Stan Powell, Broker Local. Coastal. Trusted.
(910) 274-5067 StanPowell@SeaCoastRealty.com

Your Community Guide · Calabash, Brunswick County, North Carolina

Hunter's Trace

Estate-style homesites pushing half an acre, boat and RV parking allowed, dues that round to pocket change, and downtown Calabash close enough to walk. The trade-off is there is no clubhouse — and for a certain buyer, that is the whole point.

Hunter's Trace appeals to buyers who came to the coast for a little more breathing room, not another schedule of amenities. Picture a one-story house on a wide homesite, your boat or RV parked where you can actually get to it, and an evening walk toward the Calabash waterfront when you decide you want seafood for dinner. It is a simpler kind of coastal living, and the simplicity is the point.

Best fit forBuyers prioritizing a larger homesite, low HOA dues, one-level floor plans, boat and RV flexibility, and living within walking distance of downtown Calabash rather than a planned amenity center.

64single-family homes built by Lennar
82platted homesites in the subdivision
~.40–.55acre typical Lennar homesite
2 mito US 17; walking distance to downtown Calabash

Lot counts and dues compiled from builder and public listing records. Lennar closed out its final phase in the summer of 2026 — several national portals have not caught up. Verify current figures.

Stan Powell, REALTOR and Broker with Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage, 10020 Beach Dr. SW, Calabash, NC 28467

“I wanted to create these Community Guides because every neighborhood along our coast has its own personality, history, and little details that you simply can't see in a listing search. Over the past 20 years, I've worked with many of the builders who helped bring these communities to life, and I've watched them grow from the ground up.

Along the way, I've had the privilege of welcoming so many people home here. These guides are my way of sharing what makes each community different, what makes them special, and why so many people are proud to call them home.”

Stan Powell · Your New Home Advisor

See Every Active, Pending and Sold Listing in Hunter's Trace Live MLS · Updated Daily

One subdivision, three different kinds of house

Buyers searching "Hunter's Trace" get one undifferentiated list. In reality you are looking at three separate things: the 64 production homes Lennar delivered, the custom and owner-built homes on the original platted lots, and whatever homesites are still standing empty. They price differently, they inspect differently, and they attract different buyers. Pick the one that fits and I'll send you the live list.

Hunter's Trace at a glance

Hunter's Trace is a single-family subdivision on Harbor Drive in Calabash, North Carolina, in southern Brunswick County. Eighty-two homesites were platted. Lennar built 64 single-story homes here between 2024 and 2026 across five floor plans ranging from about 1,247 to 1,886 square feet, and closed the community out in the summer of 2026 — every home available now is a resale. The balance of the subdivision is made up of custom and owner-built homes on the original lots, plus a small number of homesites that have never been built on.

Homesites generally run about four-tenths to five-tenths of an acre. Boat and RV parking was marketed as permitted. There is no pool, clubhouse, gate or fitness center, and dues were last published at roughly $20 a month. It is not age-restricted. Downtown Calabash and the waterfront are within walking distance or a short drive; US 17 is about two miles away.

Figures current as of September 2026. Dues, covenants and availability change — verify before you rely on any of it.

Photo slotentrance.jpgThe Hunter's Trace entrance at Harbor Drive — sign, brick or landscaping.
Hunter's Trace entrance sign on Harbor Drive in Calabash, NC — white stucco monument with black sign panel and a pointer dog silhouette
The entrance monument off Harbor Drive — the pointer and the split-rail posts. Two miles off US 17 and a short walk from the Calabash waterfront.

Hunter's Trace does not look like the gated, amenitized communities that dominate this corridor, and the search portals do not know how to describe it. There is no gate, no clubhouse, no pool and no golf course. What there is instead is land — homesites that run roughly four-tenths to five-tenths of an acre, which in 2026 Brunswick County is an increasingly rare thing to find under $400,000.

The difference is noticeable before you ever step inside a house. The lots give the street a little more air, and the neighborhood reads less like a tightly planned resort community and more like a place where the house — and the ground around it — belongs to the owner. For buyers coming out of denser subdivisions farther north, that elbow room is often the thing they are still talking about at the end of a day of touring.

That is also why the boat and RV allowance matters here. Most of the newer communities within ten miles prohibit it outright or bury it in an architectural-review process. Hunter's Trace was marketed with it. If you are moving down with a center console or a Class A, this shortens your search list considerably.

The Lennar homes

Production section · 2024–2026

Lennar built and sold 64 single-family homes here and closed the community out in the summer of 2026. Every plan they offered was single-story — no stairs anywhere in the section, which is one of the most common requests I get from buyers relocating into this corridor.

One-level living changes the rhythm of a house in small ways. Groceries come straight in from the garage. The covered rear porch becomes part of the daily living space instead of somewhere you go on purpose. There is no upstairs that quietly stops getting used. These are not large homes, but sitting on a homesite this size they read as uncomplicated rather than cramped.

These came through under Lennar's Everything's Included program, so the specification is consistent house to house: nine-foot ceilings, granite kitchen counters, thirty-six-inch white cabinets, stainless appliances, a breakfast bar, walk-in closet and five-foot shower in the owner's suite, two-car garage, covered rear porch. That consistency cuts both ways at resale — it makes pricing predictable, and it means the homes that stand out are the ones where the owner added something: a screened porch, a fenced yard, hardscape, a detached garage.

View Lennar-Built Homes For Sale Live MLS · Updated Daily
Photo slotmodel-home.jpgThe Lennar model home / sales center.
The blue Lennar model home at Hunter's Trace in Calabash, NC, with the builder's name on the glass entry doors and palmettos flanking the walk
The model home, with the builder's name still on the glass. This is where the five plans below were sold from, right up until the community closed out.
The five plans Lennar offered here
PlanSq ftBedsBaths
Albany 1,247 3 2
Annapolis 1,416 3 2
Dover 1,520 3 2
Harrisburg 1,779 4 2
Hartford 1,886 4 2

Square footages are the builder's published heated-area figures. Individual homes vary with elected options and owner additions.

Photo slotlennar-street.jpgA Lennar street looking down Harbor Drive — shows the spacing between houses.
Street of single-story homes in Hunter's Trace, Calabash NC, with a boat parked beside a house, a detached workshop and pines behind the rear lot lines
The production section, and most of this page's claims in one frame: single-story elevations, a boat parked on site, a detached shop behind the fence, and pines along the back lot lines.
Typical size
1,247 – 1,886 sq ft
Bedrooms
3 – 4
Baths
2
Stories
Single-story, all five plans
Garage
2-car attached
Homesite
Roughly .40 – .55 acre
Outdoor
Covered rear porch or patio
Builder
Lennar — closed out 2026
Photo slotelevation-1.jpgFront elevation, light siding, wooded backdrop.
Single-story home in Hunter's Trace, Calabash NC, with light siding, a two-car garage and pines directly behind the house
A light-siding elevation. The woods start where the back yard ends — worth confirming lot by lot, because the buffer is not uniform across the neighborhood.
Photo slotelevation-2.jpgFront elevation, tan siding, showing side-yard width.
Tan single-story home in Hunter's Trace, Calabash NC, showing a wide side yard and a covered entry, with woods on two sides
Same section, different elevation and color package — and a clear look at the side-yard width that makes the boat and RV allowance usable rather than theoretical.

Custom & owner-built homes

The original lots

Before Lennar came in and took down the remaining inventory, homes were going up here one at a time — owners buying a lot and hiring a local or regional builder. Those houses are still in the neighborhood, and they are a completely different product from the production section.

Expect more variation than you will find anywhere else in a subdivision this size: different footprints, different rooflines, crawl-space and slab foundations both, detached garages and workshops, and in some cases considerably more house than the Lennar plans deliver. Some of these are the homes people actually built to retire in, which usually means the money went into the things a production builder will not do — deeper porches, real millwork, a proper shop.

That variety is what keeps Hunter's Trace from reading as one repeated streetscape. You are not driving past the same elevation twenty times in a row, and a few of these houses tell you from the curb that whoever built them planned on staying a long while.

They also need a different set of eyes at inspection. A one-off custom from a small builder can be excellent or it can be a collection of shortcuts, and the difference is not visible from the curb. This is where a listing history and a builder's name actually matter, and where I earn my side of the transaction.

Photo slotstreetscape.jpgA street view showing the setbacks, the lawns and the row of homes.
Street in Hunter's Trace, Calabash NC — a row of single-story homes set well back from the road behind wide lawns, with pines beyond
Deep front setbacks and open lawns between the road and the houses. This is what the lot sizes look like from the street.
Photo slotlot-spacing.jpgSide-by-side homes showing the gap between them.
Two single-story homes in Hunter's Trace, Calabash NC, with a wide grassed gap between them and tall pines along the rear of both lots
And the gap between neighbors. On a half-acre homesite that space is the whole premium — it is also the first thing to check on any lot you are serious about.
Typical size
Varies widely — ask me
Bedrooms
3 – 4, some with bonus space
Stories
Mostly single-story
Foundation
Slab and crawl space both present
Garage
Attached, some detached / workshop
Builder
Local & regional custom builders
Condition
Inspect individually — no two alike
Photo slotwide-lot.jpgA home showing the width and depth of the lot — side yard, boat pad, or RV parked on site.
Wide homesite in Hunter's Trace, Calabash NC, with a long concrete driveway, deep side yards on both sides of the house and tall pines along the rear
The reason people buy here. A long drive, open ground on both sides, and enough separation from the neighbors that you notice it the moment you step out of the car.

Remaining homesites

Build your own

Eighty-two lots were platted; Lennar built sixty-four homes. That arithmetic leaves room for vacant homesites to turn up in the resale market, and they do — occasionally as builder remnants, more often as lots an owner bought years ago and never built on.

If you are considering one, the questions are always the same and they are always worth asking before you go under contract: what does the covenant require in terms of minimum square footage and exterior materials, is the lot on county water and sewer or does it need a septic permit, where does the water go in a hard rain, and what setbacks are you actually working inside.

View Available Homesites Live MLS · Updated Daily
Typical homesite
Roughly .40 – .55 acre
Utilities
Verify water, sewer & septic per lot
Covenants
Minimum size & materials apply
Boat / RV
Permitted — confirm current rules
Builder
Your choice, subject to ARC approval

What you actually get

There is no clubhouse. That is the trade.

I am not going to pretend Hunter's Trace has amenities it does not have. There is no pool, no gate, no fitness room and no social committee. What you are buying instead is lot size, low dues, the freedom to park what you own on your own property, and a location you can walk out of. For a meaningful share of the buyers I work with, that is a better deal than a pool they would use four times a year.

Photo slotcalabash-waterfront.jpgThe Calabash waterfront or seafood row — the real amenity here.
The Calabash, NC waterfront at dusk — a shrimp boat with its nets rigged, docks and moored boats beyond the marsh grass, under a pink sky
The Calabash waterfront at dusk — the shrimp fleet still working out of the same creek the town was built on. This is the amenity, and it is close enough that residents genuinely walk to it.

I live in Calabash. When Lennar's marketing said "walking distance to downtown Calabash," that was not the usual builder stretch — the waterfront, the fishing fleet and the seafood houses that put this town on the map really are a walk from Harbor Drive, not a drive.

That changes what the neighborhood is worth to a certain buyer. A community with a pool and a gate five miles out on a highway gives you an amenity center. This gives you a town. Those are not the same purchase, and the portals price them as if they were.

In practice that can mean something as ordinary as deciding at five o'clock that you want to walk toward the water, hear the boats coming in, eat dinner and come home — without any part of that becoming a drive. Hunter's Trace does not manufacture a lifestyle inside its entrance. Its advantage is how little effort it takes to reach the one already happening in Calabash.

Estate-style homesites

Roughly four-tenths to five-tenths of an acre on the Lennar lots — well above what most new construction in this corridor delivers at the same price.

Boat & RV parking allowed

Marketed as permitted, which is genuinely unusual here. Confirm the current covenant language and any screening or setback conditions before you close.

Low dues

Last published at about $20 a month. There is no amenity center to fund, and the budget reflects that.

Walk to downtown Calabash

The waterfront, the fishing fleet, the seafood houses and the shops — close enough to become part of your routine, not just somewhere you take visiting family.

All single-story in the Lennar section

Every plan Lennar offered here was one level. No stairs anywhere in the production homes.

Room to add

Space to imagine what comes next — a screened porch for summer evenings, a detached garage or workshop, a pool out back — subject, of course, to the covenants and county approvals.

Two miles to US 17

Close enough for the drive, far enough that you are not listening to it.

All ages

Not an age-restricted community, despite how some directories file it. A mix of full-time residences and second homes, open to any buyer.

Photo slotwooded-buffer.jpgTree line, wooded rear buffer, or a mature-looking street view.
Single-story home in Hunter's Trace, Calabash NC, with mature pines standing close on both sides and behind the house
Mature pines on three sides of this one. Worth walking before you buy — the buffer varies street to street, and a lot that backs to trees is not the same asset as one that backs to another lot.

Walk the lot line before you write

Lot depth is the whole value proposition here, so it is worth knowing exactly what you own and what sits behind it. Some rear lines back to trees. Some back to another lot. On a half-acre homesite that distinction is worth real money at resale, and it is not something a listing photo will ever tell you.

The question everyone asks second

What the dues cover — and what they don't

Low dues are a feature until you find out what they are not paying for. Here is the honest accounting, so you can budget the difference instead of discovering it in year two.

Typically covered

  • Common-area maintenance and landscaping
  • Common-area water and electric
  • Entrance signage and plantings
  • Association insurance and administration
  • Covenant enforcement

On you, the owner

  • Your own lawn, irrigation and landscaping
  • Roof, siding, paint and all exterior maintenance
  • Termite bond and pest control
  • Power washing and gutter cleaning
  • Everything a townhome association would otherwise handle

How it's governed

  • Single homeowners association covering the subdivision
  • Recorded covenants and restrictions run with the land
  • Architectural approval required for exterior changes
  • Boat and RV parking permitted — confirm current conditions
  • No amenity center, so no amenity reserve to fund

Setting the record straight

What the national sites still get wrong

Hunter's Trace is small enough that the big aggregators have never bothered to update it. If you have been reading about this neighborhood online, here is what to disregard.

"Hunter's Trace is now selling its final phase of new homes."

Out of date. Lennar closed the community out in the summer of 2026. Every home here is now a resale. Several builder-feed sites and portals are still running the original marketing copy, and at least one still shows plans as available.

"New homes from $298,000."

Historical. Those were closeout prices on the last builder inventory, not today's resale market. Ask me for the current absorption rate and closed-price data — I publish a branded market snapshot for communities in this corridor.

Filed under 55+ or retirement community directories.

Incorrect. Hunter's Trace is not age-restricted. There is no age covenant, no age-qualified association and no minimum-age requirement to buy here. The single-story floor plans and low-maintenance profile draw comparisons to age-restricted communities, but the two are not the same thing.

Listed with community amenities, pool or clubhouse.

No. Some directories auto-populate amenity fields from nearby communities. There is no pool, clubhouse, gate or fitness center at Hunter's Trace, and the dues reflect that.

Confused with Hunter's Trace in Asheville, Concord or Fremont, NC.

Different places entirely. There are at least three other North Carolina subdivisions using this name. If you landed on an HOA site with a clubhouse and tennis courts, you were reading about Asheville.

Getting around

Two miles off 17, and a walk from the waterfront

Hunter's Trace sits off Harbor Drive on the Calabash side of the highway. The practical effect is that you get the quiet of being off US 17 without the twenty-minute approach that most of the inland communities in this county come with.

Photo slotcalabash-fleet.jpgA shrimp boat tied up at dusk on the Calabash creek.
The shrimp boat Southern Charm tied to a dock on the Calabash creek at dusk, with marsh grass in the foreground and houses across the water
The Southern Charm tied up for the evening. Calabash is still a working seafood town, and that is what the neighborhoods on this side of the highway sit inside of.

Calabash is a working seafood town of a few thousand people that swells every summer, and the neighborhoods on this side of the highway feel like part of it rather than adjacent to it. You are minutes from the fleet, the seafood row and the shops, twenty from Sunset Beach, and inside half an hour of North Myrtle Beach when you want a bigger night out.

That proximity creates a different relationship with the town. The restaurants and the waterfront stop being attractions you drive to when company visits, and turn into the places you pass, return to, and eventually build your own routines around. If you are relocating and trying to work out whether a community will actually feel connected to the coast or just have a coastal mailing address, that is the distinction that matters.

The second thing to know is the highway. US 17 backs up on summer Saturdays, and any conversation about drive times in this county should account for that. Two miles to the highway is a real advantage in July.

Downtown Calabash & the waterfront
Walkable
US 17
~2 miles
Groceries, Walmart, Publix
~5 min
Sunset Beach — the sand
~15 min
Ocean Isle Beach
~20 min
North Myrtle Beach
~15–20 min
Shallotte
~20 min
Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center
~20 miles
Myrtle Beach International Airport
~30 miles
Wilmington
~50 min
Golf courses within 5 miles
~20
Photo slotbeach.jpgThe beach at sunrise — what the drive-time table is really about.
Sunrise over the dunes and fishing pier at a South Brunswick Islands beach, about fifteen minutes from Hunter's Trace in Calabash, NC
What the drive times are really about. The sand is roughly fifteen to twenty minutes from the driveway — close enough for a morning walk, far enough that you are not living in the rental traffic.

Before you spend a Saturday on it

Who tends to love Hunter's Trace

This community usually makes the most sense for the buyer who puts space, flexibility and location ahead of a long amenity list. If you would rather have a bigger homesite than a clubhouse, keep your boat or your camper close enough to actually use, and live near Calabash instead of simply having a Calabash mailing address, this belongs on your tour list.

And if what you actually want is a pool, a gate, a social calendar and somebody else cutting the grass, say so and I will stop pointing you here. There are eight or nine communities within fifteen minutes that do that far better than Hunter's Trace ever will, and you should be looking at those instead. Knowing which of these two buyers you are is worth more than another hour on a portal.

See What's For Sale In Hunter's Trace

Questions I get about Hunter's Trace

Can I still buy a new home from the builder here?

No. Lennar built 64 homes at Hunter's Trace and closed the community out in the summer of 2026. Everything available now is resale. Several national sites still show the community as actively selling, which is the single most common piece of confusion I clear up on this neighborhood. If you want brand-new construction in this area, there are several Lennar and other builder communities in the Calabash and Ocean Isle corridor at various stages — I can walk you through what is actually open.

Can I really park a boat or an RV?

Boat and RV parking was marketed as permitted here, and it is one of the main reasons buyers find the neighborhood. That said, "permitted" in a covenant usually comes with conditions — screening, setbacks, surface requirements, time limits. Never take it from a listing remark. I pull the recorded covenants and any amendments and show you the exact language before you commit.

How big are the lots, really?

The Lennar homesites generally run about four-tenths to five-tenths of an acre, with individual lots recorded anywhere from roughly .41 to .55. That is materially larger than most new construction in this price band in Brunswick County. Lot dimensions vary, so check the specific survey rather than assuming a neighborhood average.

Is Hunter's Trace a 55+ community?

No. It is open to buyers of any age — no age covenant, no age-qualified association. The single-story plans and low-maintenance profile get it filed under retirement directories, but that is a description of the housing, not a restriction on who can buy. If you specifically want age-restricted living, I can point you to the communities in this corridor that genuinely are.

What's the difference between the Lennar homes and the custom ones?

The Lennar homes are production-built to a consistent specification, all single-story, between roughly 1,250 and 1,900 square feet, delivered between 2024 and 2026. The custom and owner-built homes on the original lots vary in every dimension — size, layout, foundation, finish level and build quality. They can be the better buy, but they need to be evaluated individually rather than compared to a neighborhood average.

Are there any lots left to build on?

Eighty-two homesites were platted and Lennar built sixty-four homes, so vacant lots do come available. Availability changes constantly. Ask me and I will send you what is on the market, along with what you need to verify on utilities, drainage and covenant requirements before you buy one.

How's the resale market here?

Because Lennar closed out so recently, the resale picture is still forming, which makes pricing genuinely tricky right now — there is not a deep history of arm's-length resales to work from yet. I publish a branded market snapshot covering absorption rate, days on market and closed price trends for communities in this corridor. Ask me for the current Hunter's Trace edition; it is free and there is nothing attached to it.

Thinking about Hunter's Trace?

Whether you're already watching one particular house or still trying to work out which Calabash community fits you, I'm glad to help you sort through it.

Send me the address you're considering — even if you found it on Zillow, on Realtor.com or on another agent's website. I'll tell you which section it sits in, what I know about who built it, what I'd want investigated before an offer, and how it stacks up against the other options around Calabash and Carolina Shores.

Sometimes the best first step isn't scheduling a showing. It's understanding what you're looking at.

Send Me An Address To Look At

Stan Powell, Broker / REALTOR® · Your New Home Advisor · (910) 274-5067

Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage

Stan Powell

REALTOR®, Broker

CNE · ABR · e-PRO · CSP

Cell (910) 274-5067 Office (910) 579-8471 StanPowell@SeaCoastRealty.com

Office

10020 Beach Dr. SW
Calabash, NC 28467