Location: Sandestin, Florida
March 1, 2007
"Sandestin is 30 years old, with a nine-year history," says
Mike Stange of Intrawest. "The resort has really reinvented itself since 1998."
Since Intrawest’s $400 million renovation added the Village and other
developments, other local residents also visit. The master plan ensures that the
complex will not overdevelop, and with 40 percent of the surrounding lands
preserved by the presence of state parks, the pine forests, sand dunes, cypress
wetlands and natural greenery should remain untouched.
"I’ve been here for 20 years and really watched the area grow
up," says Chuck Cary, owner of Sea Sotheby’s International Realty. "There’s
every amenity possible, from five-star restaurants to your choice of world-class
golf year-round, yet it still has a sleepy fishing village feel." Cary sees
Sotheby’s entry into the region as a significant indication of the prospects for
this burgeoning area, with plenty of luxury listings. He notes that about 135
homes over $3 million are on the market in the Destin,
Sandestin and South
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Sea Sotheby’s International Realty holds this
luxury penthouse listing in nearby Destin for $1.53 million. Photograph by Kent Vanhoesen. (Click image to enlarge)
"The area is just catching its breath after a huge development
boom of high-end condominiums and beachfront homes. It grew so big, so fast,"
says Cary. The area’s busiest developer, St. Joe’s, has created a series of
upscale planned communities, including the elegant WaterColor Inn, among several
others on South Walton County’s beaches. "There are wonderful properties along
scenic U.S. 98, paralleling the Gulf, from Rosemary Beach to Perdido Key, and
without the price tag of bigger names like Miami and Naples. Never more than a
mile and a half from the beach, it’s still gorgeous and poised to take off
again," he says.
Cary speaks of the Emerald Coast with the same enthusiasm that inspired him
to buy when he first arrived after playing major league baseball with the
Atlanta Braves. "Sitting on your back porch, watching a dolphin play in the
surf—it doesn’t get better than that."
Facts & Stats
CATCH OF THE DAYSandestin sits among 16 beach communities along the Gulf, including quaint Seaside, which was depicted as the perfect American town in the movie The Truman Show. Just several miles west, in Okaloosa County, Fort Walton Beach beckons, as does the city of Destin, where the harbor hums with vessels unloading fresh seafood bound for dockside restaurants. Charter boats leave daily for deep-sea hauls of sailfish, blue marlin, wahoo and tuna. With the Gulf of Mexico in the front yard and Choctawhatchee Bay in back, recreation choices abound, such as sunset or dolphin cruises, scuba diving and sailing, waverunning and fly-fishing in shallow waters.
Cuisines range from New Orleans Cajun dishes to Floribbean fare. Fine dining can be found at Bistro Bijoux (850.622.0760, www.bistrobijouxdestin.com). In Destin, try the Marina Café (www.marinacafe.com). One of the best-known spots is Criollas in nearby Grayton Beach (850.267.1267, www.criollas.com). Besides the two Marriott hotels (a Courtyard and a Residence Inn) at Sandestin, which afford guests all-access passes to amenities within the resort’s gates, the elegant WaterColor Inn (866.426.2656, www.watercolorinn.com) offers Southern hospitality, boutique-style. In Seaside, suites at Josephine’s Inn, a Georgian-style plantation home, present gracious B&B accommodations (800.848.1840, www.josephinesinn.com).
THE MATCH GAME
With some of the last opportunities still to be found for beachfront property, the scope of homes on the Emerald Coast, from high-rise condos to single-family dwellings, is priced between $500,000 to more than $1 million. At Sandestin, houses climb from about $1.2 million to $6 million for 2,300 to 12,000 square feet. A 5,000-square-foot, five-bedroom penthouse condo overlooking the Gulf runs $2.5 million, while a one-bedroom townhouse can be as low as $330,000. Properties are available through local agents at three Sandestin Real Estate/Playground Destination offices (800.277.0801, 850.267.8100, www.mysandestinhome.com; see www.sandestin.com for all the resort’s amenities). Chuck Cary at Sea Sotheby’s International Realty handles properties along the entire coastline (850.269.2150, www.sothebysrealty.com).
FROM GULF TO GOLF
If relaxing in serene environments isn’t enough, there are annual festivals for gumbo feasts, wine tasting and art events as well as golf and fishing classics. For details on activities, try the Emerald Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau (800.322.3319, www.destin-fwb.com) or Walton County Visitor’s Center (800.822.6877, www.beachesofsouthwalton.com). There are a number of options for flights with Delta, Northwest and US Airways landing at Okaloosa Regional Airport (on the Eglin Air Force Base), and flying into Pensacola or Panama City airports, both about 90 minutes away, for more direct routes. Destin’s airport handles private jets, and the new international airport in the works should further expand the region.
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