HERE’S A MOMENT WHEN YOU FIRST STEP THROUGH THE 14-FOOT custom steel front doors of this Reynolds Lake Oconee residence when the entire narrative of the home reveals itself in a single, breathtaking frame. Your eye travels through 12-foot ceilings, past expansive 8-foot Pella architectural windows, across an open great room and directly out to the shimmering lake beyond. It’s an intentional unveiling, a carefully orchestrated introduction to what lies ahead, and it speaks volumes about the philosophy of Rob Patton and his team at Heirloom Builders.
In an era when many custom builders chase volume, Patton has made a different choice entirely. “Our biggest difference is we’re intentionally a small company, and we intend to stay small,” Patton explains. “I like to be at the jobsites, be part of the selections and stay engaged.”
This 6,327-square-foot home in Richland Pointe is the purest expression of what’s possible with a commitment to craft and detail and the type of intentional design of a builder who refuses to spread himself too thin.
The home’s story begins before you even approach the front door, with an exterior that marks a quiet revolution in this historically traditional lakefront community. Richland Pointe has long maintained strict architectural guidelines favoring classical styles. Still, the neighborhood recently opened the door to transitional design on select streets, with Neary Ridge becoming the first to embrace this hybrid aesthetic. The result is a home that bridges two worlds with remarkable grace.
White-painted brick forms the foundation of the facade, complemented by aged cedar shiplap siding and Tennessee fieldstone, all topped with a synthetic cedar-shake roof with a 50-year warranty. It’s a composition that reads as both rustic and refined, precisely the kind of architectural diplomacy required to gain approval in a community finding its way toward a more modern vernacular. The market has responded accordingly. With demand for transitional architecture far exceeding supply in the area, these homes command premium valuations.
Architect Richie Brown conceived the design with a modern mountain sensibility, and that vision carries through from the exterior materials straight into the interior spaces. In the foyer, the light fixture was commissioned by Black Sheep Interiors, the firm responsible for all the furniture, fit and finishes throughout the home. It’s a detail that sets the tone; many of the exterior materials and finishes continue inside, creating a seamless dialogue between the built environment and its natural surroundings.
The foyer opens directly into the great room, and here the home’s architectural drama unfolds in full. Cathedral vaulted ceilings soar from 12 feet to 24 feet at their peak, punctuated by custom wood beams that add warmth and definition to the vast volume. A synthetic stacked stone fireplace anchors one wall, providing a focal point that grounds the room despite its impressive scale. Open rails along one side overlook the terrace level below, creating a double-height space that generates visual connections between floors while maintaining an ethereal sense of openness. The 10-inch-wide plank floors stretch across the space; their generous proportions are ideally suited to the room’s dimensions.
Despite the expansive square footage, the great room never feels cold or cavernous. The open floor plan connects it intimately to the kitchen, and the sight lines to the lake pull your attention outward, making you feel enclosed and unlimited at the same time. The steel frame components required to support those massive windows had to be engineered with exceptional strength, but the investment pays dividends in the quality of light and the uninterrupted views they deliver.
To the right of the entry, the owner’s bedroom wing offers a private retreat carefully separated from the home’s more public spaces. This is where Patton’s attention to detail really shines. The suite begins with a spacious bedroom featuring shiplap ceilings stained in a dark color that adds depth and intimacy to the space. A large electric fireplace anchors the room, its surround crafted from Italian tile. A 10-foot slider opens onto a private veranda with a built-in automatic shade and an Arteriors Tilda light fixture, creating what Patton describes as one of his favorite spots in the entire house. It’s easy to see why. The sitting area provides a sheltered outdoor room that feels like a secret within the larger home, a place for morning coffee or evening conversations that require no audience beyond the two people who live here.
The bath continues the commitment to exceptional materials and thoughtful planning. Large-format tile wraps the space, and the fixtures are positioned outside the shower enclosure so you can turn on the water without getting wet—a small luxury that anyone who has ever shivered while waiting for hot water will immediately appreciate. Heated floors add another layer of comfort, particularly welcome on cool lake mornings. His-and-her vanities feature waterfall edge countertops in quartz, and between them stretches a walk-in closet that deliberately dispenses with doors. The closet system comes from Castagna Cucine, an Italian manufacturer whose cabinets run 24 inches deep rather than the standard American 14 inches, allowing doors to fully conceal clothing while providing dramatically more storage capacity. The owner’s wing also includes a laundry room and a sitting area with a desk, creating a self-contained private apartment within the larger home.
Moving through the great room toward the rear of the house, the space flows into the dining area, distinguished by a tray ceiling that adds architectural interest without closing off the room. An adjacent eating area near the kitchen provides flexibility for both formal and casual dining, and the kitchen itself commands attention with its scale and finish quality. The island measures approximately 9 feet by 5 feet, a substantial work surface wrapped in black quartzite with a mirror-polished finish. More Castagna Cucine cabinetry lines the walls, these in black oak, which read as sophisticated and modern against the white and wood tones of the surrounding spaces. The countertop wraps around and up the hood vent in a continuous surface, a detail that required steel beams in the attic to support the cantilevered structure.
The team routed the raw edge of the quartzite slab and built a steel cage to hold the hood, creating what appears to be a gravity-defying sculpture in stone. Thermador appliances include a 36-inch freezer and a wine column separating it from the refrigerator, the kind of thoughtful layout that recognizes how people actually live and entertain. A butler’s pantry provides additional prep and storage space, and a separate laundry room sits conveniently nearby.
The rear of the main floor extends the living area outward through multiple covered porches and a grill deck, all detailed with the same rustic modern sensibility that defines the home’s exterior. Large cedar beams support tongue-and-groove ceilings that conceal sound systems. The gas fireplace is see-through, visible from both the main level porch and the terrace level below, creating a visual connection while allowing both spaces to enjoy its ambience.
Outdoor kitchens on both levels ensure that entertaining never requires shuttling back and forth to the interior kitchen. Large-format flagstone paving carries the stone and brick facade out into the hardscape, and the pool terrace includes a turf dog run, fenced to keep pets from jumping into the pool or the lake.
Descending the stairs to the terrace level feels almost like entering a second residence, a completely realized living environment designed with a different sensibility than the floor above. If the main level was conceived to appeal to refined tastes, with its light palette and sophisticated finishes, the terrace level embraces a darker, more masculine aesthetic. Patton is candid about the strategy behind this dual personality. When designing spec houses, he explains, the team likes the upstairs to resonate with the lady of the house, while making the basement an irresistible domain for the husband.
The family room mirrors the great room above, benefiting from the same double-height space and maintaining that crucial connection between floors. A massive black bar with countertops matching the kitchen’s black Infinity quartzite becomes the focal point, its waterfall edges making it feel like a piece of furniture as much as a functional element. An ice maker and beverage center ensure it can handle serious entertaining, and a massive flat screen dominates one wall.
The golf simulator room might be the space that seals the deal for many buyers. Framed with the same ash wood used elsewhere in the home, it provides a space where friends can play year-round, regardless of weather, while others can watch (and heckle) from comfortable seating in the adjacent area. The dark, moody palette throughout this level creates an intentionally different atmosphere from the bright, open spaces above, giving the home multiple personalities depending on which floor you occupy.
The terrace level dedicates substantial square footage to guest accommodations, with a junior suite offering its own dedicated bath and generous closet space, plus three additional bedrooms. Two of these share a bath area with separate vanities and closet space, while a fifth bedroom has its own attached bath. The level opens directly to covered porches and the pool terrace, making it ideal for guests who want their own territory or for older children who crave independence while remaining under the same roof. Above the three-car garage, a complete in-law suite with a living room, bedroom and heated bathroom provides yet another self-contained living option.
Every construction project has its challenges, and this home was no different. The Castagna Cucine cabinets shipped from Italy encountered delays due to a major shutdown and were stuck in customs for weeks. The engineering required for the cantilevered kitchen hood pushed the structure’s capacity to the limit. The cabinets for the terrace-level bar started as black oak to match the kitchen, but the clients wanted something more dramatic, prompting the team to verify the structural capacity before committing to the full-height installation. None of these obstacles show in the finished product, which feels effortless and inevitable, as if it could never have been built any other way.
The home is now on the market just over a year after completion because the clients decided to build something even larger with Heirloom Builders, the ultimate compliment to Patton and his team. “It’s one of my favorite homes,” Patton says. “It’s a good use of space, efficient, feels larger than it is, and it has a lot of intentional rooms.” It’s a perspective that reflects his broader philosophy about remaining deliberately small, about choosing depth over breadth, craft over volume.
In a luxury market crowded with builders chasing the next project, Heirloom Builders has staked out different territory entirely, and this home in Richland Pointe stands as compelling evidence that the approach works. *
Robin Howard is a freelance writer in Charleston. See more of her work at robinhowardwrites.com.
The foyer opens directly into the great room, and here the home’s architectural drama unfolds in full.
