CALLAWASSIE ISLAND HOME WITH A FRENCH TOUCH
Nancy Rapp is an enthusiastic home chef. She has French cuisine by her culinary side and an abundance of cookbooks for reference in her back “messy” space where she has a working kitchen for prepping and a desk.
Julia Childs was her cooking mentor in the early 1970s – cookbooks and TV. Beef bourguignon is her favorite dish to cook on Callawassie Island, where she and her husband, Rob, live. She mixes her braised beef with gravy beef stock, red wine and cognac, carrots and onions.
“It’s a wonderful, rich and beautiful beef dish,” she said.
Other favorites are roasts and stews, cog au vin, cabbage and squash. She said her husband makes seriously good chili and fajitas.
They do it all in their new kitchen designed by Anne Pappas, owner of Anne Pappas Interiors in Savannah, who has a master’s degree in interior design from the Savannah College of Art and Design and has had clients worldwide during her 10-year career.
The couple from Florida enlisted Pappas to work with the architect and builder to weave her interior magic into their new home before they moved in late 2019.
Pappas designed every room in their Lowcountry home. When the couple sat down with Pappas in pre-commitment interviews, they presented general plans and ideas.
“They wanted to evolve their tastes and styles more fitting with the Lowcountry,” she said. “So, it’s my job to get her from point A to point B. Before I saw the space and the site, I saw the plans from the architect. So, I worked with the architect and builder from the beginning. The nature of the site dictated everything…the view.”
Said Rob: “There’s a view from every room in the house of the Colleton River and marshes.”
“It feels like home,” Nancy said. “It’s very comfortable, very welcoming and very warm.”
Pappas kept the interiors colors muted with different textures fitting for the Lowcountry coastal-design spirit in a country home.
“We didn’t have to introduce overwhelming color palettes,” she said. “It’s a clean and aesthetic design style that a lot of people are looking for…I think it’s giving them warmth without being too cool and modern. It’s creating a calming environment.”
Signature elements in the kitchen are a custom-made copper hood above the range, marble counter tops, mossy green colored cabinets and a French custom-made La Cornue gas range with multiple cooking features.
As much as Nancy loves to cook and entertain, she doesn’t really know where it all began.
“I don’t know where my love of cooking came from,” she said. “I love to eat, I love to take care of people through food, I love to show my love through food, and I have a husband who loves to eat what I make. And I love entertaining.”
Pre-pandemic, she would host dinner parties for eight or so guests. Since the pandemic struck, she’s hosted three dinner parties over nine months for two to five guests.
But she and her husband still plan their three daily meals in the early morning in their coastal French country home — sometimes divine and sometimes casual.
As for collaboration?
“Anne was excellent working with us; she read who we were,” Nancy said. “She always pointed us in the direction she knew was right for us. We just hit it off.”
Said Pappas: “She’s lovely. So easy to get along with.”
VENDORS:
INTERIOR DESIGN: Anne Pappas, Anne Pappas Interiors
CONTRACTOR: Lara Sexton, Coastal Signature Homes
INTERIOR TILE AND FINISHES: Savannah Surfaces
LIGHTING: Circa Lighting
WALLPAPER: Zoffany, Sanderson, Harlequin
WINDOW TREATMENTS: Tailor Made Draperies
CUSTOM COPPER STOVE HOOD: Forsyth Metal Works
