29 traordinary care, guarded by landuse covenants. Then as now, to build a home in Sea Pines required adherence to stringent Architectural Review Board standards that put a premium on environmental preservation and conformance. In other words, trees are more often built around than built over. Approximately one-fourth of the land was dedicated to open space, including the 605acre Sea Pines Forest Preserve, a tract of land that was specifically set aside as part of the grand scheme to preserve and conserve the natural beauty and wildlife inhabitants of the Lowcountry area. Unlike other beach-side communities, there was to be no front row/second row situation. The trees were not to be felled and the land stripped before construction began for residential property. The main artery for traffic, which became Sea Pines Drive, was set back from the ocean and off it cul-de-sacs ran up toward the sea. Residences were placed into the naural landscape and were expected to blend into it rather than dominate it. The colors were to add their contribution by being like the soft tones of the faded silver from the trunks of the old palmettos and the hues of tan from the pine needle floor and bark of the forest trees surrounding them. Earth tones were added and the palette was established and has since been maintained. Between these ocean-side culde-sacs were easements of 20 and 30 feet, which separated each residential street and offered access to the beach for the residences located on the streets but not on the ocean. Sea Pines Drive and subsequent streets wind their way through the green forests, twisting and turning to avoid the necessity of removing specimen trees along their way. Aerial photographs were used to plan these roads. When grand specimen trees were spotted through this method, roadways and later golf fairways were redesigned to steer around them. Parking areas, and even the world-famous Harbour Town Yacht Basin, were designed and redesigned to save such specimen trees, as evidenced by the great live oak that sits on the promontory in Harbour Town’s basin. Plans originally called for the basin to be round. The discovery of this live oak, its perfect size and shape, launched an internal lobbying effort in the company to save it. After a major SURROUNDED BY THE ATLANTIC Ocean and Calibogue Sound, Sea Pines occupies more than 5,000 acres of Hilton Head Island, with sweeping vistas of sea marshes, five miles of beach and maritime forests with palmettos, pines and live oak trees. It is home to 30 species of mammals, 133 types of birds, 11 fish, 37 reptiles, 20 amphibians and various other creatures. Whether or not all these creatures and foliage would still be in existence without the vision of Charles Fraser is hard to say. However, had it not been for the man who 50 years ago was able to see the forest for the trees, many of them might not be thriving as well as they are today. Fraser was a man who clearly saw the forest for the trees. Realizing the land’s potential uses other than for timber and private hunting preserves, Fraser began his quest to figure out how to develop and improve the land for human enjoyment while preserving its natural beauty, without disturbing the delicate balance between the environment and its inhabitants. In order to accomplish this, Fraser first spent months traveling the East Coast gathering information by observing communities and talking with citizens. He wanted to know what they would do differently in their communities and towns if they could start all over and begin with a clean, unspoiled slate. Fraser believed that his concept could only be implemented if the developer controlled every aspect of planning – from street locations to the design of individual houses. He founded the Sea Pines Company in 1956 with that thought in mind. Development began with ex28
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