Take A Beach Break!

Featured Area Home

One-half of duplex in premier oceanfront location on west part of beach. Extra wide and extra deep lot. Completely renovated and beautifully appointed. This is your affordable way to own a gorgeous 4 BR/4 bath oceanfront home and share 50% of the expenses. Read more

Looking For A Beach Book?

Heading to beach and looking for a great summer read?

Check out Islands-Art.com for some unique books by nationally renowned local authors and artists.

The works of the writers include romance Novels, Mysteries, History and fun. All have ties to this very special place along NC’s Coast. Read more

Airlie Gardens

While you are at Wrightsville Beach take a day trip to Airlie Gardens! The gardens are in all their glory right now and Garden Tours are available.

Generations of locals and tourists travel to the historic property with its beautiful azaleas, dogwoods, camellias and various annuals bring a splash of color to the waterside oaks and pines.

A 67-acre county park, Airlie Gardens garnered nationwide fame for its spectacular plantings, which at one time included more than 600,000 azalea bushes and more than 5,000 camellias.

The most famous couple to originally owned the property were J. Pembroke Jones, a wealthy rice trader, and wife Sarah (Sadie) Jones, who bought a 150-acre tract in 1886. They named their estate “Airlie,” after the ancestral Scottish home of Jones’ family.

After the Joneses’ deaths, the Airlie property passed to the Corbett family in 1948. Bertha and Waddell Corbett operated the gardens as a private tourist attraction for many years. In 1999, in cooperation with the N.C. Coastal Land Trust, New Hanover County acquired Airlie from the Corbetts at a cost of $10.5 million.

Attractions include the gigantic Airlie Oak, estimated to be more than 460 years old, the Pergola Fountain and plantings arranged to bloom year-round.

The property known as Airlie was part of a 640-acre land grant from King George II to the Ogden brothers in 1735; by the 1800s much of the original acreage had been transferred to Joshua Grainger Wright.
It was not until the arrival of Sarah Jones, wife of Pembroke Jones, that a formal garden was created. The Joneses were wealthy industrialists noted for their lavish entertaining.

They used Airlie as a means to accommodate their guests and parties.

Sarah Jones began planting the property in 1901 and later in 1906 commissioned German landscape architect Rudolf Topel to transform the tract into a picturesque garden. Airlie reached its peak during the 1920s, at which time it was reported that over a half million azaleas and 5,000 camellias were in the garden; many of these plants still bloom and thrive in the garden. The 67-acres of today’s Airlie are all that remain of the original 155-acre estate.
The Corbett Family purchased the Airlie property from the Joneses in 1948 and used the gardens as a primary residence. Local business owners with strong ties to the community, the Corbetts would open the garden to the public several seasons throughout the year, especially in the spring during azalea bloom. In 1999 the family sold the property to New Hanover County.

Today, Airlie is a local treasure as one of the last undeveloped land tracts along Bradley Creek. The gardens are undergoing restoration and are now preserved for public use.

Regular season hours at Airlie are 9 a.m.-5 p.m., seven days a week. During spring bloom season (April 3-May 17), the gardens stay open till 7 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Winter hours (Jan. 2-March 19) are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday.
Cost: Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for children aged 6-12. Children younger than 6 are admitted free.

Free Summer Golf!

The best golf value at the coast is at The Winds Resort Beach Club!

With rates that include a full hot Southern Breakfast Buffet each day there is no better golf value around!

We’re talking free green fees for all Winds’ guests on a selection of top area courses FREE. All you pay in, addition to your regular lodging rates, is carts and tax.

FREE SUMMER GOLF – 6/01/2011 to 8/31/2011:

The best golf value at the coast!

We’re talking free green fees for all Winds’ guests on a selection of top area courses FREE. All you pay in, addition to your regular lodging rates, is carts and tax.

Courses to be announced – 2010 courses included: Brierwood, Carolina Shores, Palmetto Greens, Farmstead, Meadowlands
After 12:00: Carolina National, Eagles Nest, The Pearl East, The Pearl West, Sea Trail Maples, Sea Trail Byrd, Valley at Eastport

Sign up on our Home Page to receive all the latest golf news and specials updates!

Rates based on 4 golfers in a 2 bedroom/2 bath suite, 8 golfers if a 4 bedroom/4 bath Resort House or 2 golfers in a one bedroom/one bath Deluxe Room or one bedroom suite (when available).

To book this golf package please call the The Winds Golf Desk Toll Free: 800/334/3581 or Email: GolfDesk@TheWinds.com

“Its All About Golf At The Winds!”

The Winds Resort Beach Club offers golfers a choice of oceanfront suites overlooking palm trees, subtropical gardens and our breathtaking powder-sand island beach or, for groups, our spacious 4, 5 and 6 bedroom Resort Cottages.

All packages include a Hot Southern Breakfast Buffet and use of all of The Winds Amenities: Three Pools (one indoor), Garden Bar Restaurant and poolside oceanfront Tiki-Bar.
The Winds’ deserves its reputation for being “a golfer’s paradise”, boasting nearly 20 of the “Grand Strand’s” best courses within 8 miles, and close to 100 courses within 30 minutes drive. Golfers love our FREE Summer Golf Program!

Buying Real Estate At The Coast

By Martha Pope – Accredited Buyers Representative of the National Read more