Meet the Team Behind Our 2023 Idea House

This skilled group of creatives from across the region brought our country-place dreams to life.

For our 2023 Southern Living Idea House in the Leiper's Fork area of Tennessee, we assembled a talented crew from across the South to build a farmhouse that's both rooted in tradition and intentionally designed for the future. Our Idea House team includes interior designer Laura Hodges of Laura Hodges Studio in Catonsville, Maryland; residential designers Bill Holloway and Luke Sippel of Lake + Land Studio in Hattiesburg, Mississippi; builders Mary and Patrick Hatcliff of Hatcliff Construction in Murfreesboro, Tennessee; and landscape designer Butch Hamby of Southern Creations Landscaping, which is also based in Murfreesboro. Here, learn a little more about each of the folks who brought our 2023 Idea House to life.

Laura Hodges, Interior Designer

Laura Hodges Studio; Catonsville, Maryland

I have a catchphrase for myself: Good design is sustainable. It’s not necessarily always about buying something that is made from cork or recycled materials,” says Laura. “It’s about creating something that’s going to last and has a cradle-to-cradle life span. This means it has the ability to be turned into something else or reused. Sustainability isn’t a certain style. It’s a way of designing that is respectful and responsible to the environment and being intentional in the choices that we’re making."

Bill Holloway and Luke Sippel, Residential Designers

Lake + Land Studio; Hattiesburg, Mississippi

"On the way to look at the site, we passed a lot of old Tennessee farmhouses,” says Bill, “so we knew the home needed to be something that had history to it. We took some very traditional Tennessee architectural forms and tried to reinterpret them and give them fresh twists.” For instance, the layout of the plan feels more modern, notes Luke. “There’s this beautiful circular flow that happens,” he says. The house caters just as well to two people as it does to a crowd. “Your main floor has everything a couple would need to use on a daily or weekly basis,” he notes.

Patrick and Mary Hatcliff, Builders

Hatcliff Construction; Murfreesboro, Tennessee

"Although it has all the new and current amenities, the home is still casual and comfortable. It feels like it’s part of the land and could have been here for a really long time,” says Mary, who oversaw its construction with her husband and business partner, Patrick. “The house is beautiful from the front, but when you walk out the back doors and look at the views, you could stay there and not know the world is around you,” he says. Mary agrees: “The privacy here is just amazing. It’s a secluded place with no sounds, no people, no traffic. It’s your own little spot.”

Butch Hamby, Landscape Designer

Southern Creations Landscaping; Murfreesboro, Tennessee

“Every job site is unique in one way or another,” says Butch. “The reality of this location is that the existing mature trees [the acreage includes maples, hickories, tulip poplars, red oaks, and white oaks] established the framework for the landscaping, while the topography provided another element for us to build on. I chose to introduce some mature anchor plantings [larger shrubs that can work as focal points within the landscape] to balance the existing trees. We also designed the beds to be oversize and were repetitive in our plant selections to create sweeps of color and texture, while manicured turf serves as the background."

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