Jim Parker
Post and Courier
December 28, 2018
The property’s namesake joined developers beneath protected oaks and pines Dec. 12 at the launch of Edwards Place, a cozy new enclave on one of the largest vacant parcels in Mount Pleasant’s oldest residential district.
Anne Edwards visited the 3 1/2 property, part of what was once a much larger tract in Old Mount Pleasant. Her late husband, former Gov. James B. Edwards, managed the former farmland his father purchased in 1938.
At a morning celebration, new home specialists and landscape architects unveiled plans for Edwards Place while touting the semi-removed property bordering McCants Avenue and Jackson Street.
Husband-and-wife Scott and Jennifer Elferdink, who run a construction company, are developing the 10-home community. Steve Kendrick of Structures Building Co. will craft the 2,500- to 4,000-square-foot custom homes, four facing McCants Avenue, five on Jackson Street and one in the back of the property, says Will Jenkinson, broker-in-charge of neighborhood marketer Carolina One New Homes.
Home sites start at $600,000 and completed homes look to fetch $1 million-$2 million. Backers say there’s been ample interest from prospective buyers.
While preserving striking live oaks and tall pines, Edwards Place will showcase a signature 3/4 acre park and gardens at the property’s center -- a natural gathering place from homeowners’ backdoors. “The lawn is a football field in length,” Jenkinson says. A pavilion and dog park will flesh out the courtyard, a major aspect of the landscape work from Charleston-based SGA Architecture and its principal John A. Tarkany. Antique farm implements dot the property, which at 23 feet above sea level is protected from flooding, and are expected to be preserved.
“What we are doing there is really low maintenance,” Jenkinson says. As part of the fee structure, homeowners will pay for ground crews to keep up landscaping and yard care.
Robert Benware, manager Carolina One New Homes’s custom homes group, will be the day-to-day agent overseeing Edwards Place. “Most of what we are learning is people are looking to rightsize,” he says. Most owners will be older. They favor living on one floor and also want a place “they can lock and leave,” he says.
Previously from the Naples, Florida, area, Scott Elferdink says he used to live near the vacant Old Mount Pleasant property, and “I always wanted to know what was behind the trees. I wanted to make sure this was done the right way.”
He credits the Edwards family for backing the high-end, low-impact development. “It’s been a true honor to be around them,” he says.
“I think it is going to be beautiful, different than any other (neighborhood) in the Old Village,” Jennifer Elferdink says. “It’s like a community feels like back in the day.”
Visit www.edwardsplacehomes.com.