Briar’s Creek Private Golf Club, Johns Island SC
Whether there are birds in the sky or birdies on the course, Briar’s Creek is an outdoor-friendly retreat
To hear Briar’s Creek founder Steve Koenig tell it, he had the concept for a one-of-a-kind golf community, but the real visionary was Rees Jones.The noted golf architect crafted an 18-hole marsh and woodside course so exclusive that the 300 members can play without calling ahead for a tee time. According to Koenig, all he did was supply the 302-acre Johns Island site, the lake-fed water to irrigate the land and a shoreline to build a few homes. That’s being a bit modest. Development group Briar’s Creek LLC spent two years lining up dozens of wealthy, even a few marginally famous, investors to pay $130,000 club initiation fees. It bankrolled construction of the course, which opened in 2003, three years before the first house was built.The partnership has teamed with a real estate company for sales and marketing and has overseen construction of a golf lodge and cottage for prospective buyers and guests.
Yet even while centered around a Jones course that’s equal parts treacherous and alluring, Briar’s Creek, spread over 900 acres, isn’t simply a golfing haven. From the beginning, the backers saw the Johns Island locale as something more.
The secluded, gated neighborhood has miles of walking trails, a community dock on appropriately named Briar’s Creek and ponds that permit only watercraft with noncombustible engines from kayaks to electric boats. A quarter of the lot owners aren’t club members. They pay $20,000 to be able to access docks, the clubhouse and lodge.
“It’s a nature community, really,” Koenig said. Consider his wedding last month at his million-dollar compound styled like a Wisconsin fishing camp on the property’s Lake Sharon. As part of the outdoor ceremony, his bride ferried across the lake on a electric-powered boat to meet him for the wedding vows.
Now, with the course maturing and natural amenities completed, Briar’s Creek is entering a new phase. The partnership and broker Atlantic Island Properties are marketing the one- to seven-acre lots, priced from $397,000 to $780,000. They are advertising worldwide with buyers as far away as England. And developers are gearing up for construction of a new 13,000-square-foot clubhouse, eight private “golf cottages” and a host of seven-figure custom homes with a turn of the (20th) century look and feel. Koenig’s house stands out as one of the very few houses built.
Angus “Gus” Bright, director of marketing for Briar’s Creek, has been ramping up efforts to promote the community, including showing prospective clients a video that explains the neighborhood’s history and mission while highlighting its natural expanses.
“This is an amazing place, a rare bird,” he said. There are no lots on the golf course; the latest area released for sale is Gnarled Oaks with two- to four-acre properties on Lake Sharon. The 52-acre body of water has two miles of shoreline and stocked with large-mouth bass. Twenty-five acres are set aside as a nature sanctuary for birds, including eagles. The community is just 10 minutes from Kiawah Island and 25 minutes from downtown Charleston.
“I really feel it is the most exclusive neighborhood in the Charleston area,” he said.
Jeff Mann would agree. He moved to the Lowcountry from New Hope. Pa., with his 10-year-old daughter after buying a 3.75-acre lot at Briar’s Creek. He became interested after receiving a DVD in the mail about Briar’s Creek. His wife works in Washington, D.C., as a top executive with a financial institution. They are building a 4,500-square-foot home with 1,500-square-foot boathouse.
“At Briar’s Creek, you feel out of the rat race,” Mann said.
Marilyn Stober, the community’s real estate broker, has a special attachment to the property formerly owned by the Myrick family.
“I’ve had a passion for Briar’s Creek,” said Stober, of Atlantic Island Properties. She said she isn’t apt to exaggerate. Yet she’s taken with the property’s unspoiled appeal. “I wish I could show it to the whole world.”
The lot sales and custom-home construction will make Briar’s Creek more populated. But Koenig wants the site to keep its rustic charm.
“We want to develop a community, not just a housing development,” he said.
To visit Briar’s Creek from downtown Charleston, take the James Island connector to Folly Road, turning right on Folly and then left on Maybank Highway. Follow Maybank across the Stono River Bridge and turn left on River Road. Continue on River Road for nine miles to Blackground Road 1/2 mile before the St. Johns Fire Station. Turn left on Blackground. The entrance to Briar’s Creek is 1/2 mile down the road on the left.
Neighborhood
Briar’s Creek
Location
Charleston County
Developer, marketing
Briar’s Creek Golf LLC, Atlantic Island Properties
More info
phone: 843-557-7403
Hours: By appointment
Total homes
100
Home sizes
3,000 to 5,000-plus square feet
Home prices
$750,000 to $2 million-plus
Lot sizes
1 acre to 7 acres
Lot prices
$397,000 to $780,000
Typical features
–Custom builders
–Gated community
–Marsh, lake, creekside lots
–Decks and porches
Property taxes
$6,193 on a $1 million home
Area attractions
The Golf Club at Briar’s Creek, Johns Island Executive Airport, Briar’s Creek, Charleston Collegiate School, Kiawah River, Freshfields retail village, Atlantic Ocean
Distance to downtown Charleston
19 miles
Schools
Angel Oak Elementary
Grades K-5; phone, 559-6412; enrollment, 398; certified staff, 32; PACT results, 19.3 percent of fifth-graders scored proficient or advanced on English/Language Arts, 24.6 percent on math, 19.6 percent on science and 3.6 percent on social studies.
Haut Gap Middle
Grade 6-8; phone, 559-6418; enroll ment, 249; certified staff, 20; PACT results, 12.6 percent of eighth-graders scored proficient or advanced on English/Language Arts, 12.9 percent on math, 5.6 percent on science and 11.2 percent on social studies.
St. John’s High
Grades 9-12; phone, 559-6400; enrollment, 320; certified staff, 41; SAT results, 366 verbal and 422 math. The 788 combined score is lower than the state average (985) and the national average (1021).
Housing trends
Johns Island:
Number of sales in the third quarter of 2006: 95 (up from 58 in the third quarter of 2005).
Average sales price: $281,700 (down from $331,000).
Median sales price: $236,700 (down from $271,500).
If you are looking for a home in Charleston, Isle of Palms, Sullivans Island, Wild Dunes or Briers Creek visit my new MLS page www.dustinryan.com/charleston-mls.html I have upgraded the links for easy searches. Remember, when you find a home of interest let me know so we can get started on paperwork before its gone!
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