640 Whispering Pines Ct., Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

On a quiet cul-de-sac in gated Bellwood Landing at Prince Creek, this custom home pairs everyday livability with big-ticket peace of mind. A two-story great room anchors the main level, centered on a stacked-stone fireplace with wood beam mantle and flanked by custom built-ins.

Hickory hardwood floors run throughout. The kitchen delivers double wall ovens, stainless appliances, and deep cabinetry with room to gather. The primary suite offers a garden tub, dual vanities, and his and her closets including a generous walk-in, and a large bonus room upstairs flexes as media room, gym, or home office.

Out back, a screened porch overlooks a private wooded yard with paver pathways, stone-edged garden beds, and fencing. At 0.44 acres with mature pines behind it, the privacy here is the kind you cannot renovate into a lot later. The heavy lifting is already done: roof (2022), gutters, newer heat pumps, electric water heater, updated lighting and electrical, replaced windows, custom blinds throughout, and new door hardware.

Nothing on the five-year maintenance list is waiting on the next owner. Inside the gates, The Park at Prince Creek offers two pools with a children's splash area, lighted tennis and pickleball courts, basketball, a playground, and a covered pavilion with grills and picnic seating.

Outside them is the reason people move to Murrells Inlet in the first place. The MarshWalk is minutes away, a half-mile boardwalk of waterfront restaurants, live music, and boats coming in at sunset. Huntington Beach State Park and Brookgreen Gardens sit just down Highway 17, pairing three miles of undeveloped shoreline and some of the best birding on the East Coast with the oldest public sculpture garden in the country.

Garden City Beach is close enough for an after-dinner walk. Golfers are spoiled for choice, with championship courses throughout the area and TPC Myrtle Beach inside Prince Creek itself. Add the marinas, the fishing charters, and the shops and restaurants of nearby Pawleys Island, and most of what you would drive an hour for somewhere else is just a few minutes from this driveway.

See it in the late afternoon, when the light comes through the pines behind the porch. That is the version of this house the photographs cannot quite hold.