Mount Pleasant Magazine March/April 2021

www. Char l es tonWomen . com | www. Char l es tonWomenPodcas t . com | www. ReadCW. com CW Thrill of the Hunt The GatheredHens Find Local Treasures A mber Bennett, whose design career began when she renovated The Little House on her family’s estate at 20 years old, insists that her knack for the decorative arts and architecture is in her genes. The daughter of a fashionista and granddaughter of a bargain hunter, she’s not wrong. Her grandmother, Vivian, was known to drive around Charleston in her Bonneville to find discards that she’d dress up in velvet. Today, Bennett and her mother-in-law, Cheryl, call themselves The Gathered Hens and have made garage sales and bargain hunts a veritable art form. Their successful treasure hunts have outfitted both their homes and then some. Bennett describes her “collected” aesthetic as French and Scandinavian with Colonial and Art Deco influences, while her MIL enthusiastically details her living room, clad in estate and garage sale finds, as wholly shabby chic. Some might say that these ladies have been lucky to find many of their one-of-a-kind furnishings and trims, but Bennett insists that luck has nothing to do with it. They are always on the hunt and follow a strict protocol when hitting up garage sales, whether local or otherwise. They stake out locations the night prior, deny themselves food and water on garage sale day and are willing to travel. Whether they are driving a U-Haul or asking Bennett’s BY I SABEL ALVAREZ ARATA Photo by Tanya Da l es Des i gns .