The Cliffs at Keowee Springs
Tracing the path of places Josh and Heather Dessalines have lived— Massachusetts, Maryland, Wisconsin, California—is like trying to untangle a yellow jessamine, the official flower of their newest home state. The former marine and retired nurse are relatively new to The Landing at Keowee Springs. They sat down to share their excitement as move-in day approaches.
How’s the build going at The Landing?
Josh: Really well. Our builder, Alair Homes, thinks it will be done by December. We’ve had a great relationship with both the builder and architect. The house is designed to live like a nice one-bedroom, but it can expand to four when the kids are here. It has great space and big windows that look out at the lake and the land.
Heather: The house is very modern. We’ve renovated multiple houses in our lifetime but never built from the ground up, so this has been a crazy, fun experience. I’ve loved picking out the interiors.
Is this a huge change from your previous home?
Josh: Yes! We’re coming from Orange County, California. The yard there is so tiny, it really doesn’t count, so this is amazing. There you can touch your neighbor’s house. Here, you can see your neighbors, but you don’t have to live on top of them.
Heather: We bought two lots, so we’re on 4 acres of land. Our property is kind of famous for its nesting bald eagles.
What?!
Josh: It was crazy! The first time we met the builder and architect on the land, this gentleman walked by with his labradors and said, ‘Hey, your bald eagles are here.’ My builder’s eyes got real big, and he said, ‘That might be a problem.’ But we started the federal permitting process to build around them, and it wasn’t that bad.
Heather: Their nest is about 6 feet wide and on top of a pine tree. Thankfully, it’s on the edge of our property. You can’t disturb anything within a 42-foot perimeter of their nest. They return to the nest in the fall. Last year, they had two babies. Neighbors have been sending us pictures.
That is very cool. And with your family’s military background,that must feel much more meaningful.
Josh: Yes, our son is heading into his final year at West Point and plans to go to flight school. Our daughter is a graduate of the Naval Academy and stationed in Norfolk, Virginia. She works in cyber warfare. It didn’t make sense for us to stay in California. We’re closer to them here.
Heather: They would come back to visit California, but there’s so much more to do here, to draw them to come visit. This is a really cool place. We really enjoy the outdoors and spend hours outside every day.
It seems like Orange County would be perfect for that.
Josh: Everything is centered around the beach. You’re walking on the beach, lunching on the beach, wading in waist-deep water at the beach. But you get trapped in a relatively small space. This feels like Disneyland, there’s so much to explore and do, from Asheville to Atlanta.
Heather: The ocean isn’t a great place to water ski or wake surf. Here, we have two boats: a Sea-Doo pontoon boat—we call it the dog boat because the dogs love it—and we also purchased an MB Sports wake boat, to surf behind. We both also play golf, tennis, and pickleball.
Is this retirement for you?
Heather: When we moved east, I left behind my labor and delivery career after 20 years. So I retired. After helping deliver hundreds of babies, and 10 by myself, before the doctor got there, I’m now going to work on my golf handicap.
Josh: I work in the executive protection space and can work remotely from anywhere with internet access. I am hoping to scale back.
How did you find The Cliffs?
Josh: Once we knew we wanted to move east of the Mississippi, we Googled golf, lake, hiking, dogs, and paddle sports and got a bunch of listings. We then used Google Earth to zoom in and find this property. We learned a lot about the houses under construction and Lake Keowee. Golf was a central point.
Do you have a favorite course?
Josh: We’ve only played the three courses in The Lake Region. We like The Cliffs at Keowee Falls course the best so far. It’s open, yet challenging. The topography is interesting, and the greens are a bit more challenging.
Heather: We also love the practice facility at Keowee Springs. I just got fitted for new clubs
Sounds like you’re certainly set for this next chapter.
Heather: We’ve already had a ton of visitors because everyone wants to come to the lake. We’ve been teaching them about floating—it is a thing in South Carolina!
Josh: We also like to hike. There’s just so much to do here. If there were an eighth day and 25 hours in a day, that would make everything a lot easier. It’s been great.
This story was featured in Cliffs Living magazine. To see more stories like this one and learn more about The Cliffs, subscribe here.
