Chris and Ashley Stenglein hadn't even broken ground on their vacation home when they were approached with an irresistible offer: allow their world-renowned architect and team of interior designers to work magic on their home for a designer's showhouse and, in exchange, the home could be built in half the average time.

For the Brookhaven couple with three young boys and a busy lifestyle, the choice was as clear as the crystal blue water outside their retreat at the Reserve at Lake Keowee in South Carolina. Architect Keith Summerour and builder Alan Lait of Keowee River Club Builders erected the $3.5 million home in just eight months, while designers Nancy Pendergrast of Summerour Interiors and Beth Webb oversaw the five-bedroom home's interiors.

Elissa Eubanks / eeubanks@ajc.com (ENLARGE)

Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles' newly built showhouse at The Reserve in Lake Keowee in South Carolina. Architect Keith Summerour of Summerour Architects designed the home.

Elissa Eubanks / eeubanks@ajc.com (ENLARGE)

The upstairs porch offers an outstanding view.

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"They wanted the New Southern house," said Webb, of Beth Webb Interiors. "We strove for something really new, fresh and different."

In a sense, the home is a marriage of light and water. While the front is a seemingly modest cottage, the lakeside portion features a dramatic wraparound porch, open-air sleeping porch and a facade of windows allowing endless views of the lake. The interiors are washed in a decidedly Flemish cream, taupe and gray palette from the barn-wood floors to the oak beams to the linens, adding a soft serenity to the space.

"I was so against what you typically see in a lake [property]; the dark colors and traditional look," Ashley Stenglein said. "I needed something that felt rustic and sophisticated at the same time."

While the homeowners will keep much of the furniture from Pierce Martin and retail store Max & Co., Ashley Stenglein said that with three active sons, they won't keep the nearly $400,000 of art on loan to the show house, especially the Dale Chihuly sculptures.

Both Webb and Stenglein said their favorite room is the ground-level living, dining and kitchen area. Appliances are hidden behind subdued cabinetry, making it what Webb calls the "nonkitchen kitchen."

"It's so hard to be edited," Webb explains of the home's minimal, yet comfortable interiors. "There's a fine line between cold and lifeless, and warm and contemporary."

IF YOU GO

Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles' Designer Show House

Where: The Reserve at Lake Keowee, 190 Village Green Loop, Sunset, S.C. 29685. Phone: 866-542-3562. Visit www.thereserveshowhouse.com for details.

When: Tours held Thursdays through Sundays July 10 through July 27.

Cost: Tickets are $12 in person. Proceeds from the tour benefit the Oconee Medical Center Hospice of the Foothills in Seneca, S.C.

While you're there: Visitors can tour model homes at the nearly 4,000-acre lake and golf community, which features signature courses by Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer. The showhouse coincides with the community's "Art and Artisans Expose," a watercraft demonstration expo, and live music. Showhouse visitors also will be entered in a $2,500 drawing to win a three-day, two-night stay at the Reserve with use of amenities.