Chanticleer mixes generations
When Mary and David Conner were searching for a bigger house, they didn't have to look far. A year ago, the Conners moved into a house more than twice the size of their previous 1,750-square-foot Greenville SC home off Augusta Road.
"We wanted to be in a bigger house, and we wanted to be in this school district," says Mary Conner. They also wanted a location convenient to work and their church, the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church on Cleveland Street.
For Conner, moving to Chanticleer was like coming back home. The young mother of two grew up just a few houses down the street from her current residence.
As she stood on her porch with her 7-year-old daughter, Ramsey, she fondly recalled as a child riding her bicycle throughout the neighborhood.
"We had a lot less traffic when I was young," Conner says. And there are more residents who aren't native Greenvillians, she adds.
But some things haven't changed, like the "homey" feel of the shaded, meandering streets. And some residents never left. "Several of the folks on the street are the parents of people who I grew up with, went to school with."
It's that type of stability that attracted Julian Taylor to the community. He and his wife, Megan, moved to Chanticleer in 1995. "We had friends and family over on this side of town. I think we were just looking for a more stable neighborhood where we plan to be for a long time."
The neighborhood has a mix of generations - from young parents to empty nesters and retirees.
Brantley Horton is part of the newer crop of young residents who have moved to Chanticleer in recent years. "We love it. We will probably never move," says Horton, a 33-year-old mother of three.
She and her husband, Sam, moved to the neighborhood a year ago from Charleston. Horton said she received a warm welcome from neighbors. One person brought soup. Another gave them brownies. "Everybody is so nice. I was just very impressed."
Pat Berry has been impressed with Chanticleer for some time now. She's lived in the neighborhood since 1967.
"I love it. I've seen many changes," she said.
Berry, who lives on Leconte Woods, stands in her driveway and points toward her neighbor's yard. "This was totally woods from here on back. "It was a small community when we first moved here."
While there are more homes today, trees still reign. Mature dogwoods and oaks line hilly and winding roads in the neighborhood. The styles of homes vary, from brick ranch-style houses to two-story stuccos.
"It's a beautiful neighborhood," Berry said.
Located off Faris Road, Chanticleer is convenient to the Greenville Hospital System, Augusta Road and downtown. The late R.E. "Red" Hughes and his brother, George Jackson "Jack" Hughes, started developing the community in the early 1960s.
The first streets developed were Michaux Drive, Chanticleer Drive, West Seven Oaks and part of East Seven Oaks, says Phil Hughes, president of Chanticleer Development Inc. and Hughes Real Estate Inc. Over the years, more roads and homes were built.
"It wasn't an all-at-once type of development," Hughes said.
As a result there is an "older" section of Chanticleer as well as newer sections.
"Chanticleer went from being single-family to being a golf-course community to having townhouses, patio homes and now we're adding cottages," Hughes said.
"We have been very slow at selling the lots," he said. "I think the fact that it started in the '60s and there's new development there keeps a freshness to the area that is lost to other areas that just get built out. (Chanticleer) is more than just single-family homes. It's a community to live in a variety of lifestyles."
PRICE RANGE: $300,000 to $1 million and above
YEARS BUILT: 1960s to present
SQUARE FOOTAGE: 2,000 to 7,000
SCHOOLS: Augusta Circle Elementary, Hughes Academy and Greenville High Academy
PARKS AND RECREATION: Greenville Country Club Chanticleer Course, Cleveland Park, Downtown shops and restaurants, Augusta Road shops and restaurants
By Chery Allen
STAFF WRITER the Greenville News
Greenville SC homes for sale
Back to Greenville SC neighborhoods
Buyer's Survey
|
|
|
