This past October with the first chill in the air in Charleston, we welcomed an all-star group of emerging and established New York-based designers to town for one of our signature Golden Ticket experiences. The multi-day visit included an in-depth tour of our factory with sneak peeks of some of our soon to launch lights and an excursion an hour south to explore Auldbrass, Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterful mid-century plantation house reimagined, complete with sunken living rooms, low-slung ceilings and pygmy zebras roaming the property to boot.  

But without a doubt the highlight of the weekend was a rollicking Halloween night dinner party at the home of our longest-standing collaborator, the multi-talented architect, Mark Maresca. Beyond being perfectly appointed from the antique-filled interiors to the pristine boxwood gardens, Mark’s historic house in the iconic South of Broad neighborhood is known for dressing the part and having a little fun with the holiday. While the first trick-or-treaters began to trickle into the streets, we loaded into bike taxis and headed to Mark’s for an evening filled with over-the-top touches including antique china and silver, table runners by Maresca Textiles (Mark’s daughter!) and incredible florals by Sara York Grimshaw. Cocktails flowed freely throughout the house before we were seated for a candle-lit, four-course traditional southern supper thoughtfully prepared by BJ Dennis, Charleston’s foremost expert on traditional Gullah-Geechie foodways. The revelry went late into the evening and thanks to the efforts of Mark, his wife Melissa and their daughters Kathryn and Lauren, our guests got a true taste of southern hospitality before heading back to the city.