The Ultimate Guide to 55+ Communities Around Charleston & Summerville

55+ Communities in Charleston, SC: 14 Age-Restricted Neighborhoods to Compare

We compare 13 age-restricted neighborhoods around Charleston for residents 55+, including 9 in the Summerville area. If you are shopping 55+ communities in Charleston, SC, the usual trade-off is a longer drive downtown for a newer single-story home and a clubhouse calendar. Nine of the fourteen are 25 to 31 road miles from downtown, while the Mount Pleasant and Johns Island options are closer in, but much smaller. The table below lines them up so you can narrow the list based on your preferences.

This guide covers age-restricted 55+ neighborhoods in Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties. Prices and amenity status come from builder websites checked on October 8, 2026 and our personal experience working in these communities. Home counts and build years come from builder and community profiles. We calculated road miles using OpenStreetMap routing from each community's address, without traffic.

Charleston 55+ Communities at a Glance

The table holds the shared facts. The profiles further down explain what those facts mean for a buyer.

10 of the 14 are in Berkeley or Dorchester County, not Charleston County. Builder starting prices are base prices for the lowest plan or listed home and leave out lot premiums and options.

How to Choose a 55+ Community Near Charleston

Start with the one or two things you will not give up, then use these groupings to cut the field.

• Builder starting prices under $300,000 in October 2026: Hammock Walk at Nexton and Horizons at Carnes Crossroads.
• A finished clubhouse with an indoor pool today: Del Webb at Cane Bay, Del Webb Charleston at Nexton and Four Seasons at Lakes of Cane Bay.
• Exterior care listed in the dues: The Elms, Liberty Cottages, and the Carriage homes at Horizons at Carnes Crossroads.
• Waterfront setting: Four Seasons, which K. Hovnanian markets as a gated waterfront community.
• Mount Pleasant addresses: Encore at Restore at Carolina Park and Liberty Cottages at Park West.
• Shortest drive downtown in this guide: Enclave Park on Johns Island, with seven homes.
• Near the airport and a hospital: The Elms, about 12 road miles from CHS and about a mile from Trident Medical Center.

We suggest touring communities in pairs that sit close together. Del Webb at Cane Bay and Four Seasons are about a mile apart inside Cane Bay Plantation, and one has resales only while the other still sells new. Cresswind and Carillon are both off Hundred Oaks Parkway in The Ponds, which lets you compare a 650-home community with its own club against a 56-home neighborhood with no private clubhouse listed.

Large 55+ Communities in Summerville and Cainhoy

These eight communities hold most of the homes in this guide. Each has a builder selling now or a resale base large enough that listings come up throughout the year.

Del Webb at Cane Bay

Del Webb at Cane Bay is the original Del Webb in the Charleston area, inside Cane Bay Plantation in Berkeley County. Del Webb built about 1,017 detached homes here from 2007 to 2017, from about 1,100 to 3,400 square feet. The Resort clubhouse is about 20,000 square feet, with indoor and outdoor pools and an activities director. This is the area's premier 55+ community.

Our team sees it as the most affordable way to enter a Del Webb community near Charleston. Compare current resale prices here with the $379,990 base at Nexton before you decide. The tradeoff is age. A home from 2007 may have its original roof and a second HVAC system, so those two items belong at the top of your inspection list. Del Webb at Cane Bay is separate from the Lakes of Cane Bay section, which has its own lake and amenities.

Del Webb Charleston at Nexton

Del Webb Charleston at Nexton is Del Webb's active Summerville community inside Nexton, the Berkeley County master plan named NAHB's 2021 Master-Planned Community of the Year. Sales started in 2017, with about 1,400 homes planned. Its 11 current plans are single-story, from 1,345 to about 3,728 square feet.

• Operating now: A 25,000-square-foot clubhouse with a heated indoor pool and fitness center, plus pickleball, tennis, and bocce.
• Coming soon: A gymnasium, a covered bar and grill, and six more pickleball courts.

If you fly often, Nexton trims about 3 miles off each airport trip compared with Cane Bay. Del Webb lists current plans and quick move-in homes on its Nexton page.

K. Hovnanian's Four Seasons at Lakes of Cane Bay

Four Seasons is K. Hovnanian's 55+ community in Cane Bay Plantation, marketed as the only age-restricted 55+ new-home community in Cane Bay. It centers on a 300-acre lake system with an 8-mile waterway. The 24,000-square-foot Lake House clubhouse has indoor and outdoor pools, and the builder lists a lifestyle director.

The Villas Collection starts at $374,990, with plans from 1,550 to 1,959 square feet and eight quick move-in villas listed. K. Hovnanian says limited exceptions for residents 50 and older may apply, subject to contract terms. That is the line to read closely if one of you is under 55.

Horizons at Summers Corner

Horizons is Lennar's gated 55+ section of Summers Corner, the Dorchester County master plan that won the Charleston Home Builders Association's PRISM award for Best Masterplan Community in 2023 and 2024. Homes have been built here since 2021. Lennar's Horizons page listed 25 available homes on October 8, 2026, across The Cottages, The Legends, and The Estates, with The Carriages marked as coming soon.

The Horizons Club will feature a 12,800-square-foot outdoor pool, a 2,500-square-foot indoor pool, 8 bocce courts, and 6 pickleball courts. Today's buyer is paying for amenities that aren't open yet, so the opening timeline and dues schedule belong on your document list. Highway 61 gives this side of Summerville a route to West Ashley without I-26. A Publix-anchored shopping center across Beech Hill Road was targeting delivery in the first quarter of 2027.

Horizons at Carnes Crossroads

Horizons at Carnes Crossroads is Lennar's second gated 55+ community within the Carnes Crossroads master plan in Berkeley County, next to Goose Creek. Lennar plans 340 homes, including 48 in the Carriage Collection, from 1,309 to 2,224 square feet. The community plans a private 55+ clubhouse with an indoor lap pool. Until it opens, residents can use the all-ages amenities at Carnes Crossroads.

Roper St. Francis Berkeley Hospital opened inside Carnes Crossroads in October 2019, about a mile from the Lennar sales center. The Carriage homes share a driveway and courtyard but no walls. Lennar includes exterior paint and roof maintenance and replacement in its dues, so a resale buyer's roof budget moves to the association.

Hammock Walk at Nexton

Hammock Walk is Ashton Woods' 55+ villa neighborhood in North Creek Village, on the Highway 176 side of Nexton. Construction began in 2023 on 180 attached villas of about 1,050 to 1,550 square feet. No clubhouse, pool, or gate. Amenities include pickleball courts, a dog park, ponds, and walking trails.

This fits a buyer who wants a 55+ address in Nexton without paying for a resort-style club. Ashton Woods listed prices from $279,990 to $296,990, with up to $10,000 toward closing costs on select homes.

Del Webb Point Hope

Del Webb Point Hope is Del Webb's newest Charleston-area community, inside the Point Hope master plan on the Cainhoy peninsula. The address says Charleston, and the land is inside city limits, but the community is in Berkeley County. Construction started in 2025, with 767 homes planned, and Del Webb does have a gate. Del Webb lists a full-time on-site lifestyle director. The 22,000-square-foot clubhouse with a heated indoor pool and fitness center is listed as coming soon.

Point Hope and Nexton list the same 11 Del Webb plans with matching minimum sizes. In October 2026, each plan started $149,000 to $197,000 higher at Point Hope. For example, the Contour started at $532,990 in Point Hope and $379,990 in Nexton. Those are base prices before lot premiums and options, and Del Webb does not say what drives the price gap. Location is one visible difference, since Point Hope is 5 miles closer to downtown. Amenities are another, because Nexton's clubhouse is open and Point Hope's is not built yet. Current plans are on Del Webb's Point Hope page.

Cresswind Charleston at The Ponds

Cresswind Charleston is Kolter Homes' gated 55+ community inside The Ponds, a Dorchester County master plan. Kolter listed three homes from $499,990 on October 8, 2026, so most sales are now resales among about 650 homes of roughly 1,450 to 2,550 square feet.

The Club at Cresswind is about 12,000 square feet, with an outdoor pool and no indoor pool, making it a smaller club than the Del Webb communities for its smaller resident base. A full-time lifestyle director runs the calendar. Fishing lakes and tennis, pickleball, and bocce courts are inside the gate, and The Ponds trails are just outside it. The Cresswind of Charleston HOA office handles current rules and resale documents.

Smaller and Built-Out 55+ Neighborhoods

These six neighborhoods are smaller, older, or both. Resales come up less often, so it helps to know them before a listing appears.

The Elms of Charleston

The Elms has the oldest homes in this guide. Summerville Homes started it in 1987, and Ryland Homes built it out by 2016. Its 325 homes mix single-family and attached designs around a clubhouse with an outdoor pool and fitness room, tennis courts, and fishing lakes. Community profiles list lawn service, exterior care, and yearly power washing in the dues. With homes approaching 40 years old, the inspection and the age of the roof and HVAC carry the most weight.

The Pines at Gahagan

The Pines sits at 501 Gahagan Road in Summerville, with 109 detached homes built from 2006 to about 2020. Homes run about 1,370 to 2,740 square feet, and some have lofts. The 4,700-square-foot clubhouse has an outdoor pool and fitness room. It is about 4 road miles from Summerville Medical Center, and its 109 homes make it a small gated option on the Dorchester County side of Summerville.

Carillon at The Ponds

Carillon is a 56-home resale neighborhood at 326 Hundred Oaks Parkway, built by D.R. Horton from 2013 to 2015. Residents use The Ponds trails and amenities. Community profiles report that Carillon allows up to 20% of homes to be occupied by non-residents 55 or older and bars full-time residents under 21. Confirm both in the declaration. With only 56 homes, a listing may come up only a few times a year.

Encore at Restore at Carolina Park

Encore is David Weekley Homes' 55+ section of Restore in Mount Pleasant, north of the Isle of Palms Connector. Construction began in 2020 on about 112 single-level homes, ranging from 1,600 to 2,500 square feet, sold in the Classic, Garden, and Tradition series on different lot widths. Residents share the Restore and Carolina Park amenities and have a lifestyle coordinator. Pricing and available homes are on the David Weekley active adult page.

Liberty Cottages at Park West

Liberty Cottages is a gated 43-home section of Park West in Mount Pleasant, built by Simonini Builders since 2008. Current cottage plans run about 2,750 to 3,150 square feet. Owners receive exterior maintenance and yard work. There is no lifestyle director, so the social life centers on the Park West Swim and Tennis Club and the wider neighborhood.

How the 55 and Over Rule Works

The federal Housing for Older Persons exemption lets a community limit occupancy by age. To qualify, at least 80% of occupied homes must have at least one resident who is 55 or older. The community must also publish policies showing it operates as 55+ housing and regularly verify ages.

The rule is about occupants, not owners. A younger heir may inherit or own a home, but the declaration decides whether that person can live in it. The 80% figure is a floor, and each declaration decides how to use the other 20%. That is why Carillon's under-55 allowance and the 50-and-older exceptions K. Hovnanian describes at Four Seasons can differ from community to community.

Documents to Request Before You Commit

The same short document list answers most of the open questions in the profiles above. Get these during your due diligence period, and read the documents themselves rather than a sales summary.

• Recorded declaration and current rules: age rules, the use of the 20% allowance, surviving-spouse and caregiver rules, guest-stay limits for anyone under 19, and rental limits.
• HOA budget and fee schedule: current dues, what they cover, any master-association dues on top, and transfer fees or capital contributions due at closing.
• Resale certificate: on a resale, current dues and special assessments in one document. Request it at the start of the inspection period.
• Amenity status in writing: for anything listed as planned or coming soon, the target date and any dues change tied to the opening.
• Builder broker policy: how the builder handles agent registration before your first visit or first contact.
• Parcel checks: the evacuation zone and FEMA flood zone for the exact address, plus homeowners and flood insurance quotes.

Dues coverage was thinnest here. Community profiles list exterior care at The Elms and Liberty Cottages, and Lennar lists exterior paint and roof work for the Carnes Crossroads Carriage homes. For the rest, the budget is the only reliable answer.

Property Taxes and Retiree Income Tax in South Carolina

You apply for property tax breaks with the county where the home sits, which is why the county column in the first table is useful.

• 4% legal residence ratio: An owner-occupied primary home is assessed at 4% of value instead of 6%, and the legal residence exemption also removes school operating millage. You apply to the county assessor, and they must approve it before granting the homestead exemption. Charleston County posts its assessor application details online.
• Homestead exemption: The standard exemption covers the first $50,000 of fair market value on your legal residence. To qualify, you must hold title or a life estate in the home and, as of December 31 of the prior year, have been a South Carolina legal resident for one full calendar year and be 65 or older, totally and permanently disabled, or legally blind. Turning 65 isn't enough on its own, and a buyer who just moved here waits out the residency year. You apply through the county auditor in Berkeley, Dorchester, or Charleston County.
• Temporary 2026 increase: For tax year 2026 only, the state temporarily authorized an additional homestead amount for certain qualifying recipients, and the county auditor decides whether it applies to your account. The SC Department of Revenue exemptions page describes it. Unless lawmakers extend it, the exemption returns to $50,000 afterward.

Income tax changed in 2026. H. 4216, signed March 30, 2026, sets new rates and a new South Carolina deduction starting with tax year 2026. For 2025 returns, the SC DOR income tax FAQ lists a retirement income deduction of up to $10,000 at age 65 within a combined $15,000 cap per person for the retirement and age-65 deductions, and Social Security benefits are not taxed. Check the current-year rules with your tax preparer before you count on a specific number.

Hurricane Evacuation Zones and Flood Checks

State and local authorities announce hurricane evacuations by predesignated zones, and the zone belongs to the address, not the community name. The 2026 SCEMD zone descriptions name several of these areas.

Cane Bay, Nexton, Carnes Crossroads, and Gahagan are not named in those descriptions. For any home, enter the exact address in Know Your Zone and follow the zone order when one is issued. The evacuation zone is separate from flood insurance, which follows the FEMA flood zone on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center. We suggest getting homeowners and flood insurance quotes during your inspection period, before your due diligence money is at risk.

Hospitals Near Each 55+ Community

The farthest community in this guide from its nearest inpatient hospital is about 10 road miles away.

The MUSC and Roper campuses on the peninsula sit close to the downtown point in the first table, so specialist visits from the Summerville communities are roughly the same 25 to 31 road miles.

Buying New Construction in a 55+ Community

The salespeople in a builder's model home work for the builder. You can still hire your own agent. The builder's broker policy controls whether the builder pays that agent. Lennar's policy, for example, requires you to register your agent at your first contact with Lennar and to bring the agent on your first community visit for a co-op commission to apply, in communities where Lennar offers one. Other builders set their own terms, so read the policy before you call or walk in.

• Planned amenities: Point Hope, Horizons at Carnes Crossroads, and the Horizons Club in Summers Corner all list amenities as planned or coming soon. The document list above covers what to get in writing.
• Try before you buy: The Experience Del Webb program offers day and overnight stays at participating communities.
• Independent inspection: Builder contracts set their own inspection terms. Hire your own inspector before drywall goes up and again before closing.

Buying a Resale Home in an Established 55+ Community

A resale gets you mature landscaping and an established social calendar on day one. The checks differ from new construction.

• Roof and HVAC age: The first Del Webb at Cane Bay homes date to 2007, and the oldest Elms homes date to 1987. Ask whether the roof and systems are original.
• Transferable warranty: On a newer resale, ask whether any builder structural warranty transfers to you.
• Value check: Compare the price per square foot with the nearest builder's current pricing, after setting aside the cost of a roof or HVAC replacement.

Search 55+ Communities Near Charleston With Our Team

Our 55+ communities search pulls active listings across Charleston-area 55+ neighborhoods. On October 8, 2026, it showed 47 homes for sale with a median list price of $479,789, an average of $233 per square foot, and an average of 90 days on site for active listings.

When you are ready to compare 55+ communities in Charleston, SC, in person, call Search Charleston Homes at 843-296-2546. We can plan a day around one of the touring pairs above and register with each builder before you visit, so you can have your own representation at the sales office.