If you live in Rose Hill Plantation, you are situated in the center of the universe. It’s 30 minutes away from Savannah, Beaufort, or the airport, ten minutes to the bridge, and about 20 to Hilton Head’s famous beaches.
Unless, of course, you try to drive down Highway 278 at 8 a.m., when traffic towards the island is bumper-to-bumper.
Rose Hill resident Gary Snyder beats the rush by making the trip at 6 a.m., or even earlier. After all, the busiest and most demanding part of his job as supervisor of the famed Harbour Town Golf Links is over by the time the first golfers tee off at 8.
Ben Whiteside, co-owner of the prestigious Morris-Whiteside Art Galleries in Plantation Center, first goes against the flow in the mornings, as he chauffeurs his children, Jaclyn, who’s nine, and young Ben, just turned seven, westward to the brand new Okatie Elementary School. Then he makes a u-turn and joins the early morning traffic down William Hilton Parkway. In the evening, he waits until the outbound traffic has cleared before he leaves the gallery. Even so, he said, “I’m usually home by six.”
Dentist Sandy Termotto used to commute the half-hour to Savannah, but now he has grown more savvy. Sandy merely crosses the highway at the light, and there he is at his new dental practice in Sheridan Park. And Sea Pines Realtor Holly Snyder has the best deal of all - her office is nestled in the trees right by the security gate that leads into the plantation.
For an estimated 50 percent of Rose Hill residents, the whole question of commuting is academic. They are either retired or too rich to work. “On Rose Hill, every day is Saturday!” choruses this happy band.
And what do they do? Well, there’s golf – 27 championship holes that meander through woodlands and across lagoons. And tennis – take your choice of clay or hard courts. There’s boating on the pristine Colleton River, or fishing in the 42-acre Hidden Lake, which has been obligingly stocked with bass by an indulgent property owners’ association.
There are lots of plantation activities. Rose Hill is a very sociable place; just peruse the plantation’s monthly newsletter, and you’ll find announcements for sports clubs, dinner clubs, lunch clubs, garden clubs, dance clubs, and aerobic groups. There’s also a very active play group - according to Holly Snyder, a large percentage of Rose Hill residents have children living at home. Special annual events that bring out enthusiastic residents include an Easter egg hunt, a 4th of July parade, a Christmas party, a Halloween haunted house, and a hotly contested fishing tournament.
And increasingly, as the surrounding township of Bluffton balloons, there is shopping, both at factory outlets and specialty boutiques, and dining at dozens of great restaurants. Bluffton now boasts a library, a YMCA, thrift shops, doctors’ offices, and an enviable school system. “Once the movie theatres get here, there’s very little we’ll need to leave the area for,” said Holly Snyder.
But, of course, when Lowcountry people think about Rose Hill, they think - horses! Rose Hill is famed as an equestrian center. The plantation supports seven-and-a-half miles of trails, a 32-stall barn and adjacent corrals. Property owners whose holdings comprise two acres or more may build their own private stables - and a surprising number of them do. For many years, Sandy Termotto, whose passion is polo, kept his polo ponies in a state-of-the-art barn in his backyard. The horse crowd holds frequent events - horse shows, gymkanas, pony parties, and a summer camp for horse-crazy young girls and boys.
And then there’s polo! Since the first match at Rose Hill in the early 1980s, this royal and ancient game has been one of the biggest, most beloved sporting and social events in the Lowcountry. During the polo seasons, folks come from literally miles away (Hollywood, Europe, Argentina) to play or watch this exciting sport. Usually, there’s a formal patrons’ party at the Rose Hill Pavilion, as well as an uncounted number of picnics set out, often with expensive linen, crystal and silver candelabras, on the tailgates of cars that ring the polo field.
Like most of the gated communities in the area, Rose Hill has a master plan. When completed there will be just under 1,000 homes, judiciously sited on 1,750 acres. There is a surprisingly elastic architectural review board. Building material may be of brick, stucco, cypress, or what-have-you.
There’s a variety of home styles and even more of sizes, as relatively small cottages stand cheek-by-jowl with stately mansions. The plantation is divided by Highway 278 into two distinct communities. There’s the golf course side, with half-acre lots or patios homes, where residents revel in a folksy, friendly ambiance. Then, there’s the river side, where homesites range from one to three acres, and often more. You can be private here, screened by towering oaks and stately palmetto palms. “It’s like living in the country, only not so remote,” explained Parker Cook, who lived on the populous south end of Hilton Head Island for almost 30 years before bailing in favor of a secluded home in Rose Hill.
