The space I can escape to that always feels like home is an elegantly shabby house that overlooks the marsh in Murrells Inlet. The property was purchased in 1920 by my grandfather’s great grandfather for a low price that would knock your flip-flops off. Passed down for generations, the ownership shares of the house are split many ways, but this home we continue to uphold is what ties us all together and keeps us close.
As a four-bedroom, three-bath, three-hammock home, there is plenty of space for relaxing and connecting with our nearest and dearest. It also contains three porches: the eating porch, the sitting porch, and my favorite, the sleeping porch. The eating porch includes a ten-foot wooden picnic table, and the sitting porch consists of rocking chairs. The sleeping porch is the only porch upstairs and when I was younger, it was full of army cots that were originally brought in to accommodate the growing army of grandchildren, who slept out there until air conditioning arrived in the 70s. Now, the sleeping porch contains an extra-large hammock swing and is the absolute best room of the house, especially when it rains. The other hammocks are located outside on the inlet side, which is the front of the home. One is under a large oak tree and the other is posted up on the deep-water dock, where we spend most of our time taking in the coastal ambiance. For generations, the kids have swung on the wisteria vines, jumped off the dock’s railing, caught and roasted crabs and oysters, and ran around in the pluff mud, just as my grandfather did with Roosevelt “Rooster” Pickett and Bubba Love.
The house has had its fair share of renovations, but the unique features will never fade, and neither will the memories that have been made. It is a home full of games, photo albums, and vintage nautical items. If walls could talk, you would hear lots of laughter, highly entertaining family stories, and nothing but good dancing music. This house is named “King’s Krest” and it will always be the place that makes me feel most at home.
Marvelous description! It truly is heaven on earth for this big family!
Sarah, I am a friend from Indiana of your Grandmother Susie. I so enjoy your articles in Sasee magazine. I love reading the magazine when I have the privilege of being in Pawleys Island or when your grandmother shares them with me online. Keep up the great work! You have a fan in Indiana!