

Kiawah Island is essentially a giant 10,000-acre gated community that's part natural preserve and part vacation playground with 10 miles of magnificent beach. It's a haven for athletes, celebrities and CEO types who want to escape from their hectic lives, either for a week on vacation or on a regular basis when they buy a second (or third) home. It's got golf name brand recognition on par with Pebble Beach and Pinehurst.

Since 1988, this barrier island 25 miles south of Charleston, S.C., has blossomed into a coveted address that attracts people from around the world. When the Kiawah Island Parkway crosses the Kiawah River, life takes on a different feel - like Scotty has beamed you to some sort of paradise, where golfers roam and beachgoers chillax and everything looks a little nicer, a little cleaner, a little prettier than any vacation of the past. Once you cross that bridge, something happens.
