Hilton Head couple built a home inspired by boating. This week, it premiered on national TV
A St. Helena Island home with a unique boat design was featured on television this week on the Discovery channel and will be on the DIY channel later this month.
The show is “Building Off the Grid,” and the episode “Carolina Catamaran” follows a Hilton Head family as they construct an approximately 1,000-square-foot home shaped like a boat on 4 1/2 acres along Sea Island Parkway.
Jason Cooke, Cassie Byam and their children, with help from friends and employees of their company, About Time Renovations, built the home last year.
“We designed everything for it, and ... built the thing, 100 percent from the ground up,” Cooke said. “It took us three months to complete it.”
“Building Off the Grid” cameramen visited the site around eight times over the course of the build, staying for several days each time, Cooke said. The rest of the footage was shot by the couple.
Cooke and Byam, who grew up on Hilton Head, lived on a sailboat at Palmetto Bay before Hurricane Matthew wiped out the marina. They incorporated wood reclaimed after the storm in their project.
“We were excited to build a boat that gave us the feel of staying on a yacht but without the excessive rocking of the boat,” Cooke said.
The couple worked with Anthea Hamile on interior design for the two-bedroom, 1 1/2-bath house. Cooke said all the rooms are standard size, and the home has a covered back porch with a view of the marsh.
Some of the furniture and all of the cabinets were custom built by the couple.
As for the off-the-grid part, the property has its own well and solar power. The crew used generators for the build.
Cooke’s two daughters, ages 8 and 11, helped build a chicken coop on the property. Cooke and Byam also have a 9-month-old daughter and are expecting a son in June.
They see the build as a model home, of sorts, and plan to build more. Cooke said the home feels like a townhome and could be constructed as an in-law suite or in a group to serve as a boutique hotel.
The episode premiered at 10 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13, and aired again at 1 a.m. Friday, Feb. 14, on Discovery channel. It also is scheduled to be on DIY channel at 9 p.m. Feb. 25 and midnight Feb. 26.
Discovery makes it shows available on its website at https://go.discovery.com. “Building Off the Grid” episodes also are available with a Hulu Live, Sling or FuboTV subscription.
Discovery channel is 39 on Hargray and 42 on Spectrum, and DIY channel is 217 on Hargray and 161 on Spectrum.
This story was originally published February 13, 2020 at 12:22 PM.
