Across the Country to Across the Water
Steve and Elena Maring are deeply motivated by a shared love for their family. For now, that love has brought them from San Diego to reside in a beautifully renovated home on the shores of Lake Murray. Initially introduced through their workplace in Texas, Steve and Elena looked at each other through laughter to say that they’ve been together “forever.” Their love story first takes them to San Diego when Steve moved to pursue their relationship. After they got married and Elena’s mother was in poor health, the pair decided it was time to find a larger house that could comfortably hold the three of them.
A business partner of Elena’s from Raytheon, Bill Rudis of Chapin Discount Liquor, invited the couple to visit for a USC vs. Texas A&M football game. Bill, who still lives in the same neighborhood, invited his neighbors together for a social and showed off the small town Southern charm. They fell in love at first sight with Lake Murray and the little town of Chapin.
“We went back to California, and within three weeks we were thinking, was that real?” said Steve. The couple couldn’t get their minds off what Elena calls “the hidden gem” of Chapin, S.C.
With the housing market in San Diego looking pricier than they could afford, the Marings, who had married in 2006, decided another visit to the shores of Lake Murray was in store. They were again enamored with the lakeside lifestyle, friendly neighborhood, and small town feel reminiscent of Steve’s Kansas upbringing. Within 4 months they had found a house to purchase on their own corner of the water and headed for the East coast.
The house, located in Plantation Summit across the lake from Bear Island, was being sold by the original owners, the Sorrells, who had custom built the two-story home in 1991. With dark wood paneling, heavy silk curtains, and a Charleston-blue porch ceiling on the wraparound, the house was a picture perfect Southern classic. For Steve and Elena, the view as they came in the front door had made up their minds before they even finished walking through the house.
With Elena’s mom in mind, the pair decided that renovations could make the house a home. Though not incredibly extensive, most of the project focused around the top floor’s conversion into what would function as the mother-in-law suite. It took 9 months for Gage Construction’s Matt Gilpin to transform the top floor into a sunny getaway where Elena’s mother could recover her health and thrive again. Where the stairs climbed to the top floor, dark wood paneling and a lack of windows obstructed the incredible view; all three rooms on the lakeside of the house were given new windows and visionary glass doors that veranda. What could have been a simple window project was made more complicated by the need to expand the second floor porch so all the rooms could have access. On one side of the top floor, a bathroom was flipped to the front of the house to give priority to the view from the new, larger bedroom windows.
At each turn, the house was improved in ways that highlighted the natural beauty of the environment and the full panorama of the lake. As they reviewed remodeling photos, Steve remarked on the previous design of one of the rooms, pointing to the back wall where new windows were installed. “It drove us crazy,” he said, poking a finger at the ‘before’ photo. “The lake is right there!” Now, the airy upstairs seems to hardly be an indoor space at all; sunlight and fresh air filter in from every direction, bouncing brightly off the polished hardwood floors.
The house was already impressive with the influence of the original owners and proud plantation design. It stands two stories above ground with a lake-level basement, boasts an extraordinarily furnished outdoor kitchen, and speaks to luxury with a saltwater infinity pool overlooking the horizon. Yet it holds more than a few surprises, some courtesy of the original builders and some a product of the current renovators. Travertine tiling adds extravagance on the back patio, where the Marings added their own touch with copper ceilings over the outdoor kitchen and dining areas. A long, narrow crawlspace that runs under the front porch was converted into a ‘zombie shooting range,’ complete with a good supply of balloons for target practice and binoculars for siblings to determine accuracy. In Steve’s workshop, tribal masks from donation shops and garage sales peer down from the walls to keep watch over the kegerator.
It’s clear that the Marings aim to enjoy what they have and don’t take it all too seriously. Their town favorites include the ever-popular Tipsy Toad, local J Peters, and bringing guests to walk the ‘downtown’ Beaufort Street. Even one bottle on the ‘just for looking’ shelf of their Bourbon Room has a broken seal, evidence that Steve’s enthusiasm for entertaining his friends manages to outweigh his love for collecting. The fire pit in the backyard that has become a neighborhood hangout spot and regular ‘socials’ keep Steve and Elena enjoying the community they’ve grown into, both with those nearby and those who come from afar to visit.
“We kind of pinch ourselves,” said Elena. “We have all this, we need to share it.” The Portico, as they’ve dubbed the house, has a guestbook overflowing with joy and smiling photographs. Memories of holidays and family get-togethers fill each page as a testament to the wonderful times they’ve enjoyed there, including the day Steve officiated his brother’s wedding in the backyard and enlisted their neighbor, a notary, to sign it into officiality. Surrounded by beauty, serenity, and community, it seems hard to fathom that they’ve listed the home for sale. For the Marings, their love for their family pulls them through life and they seem content to follow it wherever they need to go. With the next generations of their family building futures, the couple plans to move back to the West Coast to be closer to their given family. But the family they’ve built in the South should know the couple won’t move on that easily. The Marings are already hoping to find another lake house in Chapin, one a whole lot smaller where they can play visitor to a few months of the year.
“We’re not going to be totally out of the area,” said Elena. “We’re going to miss this like there’s no tomorrow.”
Photographs by Charliene Maier.
