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Area Intro & Info . . .

In 1729, early settlers founded Wilmington on the Cape Fear River. For the next two and a half centuries, Wilmington expanded from its Downtown to its Mid-Town to its Beach Towns.

And today, it’s the waterways and these three main areas that still lure folks here! Ask our almost 200,000 residents…

"What makes Wilmington and its surrounding beaches so special?" Chances are good that one theme will echo through clearly…the citizens of Wilmington, Wrightsville Beach and its surrounding areas know that coastal living is a privilege.

Our citizens value the precious gems found here in our treasure chest of every day life:

~ the Atlantic Ocean ~ sounds ~ creeks ~ Intracoastal Waterway ~ waterfront homes ~ miles of beaches ~ barrier islands ~ The Cape Fear River ~ short winters ~ early springs ~ surfing ~ boating ~ fishing ~ kite-boarding ~ bike trails ~ running courses ~ wind-surfing ~ sun rises on the beach ~wildlife ~ fitness ~ cultural arts ~ golf courses ~ beach homes ~ gardens ~ resort-style living ~ history ~ vacation retreats ~ blue water views ~ gated communities ~ sunset cruises ~ parks ~ green-living ~ bird watching ~ educational resources ~ beautiful homes ~ resort-living ~ history ~ tennis …
and of course, Southern Hospitality

Greater Wilmington has received numerous prestigious awards and recognitions wilmingtonchamber.org

We at Angie Pool & Associates want you to decide what makes our area so special…so, we’ve created a short tour for you. These three main areas between the river and the sea are what we know best along with "quality service from start to finish." Ask yourself as you peruse the information and photographs, "In what area should I purchase Real Estate in New Hanover County?" With less than 25 minutes between each region, Angie Pool & Associates believes that you can truly have them all! So, get going and call us if we can answer any questions along your journey.

DOWNTOWN

"Clop, clop, clop" is a common sound heard in Downtown Wilmington. Typically, it announces the arrival of a horse-drawn carriage filled with smiling tourists as they make their way down the cobblestone streets of Wilmington’s thriving downtown business district. Downtown is a mixture of banks, companies of all sizes and industries, government buildings, law offices and courthouses, and these bustling businesses are all set in the charming ambience of Wilmington’s 240 Block Historic District.

Our future Convention Center, slated to open in 2010, will be located right on our Downtown Riverfront. Our community has awaited its arrival for a long time, and it promises to keep nurturing our strong economic development that has its heart in relaxed living. The students who attend Cape Fear Community College appreciate the downtown atmosphere while they are earning their degrees and prepare to offer this business community the latest in technology.

It’s here in Downtown that The Cape Fear River cascades south to north, enticing folks of all ages down its Riverwalk to all sorts of exciting places: outside cafes, antique shops, museums, art galleries, gourmet restaurants, boutiques and churches. In the evening, you’d be fully entertained if you acquired tickets for one of many live stage performances or concerts held; most notably, at Thalian Hall, a working venue for drama and music since 1858.

Did you think that you caught a glimpse of your favorite celebrity on our streets? Well, it’s quite possible! Wilmington is home to Screen Gems Studios, a facility that hosts major motion pictures and television productions. With a strong infrastructure of production resources and annual film festivals, Hollywood has called on "Wilmywood" to "get the film in the can" for decades. From film to music to cooking to visual arts, you can feel the art community’s energy in this sprawling downtown (creativewilmington.com).

Private residences of Downtown Wilmington offer Italianate, Georgian, Victorian, Neo-Classical and Greek Revival Styles of architecture throughout The Historical District. Can’t you just envision the hardwood floors, high ceilings, enormous rooms, hand-carved staircases-doors-fireplace mantels, and quaint backyard gardens?

Don’t worry though…if contemporary styles with the luxuries of modern living inspire you, then just ask us to tell you about some of Downtown’s new condos with pent-house views and garden roofs. The sidewalks crawl in the evenings with those who enjoy an energetic night life, if you still have energy after attending our Railroad Museum, Cape Fear Museum of History & Science, and Children’s Museum of Wilmington.

Several times during the calendar year, The City of Wilmington hosts a fireworks display. It is moving to watch the colors in the sky mirror themselves on The Cape Fear River with The USS North Carolina Battleship serving as the appropriate back ground for the festivities on Memorial Day and Fourth of July.

Downtown Wilmington is the heart of the city, but if it is the country that you love with big city resources, we suggest that you consider the suburb of Leland. Located just over the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge in Downtown Wilmington, Brunswick Forest with its 160 acres of new home amenities and Waterford with its new homes, pools, shopping and restaurants…all await you. Our neighbors in Leland and Brunswick County know that their side of the bridge has a well-preserved history too. Orton Plantation dates back to the late 1700’s and its neighbor, Brunswick Town, has its roots in The Revolutionary War as well as The Civil War. Your tour of Downtown Wilmington and its surrounding areas has allowed you to see only one rich area that New Hanover and Brunswick Counties offer. Now it’s time to inch our way closer to the Atlantic Ocean and tour the second area that you will want to consider.

MID-TOWN

"Mid-Town" is a new term for the neighborhoods and businesses centrally located inside the Wilmington City Limits. Two of those neighborhoods, Forest Hills and South Oleander, are strategically hidden behind mature landscaping along major thoroughfares.

Are you a physician locating to Wilmington? A home in Mid-Town may be "just what the doctor ordered" if you need to live close to New Hanover Regional Medical Center or Cape Fear Hospital.

These neighborhoods; and others along River Road, cater to families who crave charm and tradition, but want to be smack-dab between the city and the beach. Did someone say "location, location, location?" See? We told you that you can have it all!

From Colonial to Contemporary, Spanish to English Tudor, as well as Transitional and Ranch Style Homes…it seems all architectural styles are represented in Wilmington’s Mid-Town. These homes are as unique as their house numbers, and with diversity in home size and style…you get diversity in price too. In Mid-Town, you may find a home for as little as $300,000 up to several million as you get closer to the waterways.

Springtime in Mid-Town is a fairyland of colorful azaleas, budding dogwoods and fluffy pink cherry trees that majestically call out for an audience. These Mid-Town Wilmington Residents know the value of traditional charm and modern convenience while still experiencing coastal living. The Atlantic Ocean is only eight miles away from these well-established neighborhoods.

A plethora of public parks exist throughout Mid-Town Wilmington. These environmental-friendly reserves are owned and maintained by both the City of Wilmington and New Hanover County. They each offer various amenities from bird watching to gardening, skate boarding to paddle boating, jogging trails to bike trails, children’s playgrounds to tennis courts and swimming pools for all ages.

Have you considered continuing your education or getting that degree you always wanted? The University of North Carolina at Wilmington offers undergraduate, graduate and continuing education courses. Our Mid-Town educational resources don't stop there. Mount Olive College and Miller Motte Business School offer degrees and certifications in many fields.

The Wilmington Sharks a team certified by Minor League Baseball and The Wilmington Hammerheads a professional soccer team have both made Wilmington their home, providing local families with good affordable fun. Their players volunteer with children creating role models for future athletes.

Families? Fun? How about Mayfaire Town Center and The Forum Shops with their boutiques, gourmet restaurants and spas?

As we inch closer to our final area on this tour, you need to know about Landfall located just before you reach The Wrightsville Beach Bridge. With two separate championship golf courses designed by legends Jack Nicklaus and Pete Dye, two clubhouses, a Cliff Drysdale tennis complex, luxury homes that include patio homes, multi million dollar mansions on the water and everything else between… you definitely want to consider Landfall for your next home purchase. Perfectly manicured grounds, playgrounds, and 24/7 guarded gates make Landfall an investment with lots of value.

An up and coming development in this same area, offering old-fashioned charm with modern resources, is Autumn Hall. This new community promises to take its residents back to front porch gatherings and good ‘ole American family life…with a Southern twist, of course. Let us know if one of their spec houses built by some of North Carolina’s finest builders interests you or if you would like to view available land plots so you can build your own dream home at Autumn Hall.

You probably understand that Mid-Town Wilmington offers its residents the best of everything. Downtown Wilmington is only 10 miles at most from the far side of Mid-Town and Wrightsville Beach is even less distance from its farthest side of Mid-Town. Angie Pool & Associates will search our database of homes on the market in Mid-Town, and even those not yet listed in the MLS Directory. Mid-Town homes go fast, so it is important for you to remember that we have our finger on the latest information on New Hanover County Real Estate.

BEACH TOWN

You’ve only traveled 12 miles from the start of this tour in downtown Wilmington, and here you are…crossing over a bridge to The Town of Wrightsville Beach.

Harbor Island is the first land mass after crossing over The Intracoastal Waterway. There, on this tiny isle, you will find Wrightsville Beach Town Hall and Park, full-service marinas, dry and wet docks and housing that ranges from town homes to quaint Craftsman Style Homes on the north and south end of the island.

Harbor Island connects to Wrightsville Beach over the sparkling waters of Banks Channel. Here on this four mile stretch of beach, the resort-style amenities of Wrightsville Beach will unfold before your eyes. With less than 3,000 year-round residents, one can easily imagine what it’s like to own a piece of paradise!

Many homes on Wrightsville Beach offer porches with both ocean and sound views as well as private docks. From coffee to cocktail, you could literally spend the morning watching sunrises over the Atlantic Ocean and evenings watching a fading summer sun paint red and orange reflections on the sound of Banks Channel. The homes on Wrightsville Beach run from six figures to seven—or in other words, from beach cottages to three to four-story vacation homes. Duplexes and joint ownership opportunities are fashionable alternatives as well.

The Wrightsville Beach Museum of History will awe you with its stories of Lumina, trolley cars and movie screens on the beach. There’s no doubt that fun in the sun, and healthy good living has been a part of this coastal town since the turn of the century, and it has still managed to maintain its natural, family-oriented atmosphere without all the bells and whistles of commercialism. That should speak volumes to today’s society.

From seriously fast bike riders outfitted in the latest athletic garb… to the leisurely pace of beach goers on cruisers whose pedals barely move, Wrightsville Beach promotes fitness. The Loop is a popular 2.5 mile course around the mid-section of Wrightsville Beach and Harbor Island. It guides two-legged walkers and runners (and at times, their four-legged companions) around its scenic fitness track. The town offers Boot Camps and classes ranging from aerobics to yoga.

If you get your exercise on the water by surfing, water skiing, wake-boarding, wind-sailing, kayaking, swimming or diving, the blue water and insulating sand dunes will lure you into the salt water in early May and keep you there until you put on your wet suit around mid-to-late October.

The Wrightsville Beach Chamber of Commerce lists many of the resources (ocean-side hotels, shopping, equipment rentals, and restaurants) that are available on the island so you will not even have to cross the bridge again unless you chose to do so. Many of the residents will tell you that the natural beauty and serenity that comes with seaside living makes much of the outside world feel insignificant.

You definitely will want to consider Wrightsville Beach for your next permanent home or vacation home by the sea. An infinite vacation will sum up your life if you chose to live in this community. visitwrightsville.com

So…are you looking to invest in rental property or would you like your very own private waterfront home with dock and boat slip? The choices await you, and Angie Pool & Associates are experts in coastal and waterfront real estate in Wrightsville Beach and Wilmington’s surrounding beach towns.

ADJACENT BEACH TOWNS

Figure Eight Island

Ever wanted to live on a private island with 24/7 security? Does your dream island include a yacht club with swimming, gourmet dining, and full-service marina and tennis courts? Does it have miles of unspoiled beaches and a sound where you can watch a family of dolphins swim by your private dock? If "yes" was your answer to these questions, then you should invest your real estate dollars in property at Figure Eight Island. Access to the island is miles off the highway though there are ample sources for groceries, restaurants, boutiques, and personal care facilities like spas and drug stores before you drive away from civilization and head towards the island.

Though golfing is not offered directly on the island, two nearby private courses are less than 5 miles away. If you feel like the rest of the world is another universe away when you visit, just look to your south to find the north end of Wrightsville Beach only a stone’s throw away… by way of the seagull or osprey that fly between the islands.

If you would like to explore some of the properties available on Figure Eight Island, please let us know. We will present you several opportunities currently on the market and make arrangements for you to tour these fine homes.

Pleasure Island

Pleasure Island, located just south of Wilmington over Snow’s Cut Bridge, incorporates the beaches of Carolina, Kure and Ft Fisher pleasureislandnc.org. Like its neighbor Wrightsville Beach, these small beach towns cater to everyone from singles to families and business owners to the retired. Real estate opportunities on every level can be uncovered on Pleasure Island.

The Town of Carolina Beach with its vintage-style boardwalk with shops and amusements has entertained families for decades during the summer season.

A short trip down the road will bring you to Fort Fisher, where you can walk the remains of one of the biggest battles of The Civil War. A mere 2-3 miles down this breath-taking road, The NC Aquarium at Ft. Fisher (http://www.ncaquariums.com/fort-fisher) waits to wow you with the wonderment of their rare albino alligator. Be sure to catch the divers feed the sharks at feeding time in the 235,000 gallon salt-water exhibit, and touch the hammerhead crabs in the touch tank.

When you leave the aquarium, you can either turn right and go back through Pleasure Island or take the ferry to the Town of Southport… which by the way, is on the other side of Leland, one of the areas close to Downtown Wilmington. If you chose to go that way, you will have made a complete circle on this tour! Either way, you are sure to find something to pleasure you on Pleasure Island, whether it is an oceanfront view over the rocks on the shoreline or

YOUR TOUR IS OVER!

Your tour from the river to the sea (and a few points "hither and yon") has ended. We hope that it provided you with a clear overview of the three basic areas which you will want to consider when shopping for coastal real estate in the Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach area of North Carolina.

Perhaps you already know exactly where you would like to start looking for a home or property after this brief journey. If so, give us a call and we will talk about your personal needs in a home so we can get you well on your way to coastal living either on or nearby the enticing waterways of Wilmington.

We look forward to working with you.

Call us today:
Angie Pool & Associates Real Estate: (910)233-1009