Architecture | Interiors | Planning
ROOM WITH A VIEW 
South Carolina Homes & Gardens (May 2001)
By Judy Bistany
There are many views of the ocean from this Hilton Head home. None is more spectacular than from the second-floor master suite. At the direction of his clients, architect and interior designer Mike Ruegamer of Group 3 designed the home to have only a master suite upstairs – one that was designed with ocean views in mind. "I wanted my very own apartment that would occupy the entire second floor," says owner Linda Slucker. And so combining bath with bedroom and a fireplace wall to divide the space, the suite, which includes a study that doubles as an exercise room, overlooks the ocean vista outside. "Mike designed this fabulous bedroom and then put a house underneath it! It was a beautiful plan that I loved from the moment I saw it. Every day we are here, Rudy and I get up and say to each other, 'Look at this view! Look where we are!' Eighteen months later, we are still drooling over this wonderful house."
At first glance, and out of context, one might think this was a home found in the Hamptons on Long Island. Certainly, its design was meant to share the look of a Hamptons beach house. The roof lines, window styles and porch facades have the upscale casual look that sets the tone for the architecturally detailed interior specifically designed for Linda and Rudy Slucker and their family.
Linda, Rudy and their two boys, Ron and Brian, first visited Hilton Head in the winter of 1992. They came because they wanted to learn to play golf. Not wanting to go to Florida, they had heard of the many golf amenities on Hilton Head and were interested in the self-contained golfing and hotel accommodations that the island had to offer. Of all the places they had visited since Rudy's retirement from the hand-tool and hardware business, and after turning down all his other suggestions of vacation-home locations, 12 hours into their visit Linda knew she wanted a vacation home here. With the help of real estate agent Dale Dawson of The Dawson Team, in the last hours of her four-day visit, she found a house. At 4:00 PM on the fourth and last day of their stay, she found the home she wanted. One hour later at 5:00 PM she was signing the contract, and at 6:00 PM they were on a plane to return to their home in New Jersey.
Five years later, it was time to grow. Calling on her agent and now friend Dale again, and with Rudy's insistence that this time they have a home on the water, they found the perfect site. After much deliberation as to what to do to their new property, they made the decision to start over completely. At Dale's suggestion, they had already enlisted Mike Ruegamer, who Linda describes as having some of the best listening skills she has ever encountered. Mike and Linda had an instant chemistry. She talked, he listened. With words only, she described what she wanted in her new home: A Hamptons Long Island beach house look mixed with Cape Cod charm, lots of windows and porches, shingles (no stucco!), a look that would be fitting for Adirondack chairs. With these words and no further input, Mike came up with a plan that was exactly what she had seen in her mind. Five weeks later when she opened up the Fed Ex package of drawings with not only anticipation but also trepidation, she was speechless. The renderings of the front and back facades, the interiors, all of the elevations, everything was perfect. And so it was that this plan, with only one minor change (the placement of a bathroom door in one of the guest bedrooms), became their dream reality.
Wonderful windows, shingles and porches at the top of a wide stair create the first view. On entering the house, the tone is immediately set by the travertine marble flooring (called Sauternia for its special cut) found throughout the public areas. Set with a diamond inset into large stones, the upscale casualness of the interior is evident. Mike's challenge as he designed the plan was to create a traditional style home with a modern plan. With this in mind, he found ways to define the spaces while maintaining an open feeling. Using partial walls in the foyer and the master suite and a coffered ceiling in the living area, he was able to create the illusion of interior areas within the open plan. In the entry, a dividing wall that stops a few feet short of the ceiling height of 10 feet separates the kitchen area. By design, it is meant to define the spaces without closing them off. Made of butternut wood, as are the kitchen cabinets on the opposite side of it and throughout the kitchen, its rubbed down brown glaze gives it a lighter look than the traditional dark, heavy wood. The block design on the foyer side has a Jacobean feel perfectly offset by the English Oak chair that sits in front of it. For added interest, the kitchen island that is both cook surface and bar has a painted, rubbed-down finish in ivory tones.
Further defining the space are the transom designs over the interior openings. The ironwork that is found above them is lighted with halogen lights that enhance the architectural design with the added interest of creative lighting. These transomed openings also help to define the private areas of the house that they lead to. Even the ironwork on the stair leading to the master suite is likened to the ironwork grills found above the openings and, in fact, were chosen from the same catalogues of old ironwork designs. Deep eight-inch cove molding is found throughout the house, and although there is a great deal of it, simplicity keeps the feeling light. Adding to the architectural delight of the design are gently curved walls that soften the transitions from place to place.
There is an air of informality and casualness to this house in spite of the grandness of its design, and it is something that did not happen accidentally. After the plans were in place, for the next 10 months Linda and Mike put in three or four very long days each month to make all of the selections for the house. Not even a doorknob was picked without their collaboration. "He was my cane," Linda says of Mike. "With Mike and our builder Tommy Smith of Sandcastle Builders, I was in the hands of people who I not only knew I could trust but who I also knew were so very talented and did such quality work. It made it easy to build this house while living far away. So easy, in fact, that none of my friends could believe how I was handling it all." But, in addition, she adds, "we had great fun."
At Linda's request, Mike followed through with the interior furnishings to continue their collaboration. "Soft chenille, washed out fabrics and muted colors are what I wanted to create a relaxed feeling in this otherwise grand home," she says. Mike made me promise that I would not come to the house for a week after closing so that he could add accessories and have all of the furniture placed and set for my arrival. As anxious as I was, and in spite of the fact that his plans were almost foiled by hurricane Floyd, I did as he asked. When he called and said I could come to see it, I walked in the door and cried tears of happiness at what I saw." As for Floyd, whose arrival came just three days after the Sluckers took possession of their new home, and whose gale winds and water threatened to destroy their home before they ever lived in it, all that was left from its wake were two rather large palm fronds that landed in the pool. "Everything, from the first time I came to this island, has worked like clockwork," she says. "This house was the crowning glory."
Ironically, with only a basic familiarity with the game of golf when they first visited the island, Rudy became involved with the marketing of a new golf putter called the Tear Drop Putter. He later bought the company that he has now sold, once again finding himself in the joyful place of retirement. And to add to the story, their younger son, Brian, has recently become a professional golfer.
As for this house that they love, Mike Ruegamer entered its design in the National Home Builders Association annual competition for architectural awards. When he got the call to come for the awards ceremony he didn't even tell Linda. "I didn't know what to expect," he says, "perhaps an honorable mention." As it turned out, in the category of homes between 4,000 and 6,500 square feet, his design won the highest distinction, the Platinum Award for Best in American Living.
"We were all ecstatic," Linda says. "We knew how we felt about this house because it had become so personal to us and to Mike. To have it recognized nationally is an honor beyond compare." [ TO TOP ]
