JOURNAL CULTURE
Rooms with a view CINDY LANDRUM | STAFF
clandrum@communityjournals.com
“It really grounds the contemporary collection,” Laughton said. “We like playing traditional against modern.” Smith’s condo features a lot of color, from the tile backsplash behind the stovetop to the bar stools to the lighting fixtures in the main living space. “It’s highly influenced by the river,” Laughton said. Artwork from a mix of artists, including local artists and one of Smith’s sons, adorns the walls. Pillows serve as art in Smith’s master
GREG BECKNER / STAFF
“All it took was one look out the window” to sell Melinda Smith on her Riverplace condo. Smith was the last person to buy at 154 Riverplace in 2005 and the first person to move in to the development that offers spectacular views of the Reedy River, the Wyche Pavilion, the Peace Center and Main Street. Her condo is one of five featured in The Guild of the Greenville Symphony’s Condo Rondo on Saturday. A “rondo” is a musical composition built around a recurring theme. Condo Rondo’s theme is condos with access to downtown restaurants, events and Falls Park. Although each of the five condos showcased in this year’s event are within walking distance, all show the owner’s distinctive style and interest in art, antiques and collectibles. This Riverplace condominium is one of the unique The condos on the tour indowntown condominiums on the Downtown Condo clude a two-story condo with a Rondo tour, a fundraiser to benefit the Greenville collection of chandeliers, mir- Symphony Orchestra. rors and large-scale artwork, a condo with an open floor plan, one built bedroom, which features a set of pilin what once was the attic of a hardware lows on the bed, as the wall space there store built more than 150 years ago and is too small to hang any art of signifianother with vibrant colors and ultra- cance. Only 10 yards of the fabric used modern furniture. in those pillows exist anywhere in the The Guild is a support organization world, Laughton said, and the pillows for the Greenville Symphony Orchestra. take up two of them. All of the furniture Smith had when Each pedal of the flower contains more she moved from the “suburbs” near than 1,000 hand stitches, he said. “The Chanticleer was traditional and didn’t fabric is exquisitely made. There’s so much really fit in her new digs. detail. The fabric itself is a work of art.” “I wanted something very contemAnd then there’s the view. porary, very clean, very modern,” she said. “In Greenville, modern is not the norm. It’s difficult finding pieces and decorators who understand it.” WHAT: Downtown Condo Rondo After Smith decided to buy, she had two WHO: The Guild of the Greenville Symphony days to pick out everything – paint, tile, WHEN: Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. countertops, flooring. She worked with a part-time designer, but really didn’t WHERE: Five condominiums within walking concentrate on her décor until about 18 distance of each other in the Main Street months ago, when she started working area of downtown Greenville. with Bud Laughton of JKL Design. TICKETS: $20 in advance, $25 on the day They kept the two very best pieces of of event Smith’s traditional furniture – a BomINFO: guildGSO.org or 864-370-0965 bay chest and a rice bed.
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View of river, downtown sold owner on Riverplace home featured in Condo Rondo
MAY 9, 2014 | THE JOURNAL 37