A touching story from Savannah Lakes, the sprawling and rural golf community in South Carolina, near the Georgia border, reminds us of the kindness of strangers, even those with whom you might have been in tough negotiations for the sale of a home. It also says something about extreme customer service by a real estate agent.

        Michael Sherard, the principal real estate professional at Savannah Lakes, published a story in his monthly customer newsletter about a couple from Texas he helped to purchase a re-sale home in Savannah Lakes. After the sale of the home but before they moved to Savannah Lakes, the Texas couple’s beloved dog of 15 years passed away. They were crushed and,

The wife did not know her husband was building a house. She didn't know about the mistress either.

as any dedicated pet owner will understand, did not want to leave their beloved’s remains behind in Texas. The couple that sold them the house in Savannah Lakes agreed to let them bury their pet in the backyard of what was not quite yet their new home. And who took on the role of gravedigger? It was realtor Sherard, who volunteered to dig and prepare the pooch’s eternal resting place. Kindnesses all around.

        I heard another kindness-of-neighbors story recently during a two-day golf outing in a coastal South Carolina community. In our foursome was a resident of the community, and as we passed a home that was nearing final construction, he told us the following story. The man who was building the house paid a visit to check out the late stages of construction. The next-door neighbors, who had lived there for a few years, were away on the day of his visit but heard he had been there. They contacted the golf club for his home phone number up north and called his house to introduce themselves and welcome the couple to the community. His wife answered, and when they said they were sorry they had missed her husband’s visit, she responded: “We aren’t building a house there?”

        As it turned out, they weren’t building a house, but her husband was -- for himself and his mistress. He was waiting, the story goes, until the house was finished before telling his wife. We wonder how that first conversation with his new neighbors went after he moved in.

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        If Savannah Lakes, which features two 18-hole layouts and reasonably priced real estate adjacent to large Lake Thurmond, sounds like a place you might consider for a vacation home or permanent home, contact me and I will put you in touch with Michael Sherard.  And if your curiosity has the best of you, and you want to know the identity of the golf community in the second story, let me know and I will share it.

        In the wake of the Great Recession that began in 2007, the announcement of a new golf community is about as rare as a Republican’s vote to raise taxes. But Jeffrey Snyder and his financial backers figure that a sylvan lake setting and a golf course that will echo some of the world’s famous holes should convince buyers to take a serious look at Cutalong, a 1,000-acre property on the shores of Lake Anna in southern Virginia, about 40 minutes from Fredericksburg and within an easy drive of Washington and Richmond. That sets Cutalong up as a viable lure to second-home and retiree owners.

        Cutalong’s 18-hole, par 71 golf course will be designed by local resident Tom Clark of the Ault-Clark architecture firm and will play up to 7,400 yards. Ron Whitten, who has surveyed and written about golf

The Cutalong golf course will echo the famous National Golf Links on Long Island.

courses all over the world as a Golf Digest editor, will provide input. The Ault, Clark web site indicates that features of the Cutalong course will echo the renowned National Golf Links on Long Island. The only difference, of course, is that vistas from the National Links layout do not include homes; Cutalong vows to place home sites on only one side of each fairway. Judging by the Cutalong site map, the adjacent lake and a creek will be in close proximity on a few of the holes.

        The 13,000-acre Lake Anna will provide additional recreational outlets. Some boating enthusiasts will take advantage of a “concierge” service that will attend to all the necessary pre- and post-boat excursion work. All the other customary amenities of a high-end golf community are planned for Cutalong, once lot sales reach a certain point.

        Prices for 1/3 to ½ acre lots with golf course views start at just $69,900. To encourage sales, Cutalong is holding an open house every day until a major event on August 18, which they are billing as a “family day.” Gold panning will be one of the highlights, along with a shot at a hole in one to earn a free golf home site at Cutalong. Cutalong's developers are hoping to strike gold with their gutsy venture.