Building The Dream Part I ; The Foundation

I LIKED YVONNE BUCHAN FROM THE VERY FIRST HANDSHAKE, but what impresses me most is her enthusiasm for her latest project. She and a couple of investors are in the early stages of an ambitious flip on Johns Island.

“I knew the water was close,” I told her, “but I didn’t realize just how close it is.”

“It surprises everyone,” Yvonne said. “Some of my friends say it’s like a present when they see it for the first time.”

I couldn’t agree more as I look out on a 1,000-foot dock stretching over deep water, but what really draws my attention is the house. The original structure, a nondescript brick house of about 2,400 square feet is completely gutted and the renovation is beginning to take shape around it.

“You’re standing in the living room now,” Yvonne tells me as I walk through, “and over here is the kitchen.” I’ve looked at the blueprints, so I can get a feel for the general layout of what promises to be a spectacular waterfront home when it is complete. Plans call for an open, airy floor plan with 19- or 20-foot ceilings in the great room, a formal dining room, a country kitchen and a spacious master bedroom suite, as well as a loft, on the second floor. “The loft will make a nice office,” says Yvonne, “or maybe the owner will want to make this a bedroom.”

You see, even though this is a labor of love, Yvonne won’t be living in the new house.

“Oh, I can’t afford it,” she laughs, adding that she hopes “to sell it as soon as it is complete.”

I can’t afford it, either, although I love the plan for the approximately 4,700-square-foot house and the fabulous location out in the country yet near all that downtown Charleston has to offer. But I know someone will jump at the chance to own this property and, unless I miss my guess, Yvonne will net exactly what she is hoping to get.

To call this project a “flip” minimizes the extent of the renovation that is planned; in fact, it is more like “Extreme Makeover” meets “Flip This House.” Most people probably would not have the stomach for such a large undertaking, but, with her construction and accounting background, Yvonne is creating a showpiece beyond compare