QUICK SEARCH

Return to Search Results

Iron Shore
		Offered at $ 5,995,000.00
		For Sale MLS#: 2830 Type: Single Family Location:Hartswell Feature: Oceanfront Bedrooms: 5 Bathrooms: 3.0 Square Feet: 3002 Lot Size: 13.444 Acres Print Property Listing

If only one property in the Exumas were to qualify as a Dillycrab Realty Platinum Property, it would be Iron Shore, a listing so unique in both its present offerings and its potential it deserves the real estate equivalent of the resort world’s 5 stars and diamond status. Iron Shore’s rich story dates back more than 200 years. Its future remains to be written. Located in Hartswell, 20 minutes from Exuma International Airport with its 8,000-foot long runway that caters to private jets from around the globe, Iron Shore is a world unto itself – 13-plus acres with more than 3,000 feet of waterfront. On one side: Breathtaking views of Moriah Harbour Cay and private, protected cove with stunning brilliant blue waters so clear you can see heads or tails on a coin undersea. On the other: A peninsular with wetlands and mangroves extending out from a promontory. The land is a treasure trove -- a once fertile orchard, former mill, four fresh water wells, new marina, three buildings and vast possibilities made possible by open zoning. The quintessential site for the ultimate boutique resort and spa or private membership club with estate lots for a few distinctive residences. A microcosm of the islands of The Bahamas, Iron Shore undulates from limestone cliffs on the north coast to secret inlets on the south, land that lends itself to fishing, kayaking, biking, exploring with vast undeveloped areas ideal for tennis courts or other activities and amenities. History does not so much as define Iron Shore as embellish it with hand-laid stone walls dating back to the earliest days of settlers in the Western Hemisphere. A limestone pathway leads to a deep, U-shaped stone well with ancient ferns hugging the stone interior just above the water line, like a miniature rainforest sample. Believed to have been the site of a corn or sugar mill, with remnants of circular stonework in a location that may have been on the water a hundred or more years earlier before more land filled in naturally, Iron Shore blends yesterday’s blessings in the form of mature trees, meandering retaining walls and lush landscaping with its current owners’ investments, upgrading every aspect. Where paths once meandered, there are now subtle solar lights. Where wells were once exposed, cottage style buildings were recently erected for protection and to serve as valuable storage space for working equipment that enhances the property’s self-sufficiency. In the main house, which sits at the centre of three adjoining buildings 42 feet above sea level, a high stone wall in the living room with its 15-foot high ceiling and its nautical motif is juxtaposed with the contemporary master bath with dual above-counter sinks, marble vanity, quarry tile and bubble glass shower walls. Conveniences include a 2-car garage and flexi-rooms that can be closed off or remain wide open as part of either of the residences to the side of the centre house. It is the land, more than the structures as nice as they are, that catapults Iron Shore from a distinctive listing to the most remarkable offering in Exuma today. Hundreds, if not thousands, species of plants, trees and wildlife. Gumbo limbo trees, silver buttonwood, all manor of palms, fruit trees including seven-year apples, hog plum, sapodilla, papaya, sea grape. Brilliantly-coloured bougainvillea, crotons, hibiscus in reds, pinks and white. Tall mahogany and Madeira trees, Norfolk pines, sago palm. By contrast to the growth that took hundreds of years to create the portrait that is Iron Shore today, the new marina, man-made beach and retaining walls were less than one year in construction and finished only in 2009. Marina docks are sturdy E-Z Dock construction, capable of holding up to approximately 15 tenders, Whalers or dinghies, also suggesting the possibility of a restaurant that would attract Exuma’s large boating population with often as many as 400 visiting yachts in picturesque Elizabeth Harbour at any time. Iron Shore is about potential. It is about the promise of the future. But it is also about being alive at the moment. A gentle sea breeze blows, caresses the skin still warm from the day’s sun and sea. A red hibiscus pokes its head up, spreading its blossom, vying for attention against the backdrop of the scene from atop the hill where stretching out in the foreground just below is the winding fence, grassy yard and beyond that, a 150-degree panorama that spans historic Stocking Island with its stone salt tower, Moriah Harbour Cay and Man-o-War Cay, each island dropped like a jewel in waters so brilliantly blue, turquoise, aquamarine that having seen them once, you are forever changed. Iron Shore: $5.9 million with romance in its past and a future remaining to be written.