ALL is CALM ALL is BRIGHT

After years of careful restoration and familyfriendly updates, this Charleston, South Carolina, Single House puts on a fresh holiday face

- JOANNA LINBERG

IT WAS DECEMBER in Charleston's historic South of Broad neighborhood, and though greenery graced many of the classic Single Houses, one stood out.

Magnolia garlands looped along the double-story porch railings, wreaths were hung on the street-side windows all the way up to the fourth-story peak, and a glow emanated from a second-floor room.

Inside, a raft of candles covered the salon's coffee table, putting off a mesmerizing light that danced over fuchsia lacquered walls. The guests were moving too-a party was in full swing to celebrate the season and the completion of a historically sensitive renovation and redecoration of the 1788 home.

"The night was so old-school, with all that candlelight and with carolers singing outside," recalls interior designer Betsy Berry, who partnered with architect Eddie Fava to reshape the house just in time for Christmas. It perfectly suits the homeowners, their daughter who lives there, and their penchant for parties. Not quite as old-school was Berry's take on updating the structure.

"I love to respect the history of a home with a strong traditional layer tied into the architecture," she says. "But I also like to mix in modern pieces that feel youthful." As she and Fava gutted the closed-in kitchen, morphed the former carriage house into a family room, and added a small mudroom and powder bath, they kept (or replicated) the original walls, floors, doors, windows, and hardware as much as they could.