It takes an extremely imaginative sense of creativity to find an all-brick, 1960s ranch-style home saturated in Asian design elements and envision it as a sleek, open-concept, contemporary-style home. But, that’s exactly the kind of project a group of three friends and their contractor of choice embarked upon, and the results have proven stunning.
Greenville-based JCI Group is composed of a young visionary team made up of three business professionals and friends: John Alexander, Cooper Norris, and Ivan Dunlap. John serves as general manager of the group, Cooper (All Seasons Landscaping) is the landscape expert, and Ivan is the financial manager, who also analyzes potential investment options.
Their general contracting partner, Josh King of KingCo Home Improvement, evens out the group, and together, it seems that there is no home challenge they can’t surmount. The end result for this house has been a sleek, stylish, updated home with quality materials that hardly resembles its former self.
atHome sat down with the JCI Group, to learn more about their recent project on Kingsridge Drive in Greenville and get an inside look at their process for updating and renovating.
A before and after of the face lift a contemporary on Kingsridge Drive received.
aH: Who was responsible for the initial idea to transform a red brick façade and Asian architecture into a contemporary, modern build?
John: The group had been looking to infuse some modern or mid-century design elements into our recent projects, but the houses we’d found up until the Kingsridge Drive house didn’t lend themselves to those particular influences. Upon seeing the initial clean lines of the house, we recognized the ability to bring in more linear forms—from the garage to the cypress siding to the tile feature walls and eat-in chef’s kitchen island.
Josh: Once we started planning and designing the walls and exterior features, the house seemed to keep “giving” us the space we needed. A lot of inspiration just came from personal tastes—that is really something John and Ivan have developed, both on their own and as a team.
Cooper: The simplicity of the architecture was also a real opportunity for us to showcase some unique landscaping that could be blended with outdoor living amenities. But really, we all had specialties that we explored and stretched to change this home from a choppy space both inside and out to a streamlined look that could appeal to a buyer who might have more of a West Coast taste, or a more sophisticated aesthetic, or maybe even someone who just wants something a little more extraordinary than the craftsman or bungalow style of home that is so prevalent in this area.
aH: How long did it take to complete the renovation?
John: We spent about four months from start to finish, but a lot of that was front-end planning. Some elements just took a while to figure out.
aH: What took the most time to “figure out”?
Josh: We flipped the kitchen several times before landing the plane, so to speak. The tile walls were easier than we thought they would be, but that’s because the local vendor, Circles and Squares, and the installer we use, Inline Tile, were great to work with at every turn.
aH: What was the biggest challenge?
John: The garage and kitchen. The garage looked and felt like a major afterthought and the kitchen had the same presence; you would look at them and think, “What in the world did someone build here, and why?”
Ivan: There were definitely times near completion when we were thrilled about how great everything looked, but also a little nervous to test the market with the design. It’s not like we are the first people to do something like this in Greenville, but we might be the first to sell this particular style in this area at this price point. It wasn’t always easy to figure out an issue or find a particular product, but it was always fun.
Cooper: This project helped us to stretch our legs and see if we could bring a different aesthetic to the home renovation and flip market.
aH: So, do you all consider yourselves contractors or are you “flippers?”
John: JCI Group is more than a house rehabbing business. We really love Greenville. We want to put a product on the market that isn’t the standard beige tile and neutral walls with mass appeal. We want to create a home that people can come right into and feel a sense of style and sophistication.
Josh: We all take immense care to ensure quality and artistry in all the areas you see, like the one-o design handmade dining room fixture, and all the spaces you can’t see in a home.
Cooper: The Kingsridge house is a great example of our work because it’s an experience for the person lucky enough to live there. It is a showpiece and a conversation starter. It is sleek and organic in style and allows you to be in this cool space that simultaneously brings in all the warmth and light in from outside.
Ivan: This house is by far the most dazzling of the JCI portfolio.
(Left to right) Josh King, Cooper Norris, John Alexander and Ivan Dunlap.
The Kingsridge House incorporated a variety of custom features that were unique and distinguishing to the project including:
- Custom milled cypress siding and cladding
- Custom tile and tile work throughout the interior
- Custom dining room light fixture
- Custom recess lighting
- Custom landscape with pergola and outdoor fireplace
- Custom garage door
- Advanced technology features such as wifi, HVAC with geo fencing technology, wifi garage door, USB outlets, and more
Follow the JCI Group’s projects on Instagram at @jcigroup.
