I LEFT MY HEART THERE

Howdy!

Have you noticed a trend developing here?  That’s right, I’ve been dedicating a lot of blog space to River Dunes, North Carolina.  That’s because I left my heart there. Not that I don’t love my wonderful mountain hometown of Lake Arrowhead, California, which I hope will always be my home base. It’s just that I found another wonderful place where I’d really love to buy property one day and build another little Pied a Terre that would be closer to my east-coast-dwelling children & grandchildren.

In my last post I showed you the wonderful guest cottage that was our home during our visit to River Dunes. It was located in the sweetest little village of guest cottages you’ll ever see!

And, I showed you the wonderful River Dunes Harbor Club in a guest post I did over on 702 Park Project.

I also showed you the centerpiece of the community, Grace Harbor, with its 400 slip protected marina. It is a popular safe harbor along the Intracoastal Waterway, where many boaters have arrived and never left.

But today I wanted to show you the community of River Dunes. When we first arrived the Harbor Master and real estate agent Beth Frazer treated us to a cocktail cruise so that we could see River Dunes from the perspective of the water.

Homes and homesites are available along the banks of the inland waterways of River Dunes, that afford property owners spectacular water views. Folks build docks from which they can launch a kayak or cast a line into the waters that are brimming with bass and bream.

These waters are also home to many dolphin pods and we were delighted when this mother and baby joined us on our cruise.

Heading back on shore, we traveled by golf cart around the community.  The River Dunes Harbor Village already includes a charming little Chapel, a Fitness Center, Post Office and Filling Station.

They have recently broken ground on the Spa and Wellness Center, a restaurant and retail shops.

Now let me show you some of the homes in River Dunes.  I’d say that this one was probably the crown jewel of the community.

It is situated right at the mouth of Grace Harbor with water views on all sides. Below is one of the two guest houses on the property. The other you can see in the photo above which is situated over the garage. We were told that members of the same family purchased 4 homesites side-by-side along this same street. What a fantastic family compound!  Wouldn’t you like to be a member of that family?

Here is another view of this really unique and quite spectacular home. It reminds me of a ship captain’s home, situated so his sweetheart could watch him sail out to sea, waving her goodbyes from the eagle’s nest on top.

Then there were these two homes, both currently on the market for about $1 million dollars and each over 6,000 square feet.  Coming from the prospective of California real estate prices, my husband and I found them to be a remarkable bargain!

This is the house with the red roof you see in the photo above.

And this is the view you get from the upstairs balcony.  Quite spectacular, wouldn’t you agree?  How’d you like to wake up to that view each morning, watching the parade of yachts coming and going from the mouth of the harbor, where the house sits.

This is the rear of the same home…

and this is the adjoining garage and guest house, which is accessed through a screened-in breezeway.

Now let me show you a few more homes in the community.  Homes here range from the grand estates in the prior photos to more relaxed and humble abodes. There seems to be something for everybody here.

I noticed that one thing most of the homes had in common were the guest houses, often built above garages. This is a dream of mine, so we’d have plenty of room for our kids and friends to come and stay.  In fact, I understand the owners of this carriage house are living in it while they build their adjacent primary home.

While we were there we found two lots of particular interest to us. There was this spot, located at the confluence of the Neuse River and the Palmetto Sound…

with views stretching all the way out to the Outer Banks.

But down at the end of this road…

lies an especially beautiful spot at the mouth of a quite cove.  I could easily picture my home sitting right there. And just like the man in the boat you see there, I’d send Brad out to net shrimp that are very abundant in these waters. Doesn’t fresh-caught shrimp sound really good?

So there you have it: I left my heart right there.

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