USC baseball coach Holbrook sells Lake Murray house, moves to Forest Acres

USC baseball coach Chad Holbrook and his family are new residents of Forest Acres.

After five years, the Holbrooks sold their Lake Murray home and moved in order to be closer to their two children’s middle school and closer to USC, where the Gamecock baseball team opens the 2017 season on Friday.

“A number of factors went into the decision, but...we wanted to be in town, closer to the university, closer to the ballpark, closer to my players and closer to my kids’ school,” Holbrook said.

“We love being in the city, we love being in town and we just felt like this was something we wanted to do going forward.”

The 45-minute commute to and from the south side of Lake Murray added pressure, Holbrook said, as juggling the schedules of their two children became increasingly difficult for one parent, with Holbrook being so busy coaching, he said.

Chad and Jennifer Holbrook purchased their former four-bedroom, 3,396-square-foot home with three full baths and two half-bathrooms in 2012 for $800,000, according to Lexington County tax records. The house sold last month for $885,000.

“It’s certainly a very attractive home,” said Michael Munson, the veteran Columbia realtor who brokered the sale of the Panorama Point property.

“Obviously, it’s the views and where it sits on the water. It’s unique that you have a beautiful view of the lake out the front and out the back door, and that’s because it sits on the peninsula.”

The two-story house features a ground-floor master bedroom and two other bedrooms downstairs, Munson said.

Holbrook said he and his family “absolutely loved” their time at Lake Murray.

“The kitchen was gorgeous. Jen had done a wonderful job decorating the kitchen and there was a (closet-less) finished room over the two-car garage,” Munson said. The house featured a screened-in porch across the width of the back of the house, “which made it awfully nice to sit back there and enjoy the lake regardless of the time of year.”

Munson, who has been in the Columbia real estate business for 35 years, said he met Holbrook when one of his sons, Logan, played baseball at the University of North Carolina when Holbrook was an assistant coach there.

Logan Munson transferred to USC for his final two years, 2011-2012, and played under Holbrook, who came to USC as an associate coach in 2008 and was named USC head coach in July 2012.

Michael Munson, who owns CMM Realty, has handled Holbrook’s real estate transactions since 2008.

In Forest Acres, the Holbrooks purchased a 5,675-square-foot house off Forest Drive featuring four bedrooms, five-and-a-half baths and an in-ground pool.

“They found a really nice home in the Forest Acres area of Columbia,” Munson said.

“They’re going to miss the lake – the family loved being on the lake, but I’m sure they’ll find the time, outside of the season obviously, to get back on the lake when they can, because it certainly is a wonderful amenity to Columbia.”

This story was originally published February 14, 2017 at 3:39 PM with the headline "USC baseball coach Holbrook sells Lake Murray house, moves to Forest Acres."