Living larger than its footprint — thanks to expansive 12-foot ceilings — the great room provides a front-row seat to Kiawah Island's dramatic marsh views. Glass doors offer a seamless transition from indoor to outdoor spaces.

A casual, durable braided rug in muted shades of gray anchors the great room seating area, where an overscaled sofa and a collection of cozy club chairs cozy up to two sandblasted pine coffee tables.

Two 150-pound gates, sourced at an architectural salvage store in Charleston, provide an intriguing focal point that complements tailored, straightforward interiors. "It was a story of scale, trying to find something very interesting, very bold for the fireplace," says interior designer Linda Woodrum. "And they just were perfect."

To install gates without damaging the fireplace surround, carpenter David Brown first determined the location of studs and predrilled holes for lag bolts. Four assistants then hoisted gates onto a scaffold where David and a fifth assistant stood ready to place the gates in position and drive bolts through gates and into the wall and studs.