A HOUSE REBORN
By Blake Miller; Photography by Dustin & Susie Peck
This article appeared in the November/December 2025 issue of Home Design & Decor’s Charlotte edition.
Curated Antiques, layered textiles, and architectural grace define a renovation that celebrates English country style at its most elevated.
Lynn Blackwell’s home sold in one day. “To say we were scrambling to find a home after it sold is an understatement,” laughs the designer of selling her Lake Wylie home in twenty-four hours. Never one to shy away from a challenge, Blackwell looked at it as an opportunity to find a home that she could once again put her unique stamp on, and one that was closer to her family and downtown Fort Mill, South Carolina.
Except there was one problem: in 2022, at the height of a seller’s market, there were few homes available—but plenty of buyers. “Homes were selling before they even hit the market, or selling overnight,” says Blackwell. Instead of waiting for the perfect opportunity, the designer texted a homeowner whose house she’d previously visited and simply asked if he was willing to sell. The answer was no, but a neighbor of his was interested in selling. It was that home that Blackwell and her husband Bill ended up purchasing.
The home was far from perfect, however. “It was the only house available at that time, so I knew going into it that I would renovate and remodel it,” says the designer. “It had so much potential.” Beyond the English Tudor exterior architecture that Blackwell loved, there were plenty of eyesores: awkward ceiling angles, dated finishes, a choppy floor plan, oversized load-bearing sheetrock-wrapped columns, and a small kitchen. “There wasn’t much to like,” laughs Blackwell.
But with her sharp eye for design, she took to the drawing board, sketching plans that would reshape the home from top to bottom. “My goal was to transform what was a fairly typical suburban home into a cohesive, cozy, slightly dressy, masculine English country home,” explains Blackwell. Major focal points of the renovation included completely redrawing and renovating the kitchen, converting the screened-in porch into a sunroom, and stripping the home of its angular—and unnecessary—architectural details. Cosmetic accents were also addressed, like replacing stone fireplace surrounds and mantles with elegant, refined millwork and stone.
Once the foundational details were updated, Blackwell swiftly began curating the English country aesthetic she was envisioning. Starting essentially from scratch (she sold her previous home fully furnished), the designer scoured antique stores, estate sales, online auctions, and Chairish and 1stDibs, among many others, to pull together a classic English country cottage look. The richness of antiques and vintage pieces finds a natural harmony with florals and plaids, creating layered interiors that feel both timeless and deeply curated.
Though it was a labor of love with months of renovations, Blackwell took on the challenge knowing that it was an opportunity to create exactly what she wanted. “I addressed everything I could, functionally as well as aesthetically,” she says of the year it took to complete the project. “There’s nothing I would change.”