
the couple’s love of things with a sense of
story: reclaimed wood, recycled composite
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materials, heirlooms and other objects.
Even the exterior reflects historic vernacular
homes, complete with a rambling footprint,
metal roof, board-and-batten siding and tabby-clad foundation.
Nonetheless, the space pulses with a distinctly current vibe.
“I call it a cottage-y, contemporary spin on
a low country home,” architect Becky Lynch
says.
Arlene, who designed most of the interior,
gravitated toward “simple lines with lots of
texture that makes you want to come closer,
where you can see more detail close up.” Of
Hug a Tree. When looking at lots along
the May River, Bob and Arlene Flick chose
this Palmetto Bluff site largely for a groundsweeping live oak at the front of the property.
Although not pictured here, it and other old
trees were spared during construction. The
cupola in the center of the roof is instrumental in capturing breezes from the river
out back. The weathervane on top came
from Bob’s parents’ farmhouse.
Architect: Becky Lynch, Lynch and Associates
Interior designer: Arlene Flick; Danielle Austin
Sullivan of Austin Interiors, Charleston
and Bluffton
Builder: Richard Best Custom Homes
Tile/flooring: Garden State Tile, Savannah
Windows/doors: Marvin, Coastal Sash and
Door, Savannah
Kitchen and bath design: Arlene Flick and
Becky Lynch
Landscape and hardscape design: Pulaski Golf
and Development LLC
Electrician: L.B. Electrical Contractors, Bluffton
Audio/visual: Andy Marshall, Sight and Sound
Integration, Savannah
Carpenters: Coastal Millwork, Timberstone
Plumber: Troy Thomas Plumbing, Inc.,
Savannah
Landscaper: Pulaski Golf and Development LLC
HVAC: Gochnauer Mechanical, Hilton Head
Island
Appliances: Livingood’s
Furniture: AWD Savannah; Dimitri Omersa,
United Kingdom; Al-Harry Furniture Design,
Bluffton
Take it Like a Man. Arlene had Bob in mind when she created the “outdoor man world”
(with pizza oven, grill and TV) on the side porch—but his study (above, bottom) is the only room
she didn’t design. Danielle Sullivan of Austin Interiors in Bluffton took the reins, and became a
good friend. “Having another designer here energized me,” Arlene says. Near a painting by Lynn
Golob Gelfman, the hippo-shaped leather footstool recalls a rhino-shaped one owned by Bob’s
father. Both were made by Dimitri Omersa, a British furniture designer.
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