Students build on their education

Part of the solution to helping the American College for the Building Arts get on sound financial footing can be found inside a brand new home here near the end of a winding road.

The 4-year-old college — which aims to train a new generation of blacksmiths, timber framers, carpenters, plasterers, masons and stone carvers — made news recently by selling McLeod Plantation on James Island back to the Historic Charleston Foundation.

It’s a step school officials didn’t want to take, but one they felt they had to as they pursue national accreditation. Once the college is accredited, then its students can seek federal grants and loans, which in turn is expected to lead to more students and a brighter future.

What’s exciting for school backers, including founder John Paul Huguley, is that the school now is finding new ways to help students learn how to practice their art in the real world — even before it releases them there.

That’s where this new house at 1612 John Fenwick Lane on Johns Island comes in.

Kevin Flynn, owner of Epic Development, and his partner, architect Mitch Laplante, are taking pains to set their new neighborhood apart. They came up with a special site plan that not only saves the 90 grand trees on the 26-acre site but that also saves most of the thousands of others.

The plan also includes a series of bio-swales — gentle ditches that feed rainwater into a series of ponds, where it’s filtered before it reaches the Stono River. They got special permission from the city of Charleston to build roads without curbs and gutters, preserving a rural flavor. They kept the marshfront public, with only two common docks and a winding trail that can be used by all.

And they came up with design guidelines to ensure the 66 lots will have homes that blend in with the site. “They (the guidelines) are less about style than they are about color, sheen, texture, height, scale and massing,” Flynn says. It’s a good neighbor to the historic Fenwick Plantation next door.

But Flynn says they also wanted to set their neighborhood apart by associating with good causes. Toward that end, he struck up a conversation with Huguley about ways they could help the college, such as throwing a party.

“It was sincere, honest,” Huguley says of the overture. “They made a major donation. They got involved.”

Eventually, the talks led to the idea of letting students use their newfound skills to help create features inside a new house at the Preserve. This was made possible in part because new president Colby Broadwater isn’t adverse to the idea.

So that’s how college students came to forge a handsome iron rail with curls and leaves that stands just inside the front door of this new house. “There’s not a cold weld on it. It was all hand forged,” Flynn says. “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever put in a house.”

While the design is relatively simple, it’s as authentic a piece of wrought iron as any found in downtown Charleston.

Another student made a mold for an eight-foot-tall plaster column, eight of which were made and stand nearby. Yet another student is hand carving a mantel out of Indiana limestone.

There’s a bit of a balancing act: The developers’ commercial needs can’t take on so much importance that the students’ learning is somehow compromised, but both Flynn and Huguley are committed to working things out. “There will be some ups and downs,” Huguley says. “There will be some kinks,” such as the mantle, which is looking beautiful but is behind schedule.

Huguley says ultimately, doing this kind of work is more helpful to the students than working in restaurants. “Our whole college was built so our students can get real-life experience,” he says. “This is the model.”

And they still plan to throw that party.