Text by Elizabeth Czapski
After a decade of enjoying their vacation home on 140 acres of verdant working farmland in South Carolina, Leslie and Bob Harris decided to make a permanent move to their peaceful haven—but not without substantial fine-tuning to suit Leslie’s clear creative vision.
It all started in 2000, after stumbling upon the house for sale while visiting Bob’s hometown of Indian Land. They purchased it on the spot, bringing the property that had belonged to his great-grandfather—and subsequent generations—back into the family. Situated on a road named for Bob’s grandfather, the farm had been sold in the ’90s to another family who replaced the existing home with a quaint farmhouse.
For 10 years, the property served as a weekend getaway for Bob, Leslie, and their six children. When the couple made it their primary residence, Leslie decided to play up its idyllic appeal and craft a charming cottage with French-country style. “We knew we’d be here for the rest of our lives, so we started a major renovation,” she says.
A wraparound porch was added to meet a large screened veranda, offering ample views of scenic pastures and ponds. To create better flow and promote fellowship, the Harrises removed walls to open the living room to the kitchen and a small porch that they converted into a sunroom.
A nurse by profession, Leslie has always been a decorating enthusiast, so she was excited to try a new aesthetic in their pastoral setting. Knowing she wanted to infuse the abode with a rustic ambience, she sold the furnishings that filled their previous traditional-style home. All they brought with them was their piano. “This farm had been in Bob’s family for a long time, and I wanted everything to look like it belonged,” Leslie explains.
The new pieces come from near and far, acquired through traveling and antiquing—hobbies the couple enjoys. “Most of what is in this house are things we have collected on travels,” Leslie says. “Rarely do I look for something for a specific area of the house. If I love it, I buy it, and I know I’m going to find somewhere for it.”
Many accents, from decorative linens to an extensive blue-and-white porcelain collection, came from a buying tour in France, while the aged wood elements incorporated throughout have been salvaged from barns and old structures across town. One of the barns even belonged to Bob’s grandfather and yielded the bark wood to build the couple’s bed.
Countless other fixtures are passed-down or repurposed heirlooms, found around the farm or in the area. With these treasured finds, Bob, who holds a PhD in wood science, constructs many things Leslie commissions, including tables, bookshelves, benches, headboards, and more. “There’s very little we have found on the property or in this community that we don’t keep,” Leslie says.
Throughout the decorating journey, Leslie has grown attached to the color white, and the serene hue creates a calming palette across the home. “White looks clean. It’s simple and timeless,” she says. While she loves to paint their abundance of reclaimed wood in her favorite shade, Bob sometimes draws the line with wood he deems too precious, like the sawed mahogany hand-carved bed in a guest room.
Leslie’s ultimate goal was to instill the feel of home in every corner of their dwelling, making it a true reflection of the family within. “I wanted the house to look like home,” she says. “If you fill your house with only things that you love and things that have meaning to you, it’s going to reflect who you are. Every room tells who we are and where we came from. It’s our story.”
