communities on Hilton Head Island, and each followed this same paradigm. Soon other developers came and created their own communities, each following Fraser’s lead in environmentally sensitive planning. When The Town of Hilton Head Island incorporated in 1983, it made many of Fraser’s covenants law, dictating that the whole of the island should be as peaceful and beautiful as Sea Pines. Soon other resort developers took notice. Whether by word-of-mouth, television exposure thanks to the Verizon Heritage Golf Tournament, or through Fraser’s students who struck off on their own to develop, the word spread. Now, 50 years after that first spark of inspiration, it would be difficult to find a resort community that doesn’t owe some debt of gratitude to Fraser, his work his influencing countless others that have come since. One such developer is Jim Chaffin, of Chaffin/Light Associates. Chaffin and his partner, James Light, were instrumental in the development of Harbour Town before branching off on their own to develop communities from coast to coast, including nearby Spring Island, in the same mold as Sea Pines. Chaffin quickly acknowledges that Charles Fraser was more than a mentor, more than an inspiration. He was also a friend. At a panel discussion regarding Fraser’s impact on the industry, Chaffin said, “Life was no brief candle to Charles Fraser. It was a sort of splendid torch that he had hold of for a moment, and he wanted to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations. “He demanded excellence,” Chaffin continued. “If it was worth doing, it was worth doing well. Once he was confident that a specific idea had merit, he insisted on using the finest land planning and architectural talent available.” Chaffin’s praise of Fraser is echoed by fellow developer David Ames of Amesco, Inc., who crafted Long Cove using the same covenants that Fraser pioneered. “Certainly a very prominent contribution to my thinking was the careful planning with respects to the environment, along with a consciousness of how residents would enjoy the community and of how people within the community would come together,” Ames said. “Charles was very unusual in understanding what people wanted to do, how people THE LEGACY LIVES ON SeaPines50thAnniversary.com | SeaPinesHomesAndVillas.com 19 WHEN CHARLES FRASER FIRST set foot on Hilton Head Island, it was to survey its potential for logging. However, what he saw there was more than timber. He saw an opportunity to change the way the world looked at resort communities. Knowing what had become of resort communities throughout the Southeast, where the philosophy was to build, build, build, Charles decided on a different path. He took what he had learned during his studies of land planning at Yale University and drew-up a master plan for what would become Sea Pines Resort. What seems so obvious now was revolutionary at the time: homes built in the resort would co-exist with the surrounding nature, rather than intrude upon it. The entire resort was built around this principal, with strong emphasis on strict covenants to keep away the neon glow that most resorts embraced. Thanks to Fraser’s vision, Sea Pines flourished. He developed other 18 SeaPines50thAnniversary.com | SeaPinesHomesAndVillas.com
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