Welcome to Endless Views! This property offers more than a typical beach vacation - if you love nature you will love Endless Views! This is one of the few Edisto Island rentals with 40 acres of land and a deep water dock and boat ramp. The property is located on Little Edisto Island, which is part of Edisto Island, just 45 minutes south of Charleston, South Carolina.
Edisto is all about environmental conservation and Endless Views is in the middle of this protected wetlands environment, situated 2 miles out on the very end of a peninsula formed by Russell and Sand Creeks. This means that car and truck traffic noise are replaced by the calls of birds and dolphins breaking the water (yes we have lots of dolphins in the creeks!). You will also find it cooler than areas with paved surfaces. The house is raised on stilts and sits in an open setting with consistent sea breezes while still featuring modern conveniences that will make you feel right at home. We recently renovated everything including all new windows, front and back stairs, complete restoration of living room and painting inside and out, new hot tub controls, updated bedrooms and new food pantry. You will love the privacy of the house's three separate living areas or “pods. The main pod includes a common area with a modern kitchen and dining area that opens up to the water-facing porch and features a screened porch with a grill. You enjoy the great views while sipping a glass of coffee or ice tea! Flocks of seabirds and spectacular sunrises and sunsets fly over the miles of open water and marsh that start on your doorstep. The master suite pod has a king-size bed, full bathroom, a private screened porch, and laundry room. In the third pod you will find two bedrooms, one features a king-size bed and the other has two queen-sized beds. Your group will love the walk-in showers and screened porch and may want to use the two full sized mattresses that are stored if you need more flexible sleeping arrangements. Linens provided for bathing.
The dock will be the center of your water activities with lots of equipment at your disposal such as a “flip up” swim ladder, two single and one double kayaks, three crab traps and a minnow trap. Guests often have their happy hour on the dock while watching the dolphins swim buy or watching their rods baited with shrimp or minnows. The deep water dock (8' deep at the lowest of the low tides) is only a short walk along the marsh. Since it is a 32 foot private dock, you are welcome to use it as much as you would like and leave your beach chairs (or up to two boats) for the duration of your stay. Next to the dock is our boat ramp that can launch even larger boats, as well as a storage chest with life jackets for both adults and children.
After an exciting day of activities such as hanging out at the dock, exploring the waterways by kayak or walking the 40-acre property, guests like to sink into comfy sofas to enjoy reading a favorite novel or watching a favorite movie. You may want to cook local seafood and vegetables or take a break by serving delicious prepared foods from Flowers Seafood and Kings Market that are prepared in their own kitchens. Guests describe the kitchen at Endless View’s as a “cooks kitchen” because it features such things as a full-sized refrigerator, Jenn Air brand stove, dishwasher, microwave, coffee pot with coffee, toaster with air-fryer, and many pots, pans and utensils. The dining table seats eight to ten guests and both the screened porch and open porch have tables that seat four. The kitchen island also has high-top chairs for hanging out. Other amenities include a large hot tub, washer/dryer, heating, air conditioning, and Wi-Fi.
The Property
Endless Views has a fascinating history, it was deeded as a Lord Proprietors Grant in 1710 to a plantation owner named Joseph Russell who received the land from the King of England. Since then there’s only been a handful of owners with the property passing between generations of the current owner’s family since 1961. Endless Views on Little Edisto is one of our two vacation houses on the 40-acre property, both houses are separated by a grove of trees and are well over a football field away, and we only rent the endless views when our friends and family are not staying there. When we are in town, we only interact with our guests unless requested and the property is so large we often forget that they are staying on the 40 acre property. Endless Views is two miles down Russell Creek Road -- a mile of paved road and then yet another mile on a private gravel road, where you come to the very end of the peninsula. You will then bare left and go down a long wooded driveway to the house. If you have a boat we recommend that you turn right at the sign that says “San Russ Point ”. To get to the dock from the house, it is a short walk or drive (if you have coolers or such) along the marsh. Take one of three kayaks from the dock and paddle down the creek or if you have a motorboat you can drive out to the ocean or Bohicket marina which has a fun bar/restaurant porch area. There is nothing but marsh and open water for 10 miles in front of the house, if you look to the left the view is of 3 miles of marsh and waterways that include the North Edisto which is part of the intercoastal waterway. To the right of the house is our private dock on deep water Russell Creek and past Russell Creek even more forest that provides roosts for wood storks and egrets. The tides deliver up to 8 feet of water every 12 hours to the area and sometimes make the marsh grass all but disappear under its flow. There is virtually no car noise and fewer people in the area results in more wildlife. If you have a dog, you can let them run on the property, or keep them in the fenced area connected to the water-facing porch. In the mornings walking around the property or down the mile gravel road offers great birdwatch as you will routinely see brown pelicans, wood storks, oystercatchers, great egrets, piping plovers (on sand flats), roseate spoonbills (late summer), herrins, hummingbirds, a multitude of birds in the forest, including hawks and bald eagles. Although we often visit the other wonderful sites on Edisto and the surrounding areas we find it hard to leave and always are glad to get back to the property.
The Dock:
Fish for bass, trout, flounder, whiting and even juvenile sharks. Set the crab traps with fish heads and then have boiled crabs for dinner. In the fall until generally late December, bait and throw a cast net to catch shrimp off the dock walkway. At low tide, our 32-foot floating boat dock has 8 feet of water under it so it's good for swimming, fishing or crabbing with our three supplied crab traps or you may want to help your kids catch crabs by pulling up a string with a piece of chicken and a weight. The dock is also a great platform for launching kayaks, swimming and sunbathing. The boat ramp is sufficient to launch even larger boats that can be left on the dock for the duration of your stay. You can wash your boat with a hose provided at the Endless Views rental house. From the dock you will often see dolphins travel up the creek fishing and playing, if you hang out on the dock or if you go out in one of the kayaks.
There are activities for everyone on Edisto Island. Including an excellent golf course on the Island, which will satisfy the most discriminating golfer (and a second golf course only 20 minutes from Edisto Island).
By car, you can explore Edisto Island's historic churches and plantations, state parks, and unique activities such as the Edisto Island Serpentarium alligator feeding (open April-October), Bingo Nights at the Lions Club (great for kids – summer only and go early), strawberry and vegetable picking at Kings Market (May to early July). Blueberry picking in late June. Edisto Beach State Park two locations or the 4,360-acre Botany Bay Plantation are all a short drive down Hwy. 174 (If you go to Botany Bay go at low tide!). We often enjoy a late morning or late afternoon at the beach and then eat at the picnic tables at the state park, or eat at McConkey's Jungle Shack (especially if in bathing suits)l We also like Whaley's Store which is the locals' favorite lunch spot. For seafood we often go to Flower's Seafood truck which on the way back to Endless Views. If we do not feel like cooking out we pick up Seafood to go at Flowers or prepared meals and fresh vegetables at Kings both are a short drive from Endless Views. Via motorboat, you can take a 20-30 minute trip to remote beaches such as Deveaux Bank and the north edisto both at the mouth of the Edisto River. Take advantage of local attractions including kayak tours, fishing guides, or even a shrimp boat charter. Further afield, explore the ACE Basin (wonderful plantation house with rocking chairs on the back porch just 15 minutes from Endless Views) , Cypress Gardens, Middleton Place and Magnolia Plantation, Donnelley Wildlife Management Area, and of course, the beautiful town of Charleston.
For inside entertainment, there is a flat-screen television (with basic Hulu Service, Chromecast and HDMI port. You will also find books and puzzles next to the dining area.
Sorry we are not set up and do not allow weddings or larger groups on the property.