Ricefields sits beside the Waccamaw River in Pawleys Island, off Kings River Road on the Waccamaw Neck, tucked between Litchfield and the Waccamaw Neck’s golf corridor — on land that was once part of the working rice plantations the neighborhood is named for. About 250 single-family homes — no condos, no townhomes, no attached product anywhere in the community — sit under moss-draped oaks on wide, sidewalked streets full of cul-de-sacs. There’s a community pool, a grass riverwalk down to the water, and a calendar of neighborhood events that people actually show up for.
Here’s how we describe it when someone asks: Ricefields is a regular neighborhood, in the very best sense of that word. It’s the neighborhood you picture in your head. You know the people on your street. You can borrow a cup of sugar. You can knock on a door when the blower won’t crank, and someone will come look at it with you. And when your irrigation system acts up, there’s a guy — the neighborhood’s own irrigation expert. He isn’t on Google. You have to live here to know him.
That sounds simple. It has gotten rare — and on a stretch of coast full of resort communities and rental streets, it’s the whole reason people stay here once they land.
What Ricefields isn’t is a resort. No gate house, no clubhouse restaurant, no golf course inside the property line. Ricefields is organized around amenities and a calendar rather than a gate and a guardhouse. What you get instead is a real, established neighborhood minutes from the beach, with dues that stay reasonable because they aren’t paying to run a resort.
Ricefields is off Kings River Road on the Waccamaw Neck, northwest of Pawleys Island proper and just south of Litchfield. Public beach access is a few minutes by car. Grocery stores, restaurants, medical offices, and the Waccamaw Library are all within a short drive. Murrells Inlet and Georgetown are each about twenty minutes in opposite directions.
Getting there
Location is the one thing about a home you can’t renovate. Here, it’s already done.
Single-family only — every home in Ricefields is detached, on its own lot. And for the most part, these are custom homes. There was no small menu of builder floor plans repeating down the street here, which is why you’ll walk two houses in a row and find completely different layouts, ceiling heights, and levels of finish.
One- and two-story, generally from around 1,400 heated square feet up past 5,000, with three to five bedrooms the common range. Most were built from the late 1980s through the 2000s, and a good number have been thoroughly updated since.
The lots vary as much as the houses do
This is worth understanding before you start touring. Some lots are heavily treed. Some sit on a pond. Some look out over the old ricefields and the river and Waterway beyond — those are largely in the Mill Creek section. A stretch of homes along one edge of the community backs up to Caledonia, and those aren’t all in Mill Creek. And plenty of lots simply back up to a neighbor, which is what a lot of buyers actually want.
Two homes at the same price here can offer completely different settings. If a particular view or a particular kind of privacy is what you’re after, tell us — it narrows the search fast.
What the dues cover
The community pool, the riverwalk and common areas, pond maintenance, road maintenance, streetlights, and both cable television and internet service — plus the neighborhood’s events. That last one surprises people. Cable and internet are a monthly bill most buyers are already paying separately somewhere else.
Dues are $161 a month. We’ll confirm the current figure, along with any special assessments in place, before you write an offer.
What’s elected separately
Trash and recycling are handled separately, as optional services you elect through the POA rather than something bundled into the dues. BFS trash service runs $198 a year and BFS recycle service $192 a year, and owners can sign up for one, both, or neither.
For what’s included, it’s one of the best values around. We’ll walk you through the current dues, the optional services, and exactly what they cover before you write an offer.
The riverwalk
It’s the pride of the neighborhood — a natural, grass-covered walkway leading down to the banks of the Waccamaw, with a small boat and kayak launch at the end of it. People walk it in the evening, take photos, watch the birds, and get on the water at high tide.
And then there are the sunsets. The riverwalk faces west over the Waterway, and what happens out there most evenings is the single most spectacular thing about living in Ricefields. Ask anyone who lives here. It’s a five-minute walk from most of the neighborhood, and it costs nothing but the dues you’re already paying.
What it’s actually like to live here
Quiet streets, sidewalks, cornhole at the pool, a Little Free Library in the swim club lot, and ladies’ water aerobics through the summer. Golf carts are a common way to get around inside the neighborhood — South Carolina requires a licensed driver and a registered, insured cart.
The calendar fills itself in. There’s the Fourth of July golf cart parade, the back-to-school ice cream social, the neighborhood pizza party, the annual yard sale, and a monthly ladies’ luncheon that rotates through local restaurants.
Then there’s the part no one puts on a calendar: on Friday evenings in season, people turn up at the pool. Nobody organizes it and nobody sends an invitation. It happens because neighbors here know each other well enough that showing up is enough. That’s harder to build than a pool is, and it’s the thing you can’t tell from a listing photo.
Halloween
Ricefields owners call this THE Halloween neighborhood, and we say it as a badge of honor.
Trick-or-treaters come from all over Pawleys Island to walk these streets, and we’re proud to host them. Through traffic is limited for the night, and the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Department sends extra support to keep cars and crossings under control. What’s happening on the sidewalks is only half of it — there are street parties, cul-de-sac gatherings, driveways set up with chairs and coolers. It’s every bit as much fun for the grown-ups as it is for the kids.
If you buy here, consider this fair warning: get more candy than you think you need. There’s a house on Mariah’s street that has always handed out full-sized bars and always will — it’s become the unofficial headcount for the whole night. Roughly 500 of them go out the door in an evening.
Golf
Ricefields residents have access to reduced rates at Caledonia Golf & Fish Club and True Blue, with tee times available 24 hours in advance — an arrangement most people in the area would take in a heartbeat. Neither course is inside the neighborhood, which is exactly why the dues stay where they do. Call the golf shop for current details on the privilege.
Ricefields is in the Georgetown County School District, zoned for the Waccamaw schools: Waccamaw Elementary (PK–3), Waccamaw Intermediate (4–6), Waccamaw Middle (7–8), and Waccamaw High (9–12).
All four are within a few minutes of the neighborhood. Attendance zones are set by the district and can change — verify current assignment with the district before you buy.
Beyond the dues, the number most buyers want early is the tax bill — and the figure shown on a listing is almost never the figure a buyer will pay.
Assessment ratio. South Carolina assesses owner-occupied primary residences at 4% and second homes, rental, and investment property at 6%. A tax figure quoted from public record reflects how the current owner uses the property, not how you will. A buyer’s actual bill can differ substantially, and the property is reassessed on transfer.
Homestead Exemption. The South Carolina Homestead Exemption exempts the first $50,000 of fair market value and is available only to homeowners age 65 or older, or who are totally and permanently disabled or legally blind. If the current owner receives it and a buyer doesn’t qualify, that exemption does not carry forward.
Special assessments. We confirm whether any are in place on the specific home before an offer is written.
We’re glad to walk through what the number would likely look like for your situation on any home you’re considering.
Can I rent the house out?
Long-term rentals are permitted here, which is not true of every Pawleys Island community and matters if you’re buying now to live in later. Short-term and vacation rental rules are a different question and are governed by the covenants. Ask us for the current restrictions in writing before you make a decision that depends on them.
Is it in a flood zone? What will insurance run?
It depends on the specific lot — flood zone designations vary within the neighborhood, and so do premiums. Designation is confirmed by address rather than by neighborhood. We look this up address by address for the homes our buyers are considering, so you’re not guessing and you’re not waiting until you’re under contract to find out. Tell us which house you’re interested in and we’ll pull the current designation for you.
Is Ricefields gated? No. There is no gate house, no clubhouse restaurant, and no golf course inside the property line.
Are there condos or townhomes? No. Every home in Ricefields is a detached single-family home on its own lot.
How far is the beach? Public beach access on Pawleys Island is approximately 2 miles.
Do the dues cover cable and internet? Yes — both, along with the pool, riverwalk, common areas, ponds, roads, and streetlights.
Is trash included? No. Trash and recycling are optional services elected separately through the POA.
Can I use a golf cart? Yes, and many people do. South Carolina requires a licensed driver and a registered, insured cart.
Is there water access? Yes — the riverwalk runs down to the Waccamaw River with a small boat and kayak launch at the end.
Do residents get golf privileges? Reduced rates at Caledonia Golf & Fish Club and True Blue, with tee times available 24 hours in advance.
Ricefields runs tight. It is a small neighborhood of about 250 homes, people tend to stay once they land here, and in a typical year only a handful change hands. It is not unusual for there to be nothing at all available at a given moment. If you’ve decided on this neighborhood, the strategy isn’t browsing listings — it’s being ready, and being first to know.
So you get in early. We live here, we sell here, and we usually know a home is coming before it has a sign in the yard. Tell us what you’re looking for — square footage, one-level or two, marsh view or fairway, a number that works — and we’ll watch for it and call you the day it moves.
Ask us for the current Ricefields market snapshot: what’s active, what’s under contract, what has sold this year, and what those homes actually sold for. We keep it current, and we’ll send it the day you ask.
We do not sell Ricefields from the outside. Hampton bought his first home here. Mariah has owned two. Between us we know how the sections differ, which lots back to the old ricefields and which back to a neighbor, what the property owners association actually maintains, and what the dues have done over time. When we tell you what living in Ricefields is like, we’re describing our own street.
This is where we chose to put down our own roots, and we’d tell you if it weren’t worth it.
Call or text anytime. We’re just down the road.
Mariah Johnson and Hampton Roberts are the mother-son team behind Coastal Real Estate Legacy, and The Reserve has long been one of the brand's core areas of specialty. Clients get the depth of a multi-generational local career paired with the reach of a fully modern marketing approach — plus the personal attention of a small, intentional team rather than a large production roster. From the first conversation to well after closing, every detail is handled. Coastal Real Estate Legacy tracks every listing, sale, and market shift in The Reserve closely — from Preservation Point to Huntington Lake Villas.
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Mariah and her team are absolutely awesome!!! They are extremely detailed oriented and always on top of the next steps in the selling process. She and her team gave me such peace of mind, I highly recommend her if you are looki...
We can’t thank you enough for all the time and effort you put into selling our house in Willbrook, and helping us find and purchase our new home in The Reserve. Your advice with all of the decision we had to make throughout thi...
Mariah and Hampton heard of a pocket listing that fit exactly what we were looking for, and got us in to see the house before it ever hit the market... they sold ours within hours at a top of the market price. From then on, the...
We have been involved in many real estate transactions (14) over the past 40 years and I would rate our positive experience with Mariah at the top. She is current on what is happening in the local market, which is an asset for ...
We were out of town for medical reasons and they helped us through the whole process. Mariah stepped in and took care of some problems I was having with my attorney's office for closing. I would definitely recommend Mariah as a...
She is extremely knowledgeable and just a pleasure to work with. She more than exceeded our expectations at every turn and, in the end, made the whole process truly seamless.
They were with us every step of the way, providing information and knowledge we needed. They are professional, but absolutely feel like family at the same time. We have and will continue to refer them to anyone interested in bu...
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