THE ULTIMATE HANGOUT

HOME & GARDEN

THE ULTIMATE hangout

AN EXTRAORDINARY MAKEOVER MADE DENISE BENNETT’S BLACKSHEAR HOME AN IDEAL HAVEN FOR FAMILY AND FRIENDS

Story and Photography by Allen Allnoch, AHA! Photography

It’s an early spring afternoon and school is out for the day when a teenage boy strolls through the front door of the Bennett home, politely greets Denise Bennett, then heads to the bedroom of his good friend Luke, one of Denise’s fi ve children. The fact that Luke isn’t around at the time is irrelevant. “All my kids’ friends make themselves at home,” says Denise, who has lived at her Blackshear residence since 2012. “I’m very thankful that they all feel comfortable enough to do that. Many times, I come home from work and there’s somebody here, and I’m not related to them. When you have a bunch of kids, what’s a few more?”

The home has undergone an extensive renovation that includes a new front porch and entry. A daybed swing on the front porch provides a cozy place to unwind or gather with family members to catch up.

In 2019, with four of Denise’s children still living at home – only the oldest, University of Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett IV, was away – she undertook an extensive, year-long renovation that resulted in a remarkable new look. What once was a four-bedroom, two-bath residence that tended to feel dark and dated now is a bright, 3,000-square-foot oasis with fi ve bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths, and a contemporary vibe that still manages to showcase some of the unique features from the original 1922 construction. The work was expertly carried out by Wesley Davis of Hoboken-based Davis Construction. “Bless him – it was me telling him what I wanted it to look like,” Denise explains. “I would pull up my Pinterest pictures and he made it happen. He is unbelievably talented.”

Davis’ work included building a roomy new front porch and back deck, removing several interior walls to create an open fl oor plan, and adding a new master suite and mudroom at the back of the house. In the kitchen, he replaced outdated cabinetry, added a spacious island, and built custom shelves using wood from a pecan tree the four Bennett brothers – Stetson, twins Luke and Knox, and Maverick – removed from the backyard. The pantry is adorned with a door that was repurposed from the original laundry room and still sports a vintage crystal doorknob. Light, neutral tones lend the home an airy feel, and straight lines – including Shaker wainscoting panels on many of the interior walls

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Left: The foyer acts as a separate space for reading or private time. A barn door leads to Luke’s bedroom.

Below: The front room in the house was where the family used to watch TV. Now, it is a formal living room that opens up to the dining room. The leather chairs are from Lott’s Furniture and dress up the space while providing ultimate comfort. A wall separated the living room from the kitchen with an open doorway to pass through. The island is for casual dining, everyday use with kids at home.

– create a pleasant sense of order. “The one thing that I really dictated was I didn’t want anything rounded,” says Denise, who owns Bennett’s Hometown Pharmacy and Boutique in Blackshear and Nahunta. “I wanted simple lines and lots of rectangles. Maybe that comes from pharmacy. I’ll let someone else fi gure out what that says about me.” The home is comfortably furnished, with several pieces coming from Lott’s Furniture in Waycross, including a glass accent piece in the foyer, layered rugs in the living room, and a leather sectional in the family room, which before the renovation was simply a passthrough area leading to the back door.

Harriette Sutton, owner of Southern Lady Interiors in Nashville, Georgia, cast her vision and attention to detail throughout the home,

Above: The master bedroom provides a retreat for Denise, with a sliding door leading to a master bath with a soaking tub. “I love this,” she says. “This is my oasis.”

Immediate Right: Knox and Stet share a room with bunk beds and lots of memorabilia.

Far Right: Three of the bedrooms are set off each side of a central “foyer” area, which was a small living area before the renovation, with two built-in desks. Olivia’s bedroom was the original master and includes a bathroom.

Above: Denise wanted each of the children to have a unique wall for their bedroom. Maverick’s room has a colorful wallpaper design that Luke and Denise hung themselves. The red light is another unique aspect of the room.

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choosing fabrics, and arranging wall art, including a family photoshoot that Denise’s children surprised her with during the 2020 pandemic shutdown. Sutton also dreamed up the family room’s centerpiece, an eye-catching canvas highlighted by cherished scenes from Bennett family life over the years.

Before beginning the renovation, Denise says she considered either moving to another home or building a new one. Ultimately she decided to stay, she says, because “this is where the kids grew up. It just fi t.”

A move or a new build likely would have been the easier way forward, but as Sutton points out, the renovation resulted in something truly unique.

Right and Below: The kitchen opens to the new family room, which was a pass-through space to the back porch. Now it is a spacious area for relaxing and watching tv away from the front of the house. Double glass doors lead to a spacious deck. The leather sectional is from Lott’s Furniture. Right: The centerpiece of the room is a piece of art that was personalized by Denise, Stet, Maverick, Luke, Knox, and Olivia. Harriette Sutton assigned a square to each family member and had them paint unique backgrounds in their respective spaces. She brought the paints and they huddled around the kitchen island and unleashed their creative energies. She then had them fi ll out a questionnaire asking about important events, trips and other experiences they’ve shared as a family. She passed along that information to an Atlanta-based artist, who in turn reproduced those scenes on the canvas.

“When you take an older home and you’re really having to brainstorm and stretch to make everything work, it usually turns out a lot more interesting than a new build,” Sutton says. “You have to come up with a plan that will make the old work with the new.” It defi nitely worked. And while the home always has been a beehive of activity, now it’s the ultimate hangout for the Bennetts and their wide network of friends. As Denise explains, “Every Thursday night since 2012 or 2013, I have fed football players here. Stet used to bring his o ensive linemen home for dinner when he was in high school. Since he graduated, it’s been Luke and Knox with their teammates. This year Olivia said, ‘Mama, are you going to keep doing that?’ I told her, ‘We’re going to fi nd a group for you [to have as guests after the twins graduate]. “Before I re-did the home, it was very boxy,” she continues. “One of the things I wanted to make sure of was to have an open fl oor plan because there are so many of us. It’s so nice to hang out and cook, and we can fi ll the dining room with people and spill over to the island at the same time. That is something that we had never had as a family.” OL

Above: Denise with Olivia and Luke on the deck of the family room. The glass doors to the left lead to the master bedroom.

Right (Top and Bottom): A mudroom and halfbath are right inside off the deck. The mudroom has a built-in dog house and a framed display autographed by members of the Pierce County 2020 state championship team that Luke and Knox were a part of.