Peek inside this $12.9M Kiawah Island home with a private deepwater dock

Pour yourself something cold, kick off your shoes and prepare to scroll through the kind of South Carolina waterfront fantasy that makes Monday afternoons bearable.

A five-bedroom retreat tucked into one of Kiawah Island’s most private enclaves has just hit the market for $12.9 million — and even if your house-hunting budget tops out a few zeros south of that, the photos alone are worth the click.

The address is 23 Cormorant Island Lane, and the journey to the front door sets the tone. The home sits on a private point inside Summer Islands, a tiny nine-home neighborhood you reach by crossing a wooden bridge. Yes, a wooden bridge. To your house. Already we’re in postcard territory.

Marsh views, river views and a peek at the Ravenel Bridge

Once you’ve crossed that bridge, here’s what’s waiting: 7,100 square feet of two-story living, with views that stretch across the marsh and river all the way to the Ravenel Bridge in Charleston. The home overlooks Bass Creek, which means coffee on the porch comes with a side of tidal drama.

It was originally built in 2004, but don’t picture early-2000s finishes. The whole place has been reworked from top to bottom, with an elevator tucked inside for good measure. Three bedrooms live in the main house. Two more are stashed in a guest house, because at this price point, your visitors deserve their own zip code.

A kitchen, then another kitchen

Let’s talk about the kitchen — or, rather, the kitchens. Plural. The main kitchen has been completely redesigned, and there’s a secondary prep kitchen (often called a scullery, for those of us watching too much British television) hiding behind it for when you’d rather your dinner-party mess stay invisible.

“Every surface has been thoughtfully updated, including a completely new designer kitchen and scullery, a stunning new primary bath, and curated finishes throughout — new bathrooms, new lighting, custom cabinetry, and refined fixtures,” the listing says.

Translation for the daydreamers: nothing in here is going to look dated in your Pinterest board.

20-foot ceilings and walls of glass

This is the part where the photos really earn their keep. The home features 20+ foot ceilings, expansive entertaining spaces and walls of glass that open onto the marsh. Picture standing in the middle of one of those rooms, late afternoon light pouring in, a glass of something local in hand. (Go ahead, picture it again. We’ll wait.)

The primary suite got the full spa treatment too.

“The primary suite has also been reworked, including a new bath, while the layout overall allows for both openness and separation depending on how the home is used,” the listing for the property says.

Openness and separation. The dream of every introvert who occasionally hosts.

Rooms you didn’t know you wanted

Here’s where the floor plan starts reading like a Clue board. There’s a wine storage room, naturally. A den/tv room crowned with a trellis beamed ceiling. A circular office that doubles as a music room — yes, circular — and large garages for whatever fleet of vehicles you’d theoretically own.

The guest house keeps things just as polished, with its own living spaces and a separate garage. So your in-laws can come, and stay, and stay some more, and you’ll barely notice.

A pool tucked into the landscape

The grounds got their own glow-up courtesy of landscape architecture firm Wertimer + Cline.

“The grounds have been completely transformed by Wertimer + Cline, with new pathways, lush plantings, and a beautifully integrated pool and stone deck that sit naturally within the landscape,” the listing says.

The pool deck is stone. The plantings are lush. And the whole arrangement is designed to look like it grew out of the marsh on its own — the kind of effortless that takes a great deal of effort.

The dock that seals the deal

If there’s one feature that pushes this listing from “lovely” to “tropical island fantasy,” it’s what’s parked out back: one of the few private deepwater docks on Kiawah Island. From your dock, you can drop into the Kiawah and Stono rivers and ride straight out into the Atlantic Ocean.

In other words: the boat doesn’t just live nearby. The boat lives at the house. And the ocean is essentially a hallway.

A quick reality check

For those who like a little market context with their daydream: the property last sold for $9 million in 2021. The current asking price is $12.9 million. Leslie Turner of Maison Real Estate is the listing agent.

So no, most of us aren’t buying it. But that’s not really the point of an evening spent clicking through Kiawah listings, is it? The point is the wooden bridge, the walls of glass, the circular music room and the dock waiting for a boat with your name on it.

Dream on, Midlands. Dream on.

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The full story in the link at top was reported, written and edited entirely by journalists.