Sasee Gets Personal with Ginny Lassiter: Sunset River Marketplace

“A house is a home when it incorporates things or elements that the family loves. It should be a reflection of the personalities of its inhabitants.”

In 1977, Ginny moved to this area as a single mother to be close to her family. In 2002, Sunset River Marketplace was opened by Ginny and her husband as a venue for local artists to display their works.

Being an artist herself, Ginny’s primary medium is acrylic, and her work is mostly abstract. She also enjoys printmaking and working in clay.

Because Ginny’s degree was in art with a focus in interior design, and she worked in interior design for a few years early in her career, her home has been primarily her own design. Her husband also has very good taste, so they usually agree on things they are doing or purchasing. Ginny always has an eye out for new ideas, especially new art and décor. Ginny’s home reflects “real life” living as well as warmth and welcome for family and friends.

When it comes to personal style, Ginny’s is definitely eclectic. All of the art in her home is original and the décor are pieces that she and her husband have collected over the years. She has some family antiques as well as some purchased, and she likes to mix antique and contemporary pieces. She also has a few “shabby” pieces, but all are things that they love.

At the top of her stairs: you will find a stained glass window that came from the First Methodist Church in Wilson, North Carolina, which Ginny attended as a child. The glass cross on the left was handblown by Ginny’s son, Scott Summerfield who lives and has his studio in Bakersville, North Carolina, with his wife, clay artist Liz Zlot Summerfield.

In the living room: the cozy reading nook includes chairs that once belonged to both Ginny’s and Joe’s grandmothers. Ginny’s art and design are often driven by sentimentality.

Ginny’s collection of North Carolina pottery is always on display in her kitchen. Ginny designed and created the tiles above the cooktop. In fact, one of the reasons she wanted a pottery studio at the gallery (Sunset River Marketplace) was so she could make her own kitchen tiles.

Ginny has two favorite rooms. One is her formal dining room which is a mix of antiques and contemporary furniture. Her dining table is glass top on a wrought iron base along with dining chairs that were her grandmother’s. She has a pottery collection that she displays alongside some crystal and silver pieces. Her other favorite room is the kitchen which is truly the heart of the home as they say. A few years ago, they added windows across the water side of the house so when she is in the kitchen, she has a water view and the bar stools for the island also face the water.

Through her art gallery, Sunset River Marketplace, they have been involved in the community through hosting events that benefit organizations such as The Lower Cape Fear Hospice and Hope Harbor Home shelter for women. For several years, they hosted a black-tie event for the Brunswick County Arts Council as a fund-raiser. They have hosted charity fashion shows and luncheons, created and designed a cookbook in which 100 percent of the proceeds went to an individual Hospice patient, and the gallery is a member of the Brunswick County Chamber of Commerce. Ginny has personally served on the Board of Trustees for the Museum of Coastal Carolina, the Ingram Planetarium, and the Brunswick County Arts Council. She has loved teaching two abstract painting workshops for the Waterway Art Association and judging local art shows.

Ginny loves to laugh and have fun with her friends and staff, and she loves music and likes to dance (their own version of the “shag” with her husband Joe).

“Make yourselves at home” is what Ginny hopes to impart.