Dye clubhouse at Collecton River Plantation: Bluffton, SC.

Judges' Verdict: "'The Carolinas lowland architectural vernacular is a dialect all its own, and this clubhouse beautifully recreates the graciousness of the antebellum era from its wide porches and French doors to the interior furnishings. At the same time it generously accommodates the flow of a popular upscale resort golf destination."

Welcome to the land where every home has two acres, every golf course is world-renowned, and every bird is fanatically protected by government regulation. Yes, welcome to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina--you have arrived in golf's equivalent of Mecca.

If Hilton Head Island is Mecca, then the Colleton River Plantation is its Grand Mosque, with two of the world's most decorated golf courses and what some would argue is a permanent slot on the "Top 100" list of golf courses to play in America. A formal clubhouse served the Jack Nicklaus course on the property for several years, and in 1998 the plantation engaged Looney Ricks Kiss Architects to develop a design concept adjacent to its newer installment, the Peter Dye course. Architect Mike Sullivan, AIA wasted no time adding beautiful architecture to the club's long list of accolades.

The Peter Dye course began receiving awards within six months of the grand opening in 1999, and its celebrity status heavily influenced the selection of design and materials for the clubhouse project." The very first statement from the owner was that we were not building a clubhouse, we were creating a place that respected the site," explained Mike Sullivan, AIA. "The clubhouse had to pay homage to the course, and not necessarily be a landmark."

While the Nicklaus clubhouse serves a formal and traditional clubhouse function for the membership, the Dye clubhouse reflects a casual and modest purpose. Developers requested a "golfers' house," something that would evoke a strong home-away-from-home sentiment in patrons. Sullivan developed a fictional back-story to shape and inform the building design, beginning with an old family-owned creek house at its heart. According to the tale, the modest home evolved over time into its current country Antebellum Greek Revival vernacular.

The fictional tale is carried through magnificently with the use of authentic period materials; Sullivan incorporated a palette of salvaged timber, bricks, slate, and copper roofing that provided true history and richness in varied colors and textures; and contractor Dan Lawrence skillfully wove these materials in with the new construction to create a new clubhouse that convincingly roots itself in a bygone era.

The antebellum-style river house, with its 18-foot wide porches and French doors, represents classic Southern Lowcountry architecture. Large columns, brick arches, and tabby stucco exteriors grace the exterior, and 5,000-square-foot wraparound porches offer a 360-degree experience of the water, marsh, oaks, seabirds, and the most important feature of all, the Peter Dye golf course.

The Carolina brick and hardwood structure borders a pristine estuary on the edge of Port Royal Sound. The view from the clubhouse entry gallery on each level opens to a central staircase detailed with salvaged brick, wood, and gas lanterns. "The piece of property and the site's views of the two bodies of water as they go into the Atlantic are incredible," Sullivan said.

The house operates like a huge pavilion, with spaces transitioning into each other without obstruction. The weathered-brick floors carry members from rear to front entry and back seamlessly, and wall materials transition as cleanly from floor to floor, becoming less formal as one descends one of the building's two pine staircases. From every vantage point, inhabitants are enveloped in the architecture's sweeping integration of the surrounding landscape.

Credits

Architect and Interior Designer: Looney Ricks Kiss Architects, Mike Sullivan, AIA.

General Contractor: Dan Lawrence Construction.

Projects HIGHLIGHTS

Architecture: Antebellum, Greek Revival.

Exterior: Reclaimed materials such as brick, timbers, painted wood walls. Slate and copper roofing.

Notable Spaces: Entry drive greeting the social club; lawn terrace stepping down to the putting green; 18th hole playing up to the garden level of the clubhouse; Twin pine staircases connecting lower level kitchen and second floor social room draw brick material upward on the walls, and subtly increase in formality as one ascends the stair.

Design Accents: Reclaimed materials; gas lanterns and warm lighting throughout; custom furniture adapted from 19th Century Southern designs; Original murals.

Square Footage/Areas Affected: 21,000-sq.-ft. clubhouse. Two-story architecture houses casual and formal dining facilities, an entry porch and hall, kitchen and service areas, locker rooms, pro shop, and administrative offices.

Dye Clubhouse At-a-Glance

Claim to Fame: Colleton is the only golf community in America to have two courses on Golf magazine's "Top 100" list.

Club Accolades: "Best New Private Course in America" and "Top 10 New Private Courses in the U.S."--Golf Digest; "One of America's Top 100 Modern Courses" and "One of the Top 30 Courses in the U.S."--Golf and Travel; "Top Rated Course in South Carolina"--Golf Week; "Best Private Clubhouse"--Crittenden Golf Inc..; "One of the Best Golf Course Communities in America"--Forbes; "one of the Top Ten New Courses in the U.S."--Golf Digest.