Southern Breeze 2007 Summer Issue - (Page 22) home YOU COULD LIVE HERE RENDERINGS COURTESY OF BON SECOUR VILLAGE Bon Secour Village rises along the banks of the Intracoastal Waterway in Gulf Shores. Safe Harbor S story by JEAN M. MCLEAN BON SECOUR VILLAGE 251-224-0505 or 888-597-2788 2975 Bon Secour Avenue Gulf Shores, AL 36547 www.bonsecourvillage.com ince 1702 South Baldwin County, Alabama has been known as a “safe harbor,” providing refuge for seafarers and wildlife. Both its established town and multi-sited national wildlife refuge are named Bon Secour. That harboring tradition continues with a new intracoastal development—Bon Secour Village. Tucked between piney woods and waterways, Gulf Shores’ newest community is based on rediscovery, say developers Clint Guthrie and Rick Skelton. At almost 1,000 acres, this largest mixeduse development in Alabama is designed to reflect both the area’s Acadian history and its unique natural beauty, at once resilient and delicate. Boaters, homeowners, visitors, and natural residents will find refuge here among an upscale environment that promises the best of old and new. This summer boat owners will pull into one of the marina’s newly-opened 60 luxury yacht slips, the first part of a town center that will eventually include shops and cafés, from locally owned boutiques to major retailers. One of the first communities to emerge in Bon Secour Village is Azalea Park, with its blend of French architecture and natural history. Tall pines shade the brick walkways, lit for evening strolls by gas lamps. Marked by wrought iron railings and urns, manicured lawns host purple martin houses while a peek through the wooded horizon reveals a heron seeking supper at water’s edge. The mix of sensory stimulants—from fragrant flowers to sultry sun—evokes the centuries-old aura of gracious Southern coastal living. That aura has drawn many who want to make Bon Secour Village their first or second home. Residents are drawn to the Village’s rediscovery concept, with its planned canal promenades and 80-foot buffer offering miles of manicured waterfront for walking and cycling. Everyone is seeking what the three brothers LeMoyne sought when they erected their hunting and fishing lodge in South Baldwin County in 1702 and named it “safe harbor,” or Bon Secour. Like those early residents, today’s arrivals are finding their own safe harbor as they rediscover Baldwin County’s fabled—and now newly luxuriant—wildlife and waterways in a village of the same name. Jeanie McLean is a freelance writer based in Birmingham, Alabama. 22 s o u t h e r n b re e z e . c o m http://www.bonsecourvillage.com http://southernbreeze.com
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