$5.1 million Hilton Head Sea Pines mansion is an HGTV Ultimate House Hunt 2023 finalist

The mansions shown on television often feel uninviting. Towering entryways, ceilings double the usual height and stiff-looking furniture leave the viewer feeling unwelcome — no matter how friendly the listing agent’s smile is through the screen.

This Hilton Head Island home could be the exception. With views of Calibogue Sound and a “New England meets Lowcountry feel.” It feels comfortable, not cold.

Home and Garden Television selected the Sea Pines Plantation home as one of nine finalists for the “Waterside Homes” category of its Ultimate House Hunt 2023 earlier this month. The contest is a month-long promotion held by HGTV.com. Anyone can vote and whichever home gets the most votes in each category will be featured on HGTV.com and potentially be on one of their cable shows on television.

In order to enter, brokerages must be members of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World and Luxury Portfolio International, two international real estate sales organizations. To qualify, the property also must be listed for sale.

Not the only Beaufort County finalist

A home in Beaufort’s Point neighborhood, built before the Civil War in the 1840s, is a finalist in the “Homes with a History” category. In the 1860s when the U.S. government sold Beaufort properties during the Civil War for non-payment of taxes, a woman formerly enslaved in the home purchased it while working for the Union Hospital across the street, according to the Historic Beaufort Foundation.

The home remained in the hands of formerly enslaved people and their descendants until it was severely damaged in the 1893 Sea Islands hurricane, according to the Historic Beaufort Foundation. Stories attached to the home suggest the front porch was used as a place for refugees during the storm, according to the Foundation, since it’s on one of the highest points in the area. It’s on the market for $2.275 million.

The other categories are: Amazing Kitchens, Beachfront Homes, Countryside Retreats, Curb Appeal, Downtown Dwellings, Outdoor Escapes, and Waterside Homes. Properties from Santa Barbara, California; Honolulu, Hawaii; Boca Raton, Florida; and Cape Cod, Massachusetts also made the “Waterside Homes” finalist list.

“It’s just very calming,” listing agent Jeff Hunt of Dunes Real Estate said, describing the Sea Pines home. “It’s the epitome of the Lowcountry.”

This is Hunt’s second time listing a home that is a finalist. In 2020, a home he listed on Buck Island was also finalist, but didn’t win the competition. This time around, the nominated home overlooks Buck Island.

What’s the Sea Pines home like?

Coming from over the Calibogue Sound, a sea breeze gently moves over a deep-water-wooden dock, wafts past 101 feet of private waterfront and sways a rope swing hanging from an oak draped in Spanish-moss.

The breeze almost makes the Lowcountry heat manageable and ripples the pool outside 53 N Calibogue Cay, now on the market for $5.1 million with a $1,887 annual Property Owners Association fee. It last sold in 2020 for $3.7 million, according to property records.

The four-bedroom, four-and-a-half-bathroom, 4,600-square-foot property, looks out onto Buck Island and the surrounding water. From the front of the home, it’s impossible to tell that’s what the .61 acre lot has in store.

To get to there, visitors must drive about five minutes past the Sea Pines gate, which is the entrance to the private residential community and Sea Pines Resort.

“(You might get) stuck in the circle at Sea Pines,” Hunt said. “(But) man, what a difference (once you drive back) because it’s very quiet and peaceful.”

Approaching the home from the front, a brick walkway snakes past the two-car garage’s stained-wood doors and the home’s light-blue siding. But as soon as the front door opens, the home shows its best cards: a vast view of the Sound and a homey “New England meets Lowcountry” feel.

“I’m from New England so I can say that with confidence,” said Jenny Filkins, the listing agent’s assistant. “It’s very Nantucket-y.”

The home features white shiplap walls and heart of pine floors throughout, and lower ceilings except in the main living room, where a second-floor landing overlooks the room below. Rooms within the first floor of the home aren’t segmented, rather they flow from one to another with a clear view.

From the main living room, the home branches to the left. A wood-burning fireplace surrounded by Savannah brick centers one living space. Another living space juts out from the rest of the home, surrounded on three sides with almost floor-to-ceiling windows and doors to see the surrounding nature.

“It’s a southern house with a northern flair. It kind of melts it all together and you feel comfortable,” Hunt said. “I’ve been in some houses where they’re the same size as this but they feel overwhelmingly large. This is cozy.”

The kitchen is past the other end of the living space with the fireplace. Work on it was part of the remodeling the home underwent in 2008, according to Hunt. It’s open and airy with gas-stove tops, high-end appliances and inset cabinets. Right behind the kitchen, stairs lead to the second floor.

The second floor features a primary bedroom and theater rooms with a balconies that overlook the water, a library nook, and the remaining bedrooms.

“It’s a really good opportunity for the whole area, to get this kind of exposure,” Hunt said.

And for those wondering if the waterfront view means more bug bites, Hunt joked that it’s “much less buggy” compared to other water front homes.

In all seriousness the Lowcountry breeze takes care of that too, he said.

To vote in the competition go to: www.hgtv.com/design/ultimate-house-hunt/2023/waterside-homes