A Distinctive Style
Like a familiar friend recognizable from a distance, a Southern home has a distinctive style that visitors to South Mississippi fall in love with and many of us natives forget to appreciate.
Rooted at the intersection of history, heat, and humidity, classic Southern architecture is defined by some basic design elements on the outside with a beautiful commitment to comfort and hospitality on the inside. They are spaces filled with stories of generations that came before us and full of anticipation of the family gatherings yet to come. The formality of years gone by may have all but disappeared but the harmony of mixing the past and the future lends a fresh face to a style where everyone feels at home.
One of the most prominent hallmarks of a Southern home is a deep front porch or veranda, with a haint blue ceiling of course. Designed to shield interiors from the blistering sun, porches, and most particularly wrap-around porches are divine. Providing a respite from the heat, they are a delightful spot for parties, meals, and keeping up with the neighbors. Even if you do not know folks walking by it is a sin not to raise your hand in a friendly greeting.
Not many porches are “sleeping porches” anymore, but they are still a perfect spot for a quick nap in the afternoon after the sun has moved beyond the front of the house and a ceiling fan is turning. Porch swings for two or more have long dressed front porches, as well as cozy additional seating, a drink table or two, a lamp for evening ambiance, and lots of big ferns complete the look. The Southern front porch is an outdoor room where story telling continues well beyond dusk when the humidity level breaks just enough to keep us from sweating to death.
Tall, elegant windows and soaring ceilings distinguish Southern homes even though central air conditioning and improved insulation have made their original intent of providing breezes and capturing hot, humid air much less important. No explanation is needed for raised foundations and the lack of basements in South Mississippi. Nearly everyone has experienced, beating rains, flooding, or a hurricane or two. Any South Mississippian can describe the smell of steam rising off the pavement after a gully washing rain on a hot afternoon.
Southern cottages share porches and handsomely trimmed windows with their multi-storied siblings, but the larger homes often have stately balconies and exterior staircases. Ornamental ironwork sometimes enhances or takes the place of robust columns, but columns are still the pillars of Southern architecture – pardon the pun. Exterior staircases can be basic and simple or winding and magnificent, but either suggests that at some point in time, a young lady in a long, exquisite gown has descended the steps to the delight of a dapper beau.
Inspiring landscaping offers an introduction to the Southern home. Deep green magnolia trees might blend with tropical palms to provide the backdrop for the blooming camillas, azaleas, and hydragenas. Majestic oaks stand guard as silent witnesses to the passage of time. Neatly trimmed sidewalks lead guests right up to the front steps and beckon them inside. There is a flow between the exterior and the interiors of a Southern home. The views through the large front windows connect to the outdoors even after stepping through the front door. Layered interior décor gives the sense one is in familiar territory. Warmth pours out from the well-worn family antiques or thoughtfully collected contemporary pieces that seem to flawlessly mix like a good gin and tonic. If you are not offered something to eat or drink soon after entering a Southerner’s home, turn around and walk out, something is wrong.
Southerners are not afraid to use color, even if that means committing to one color throughout the home. Every decorating choice makes a statement about the family that lives there, whether it is the collection of family photographs or souvenirs from worldly travels displayed on the walls and on furniture. Southerners like to be surrounded by memories.
Everything changes. We learn, we grow, we make new memories. But there are some things that stay the same. The graciousness, inside and out, of a beautiful Southern home is one of those things. We cannot completely explain what makes a Southern home so special. You just know one when you see it. You know one when you feel it.
Holly Harrison has been a licensed interior designer for over 35 years. Shannon Stage has spent nearly 20 years in the giftware industry. Together they own Sassy Bird Interiors in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
Sassy Bird Interiors
122 Court St., Bay St. Louis
228.344.3181
www.sassybirdinteriors.com
