A Modern Home Floats Above a Traditional Skyline

WRITTEN BY:LUKE HOPPING – PHOTOS BY:CHRIS EDWARDS – ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN INDOOR/OUTDOOR LIVING AS NATURAL PRESERVATIVES – JUNE 4, 2016

A skyward addition to an antebellum Charleston warehouse rises in an architecturally conservative city.

Built before modern air-conditioning, Charleston is a city whose definition of indoor/outdoor living is more French doors than floor-to-ceiling glass, a standard that is vigilantly upheld by local preservation groups. So when web developer Rich Yessian and architect Kevan Hoertdoerfer submitted plans to set a steel sanctuary, complete with a roof garden, atop a warehouse that dates from 1858, they prepared for an uphill battle.

“The anticipation going in was that there would be a lot of pushback,” notes Hoertdoefer, wryly. But his client’s wishes were clear.

Inspired by the condos that crown taller cities like New York, Rich dreamt of living somewhere that collapsed the distance between work and nature. When his company, Blue Ion, relocated to the top floor of a warehouse downtown, he saw his chance.