Darien, GA 31305(McIntosh County)

Located only 25 miles from the prestigious shorelines of Sea Island, Georgia ... the third wealthiest pocket in the United States awaits a private island getaway that will make you the envy of even the wealthiest Golden Isles residents!There are over 100 miles of pristine coastline, 400,000 acres of salt water marsh and 15 Barrier Islands that bring a uniqueness to Coastal Georgia that you will seldom find anywhere else in the world. The Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway which stretches from Miami to New York, is connected to the local Altamaha River, which is the largest fresh water discharge east of the Mississippi River.  This charming coastal Georgia town sits just off of the mouth of the Altamaha River on the local deep-water docks of the Darien River.  It is located just 25 miles from the prestigious shoreline of Sea Island, Georgia, one of the fastest growing luxury markets in the country and home to some of the country’s wealthiest … movie stars as well as professional athletes. Eagle Island is a 155+/- Acre Private Island that is turnkey ready for you and your family to begin making amazing Island memories together boating, fishing, kayaking, hunting, shooting sporting clays, exploring the shoreline, bird watching and learning about the rich Native American historical culture of Coastal Georgia. It’s your chance to capture the experience of outdoor living in one of the most pristine and preserved saltwater estuaries in the world.  The current land steward has spared no detail in laying the proper groundwork for Eagle Island resulting in a tropical oasis retreat with zero deferred maintenance.  The Existing 3,343+/- Square Foot Main Lodge has Antique Cyprus Floors, Cyprus Walls and Ceilings and the Front Doors are Circa 1942 taken from a house in Sea Island.   There are 3 bedrooms and 2 full baths with a game room/ping pong table and sleeping quarters on the ground level as well. The 1500 square foot screened-in wrap around porch affords breath taking water and island views from every angle.  The perfect setting to relax in the hot tub after a long day on the boat fishing, chill in the hammock while reading your favorite book or take a siesta in the comfy 8-foot Island Bed Swing.   A gorgeous brick fireplace sits in front of the hot tub and makes for the perfect romantic setting to unwind and enjoy a glass of wine with that special someone. The kitchen is located on the main floor and is a fully equipped chef’s kitchen accompanied by a fully equipped outdoor kitchen on the ground level complete with commercial ice machine, commercial steamer and large pots and burners to enjoy low country boils and oyster roast family style.  The lodge has Direct TV and wireless internet if you desire to stay connected to the outside world.  The yard is meticulously landscaped to truly reflect a tropical island oasis and has a Hunter Irrigation System which makes keeping it gorgeous almost effortless.  There is a manicured walk made from reclaimed brick from a chimney in Union Island and reclaimed flagstone and brick from a cottage in Sea Island that leads to a 40’ floating dock plus a 25’ X 25’ stationary dock complete with a swing, table and sink for enjoying the magnificent sunsets each evening.  After a long day on the water … enjoy the Five-Moon Double Headed Heated Outdoor Private Shower complete with a Teak Bench to clean up for dinner.  There is a large storage shed out back with a second set of washing machines and dryer to accommodate large groups with ease.  Eagle Island sleeps 12 people comfortably and it is the perfect spot to make family memories one will not soon forget.For those that enjoy a little competition ... the ground level is set up for a great game of ping pong, corn hole and various yard games.  A dedicated horse shoe pit overlooks the tranquil stocked fish pond and fire pit area ....  great for hotdog and marshmallow roasting parties and sharing family time together. Potential Income Stream:Eagle Island has been run as a private island rental for the last 15 years.  The current owner has a dynamic assistant named Paula Turgeon, who has been with him for 15 years that assist in everything concerning the island … from ordering and delivering groceries for you from Harris Teeter so the refrigerator and beverages are stocked and iced when you arrive …. to cleaning the house before and after you leave … any repairs or maintenance needed on the house or property …. picking you and your family up at the docks in Darien … doing Oyster Roast and Low Country Boils for you and your family or large groups …. basically, anything you need to make life easy for you to enjoy your time at Eagle Island. Paula grew up in the area and knows the tides and waterways to navigate anywhere you want to go with ease.  She would be a great resource to the next land steward to help get familiar with the area and make the transition a smooth one.  She is the perfect person to have on board to make every visit care free and enjoyable. If Eagle Island is being considered as an investment opportunity, she is the perfect on-site manager for this property.  Paula has 15 years’ experience in this arena and is a great asset.       Second Eagle Island HomesiteTucked inside a grove of indigenous cabbage palms and just off the tranquil brackish water marsh of Mayhall Creek is a second buildable homesite complete with underground power run by Georgia Power and septic.  It would make the perfect spot to build a second dwelling and affords great views of the water yet has privacy from the Main Lodge.  It would be a great conservation opportunity if the second building lot is protected, which would provide a tax credit.  Eagle Island earned its name due to the abundance of majestic Eagles in the area.  It is a true nature lovers paradise with wildlife of all types.  You can enjoy your morning coffee on the front porch listening to a beautiful symphony of nature as the songbirds all greet the island.  It’s the perfect spot to watch the sun rise over the water and start your day.  The tranquility and natural beauty of the island and its surroundings is priceless and a breath of fresh air in this busy world we live in.  Native American History:Eagle Island holds Native American treasures dating back to the 17th thru 18th centuries.  While exploring the island we found shreds of pottery related to the Spanish Missionaries Era from the Altamaha ceramic series which are red clay, possibly brick ware that has been in a fire.   Dr. Eric Poplin of the University of Charleston has researched this era of history extensively.  The Guale Indians were also known to have settled in the Eagle island Area.  The Guale Indians were a mound building tribe of Georgia, allies of the Creek Indians. Their language was poorly attested, but appears to have been Muskogean. The Guales no longer exist as a distinct tribe. They merged into the Creek and Yamasee tribes after a devastating smallpox epidemic. Dr. Richard Jefferies of the University of Kentucky has been on site multiple times and done several excavations in the Eagle Island area regarding the Spanish Missions and Guale Indians.   Please see attached link for more detailed information of the Native American influence in this area. Location:Eagle Island’s location is prime when it comes to boating to other popular island destinations.  It is a short 10-minute boat ride to the docks of the charming historical town of Darien.  You are 1 mile from Escape Island, 30 minutes from Sapelo Island, 30 minutes to the Atlantic Ocean and 1 hour to the famous docks of St. Simons/Sea Island.  If hunting is your passion, the marsh eco system on Eagle Island provides the perfect backdrop to hunt deer, hogs and shoot ducks. If water sports suit your fancy, you can kayak just one mile to Escape Island and camp out for the evening while you catch fish on the banks of the peaceful Darien River.  Escape Island is a glorified camp site complete with hammock, wooded platform with a tent, a brick firepit and a camp kitchen perfect for preparing your catch of the day!   Venture out and enjoy day trips along the Intracoastal Waterway, where you’ll find the finest coastal fishing, crabbing and offshore fishing around. History of Darien, Ga Est. 1736:     The town of Darien has a wealth of history dating back to the 1700’s.  In October 1735, a band of Highland Scots, recruited from the vicinity of Inverness, Scotland, by Hugh Mackay and George Dunbar, sailed from Inverness, Scotland on the Prince of Wales.  On January 19, 1736, General James Edward Oglethorpe founded the new Georgia colony of New Inverness, which later became known as Darien, Georgia.  Located at the mouth of the Altamaha River, Fort King George was built in 1721 along what is now known as the Darien River and served as the southernmost outpost of the British Empire in the Americas until 1727.  It is the oldest English fort remaining on the Georgia coast.     In 1816, Darien was incorporated and shortly after in 1819, The Bank of Darien opened for business.  The deposits of Federal funds in the Bank of Darien in the 1820s reached huge proportions, later peaking at 1.6 million in 1836, when Darien was at the height of its commercial prosperity.     During the first few years of the 1830s, Darien reached its peak of commercial greatness. Pine timber, rafted down the Altamaha to Darien thru the hand dug mile long waterway known as Rifle Cut, made the town the leading center of export for lumber on the southern Atlantic coast during the late Nineteenth Century. Exports of baled cotton from Darien were exceeded only by the ports of Charleston and Savannah.Garden and Gun Magazine coined the Altamaha River the Little Amazon of the South with its vast water ways.  The area surrounding the river contains one of the last known stands of Virgin Tidewater Cypress in the Lower 48.     Darien became an international port as ships from Europe, Asia, and South America frequented the local waterways to load lumber. The peak of the Timber Era was reached in 1900, when more than 100 million linear board feet of timber and lumber were shipped from Darien.    From 1880 to 1910, McIntosh County oyster harvests were among the highest in the world, rivaling even the Chesapeake Bay.  The oyster industry went into a long decline after the early 1900s.  As the oyster beds declined, a new commercial fishery developed: shrimping.      By the early 1960s, Darien and McIntosh County had the largest shrimping fleet on the Georgia coast, with several shrimp and oyster packing houses in towns along the banks of the Altamaha. Today, Georgia's shrimpers struggle to survive against competition from cheaper, imported shrimp. However, Wild Georgia Shrimp is proudly served in local Darien restaurants and seafood connoisseurs can readily appreciate the difference in flavor and freshness.    Darien is fast becoming an exciting tourist destination among the Golden Isles of Georgia, partly due to its central position, but also due to its wealth of historic sites and its picturesque, refurbished waterfront.  It is truly one of the best kept secrets of the Georgia Coast, a quaint small-town setting where you can sample great wines at the upscale Waterfront Wine and Gourmet Cheese Shop or dine on delicious local seafood enjoying the Darien Riverfront views and restaurants.  There will be a brand-new boutique hotel and shops opening on the water front in the summer of 2019.       Located just 10 minutes by boat from Eagle Island, Darien is close to all major services and amenities including air transportation, shopping, banking, restaurants, hospitals, world class golf and the 5 Diamond Sea Island Resort.     Darien is conveniently located one hour south of Savannah, Georgia, one hour north of Jacksonville, Florida, and just one mile east of Interstate 95. Visitors traversing, I-95 from Maine to Florida can easily visit Darien and still keep their travel schedules on track. SAPELO ISLAND – For an additional $130,000 a 1/2-acre lot in the Historic Hog Hammock Community can be purchased:Sapelo Island is home to the historic Reynolds Mansion.  It was owned by the Coffin Family in the 1920s and hosted Presidents Calvin Coolidge (1928) and Herbert Hoover (1932).  The air strip where Charles A. Lindbergh, the famous aviator, landed in 1929 is still visible today.  The Coffin Family also established the Cloister Resort on Sea Island during this era. Sapelo Island is currently 97% owned by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the remaining 3 % is under private ownership. Placed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 1996, Hog Hammock Historic District, known as the last known Gullah Community and located on Sapelo Island is home to the ½ acre buildable lot that comes with the sale of Eagle Island, giving you access to the docks at Sapelo Island and 6 miles of Private Secluded Beaches that front the Atlantic Ocean. Power is supplied by Georgia Power, septic is in place and a cottage up to 1400 square feet is permitted in this historic district to conform to the other historical dwellings. It’s a step back in time and is still a full-time home to some of the original descendants of the Gullah-Geechees Tribes, descendants of enslaved West African people brought to the island in the 1700s and 1800s to work on the island plantations. You can rock on the front porch underneath the massive old Live Oaks and enjoy lunch at Lula’s Kitchen, a direct descendant of the Gullah tribe and enjoy a taste of the Gullah cuisine as well as experience the native Gullah language still spoken by the locals.  Sapelo Island is also home to the second oldest surviving brick lighthouse in America and the oldest surviving construction of the great lighthouse architect Winslow Lewis.  The brick oil house was restored, along with the lighthouse, in 1998. It stored the kerosene used to power the light; five gallons would usually keep it burning all night.Sapelo Island is accessible by boat or plane and there is a daily ferry that runs which is only a short 20-minute trip. If you ever wondered what owning your own island might feel like ....  it’s time to seize the day!  Eagle Island ... The Best Backyard in America!