West Oak Forest a wooded community nestled between east-west arteries
BY JIM PARKER
Of The Post and Courier Staff

In 1951, Ashley H. Hyer's grandmother moved into the first home built on curvy Wimbee Drive. It was a concrete block dwelling in the new West Oak Forest neighborhood for which she paid $12,000.

Agnes J. Hyer lived there for 50 years. In the early 1980s, when the once-proud subdivision "got a little shady," she wanted to stay there, Ashley Hyer said.

After her grandmother died in 2001, Hyer moved in. She is currently president of the West Oak Forest Neighborhood Council.

"It's all turned back again," she said adding that properties are selling for double what they did two years ago.

What caused the sudden interest in a sleepy, half-century-old neighborhood sandwiched between Savannah Highway and St. Andrews Boulevard?

Three attributes stand out: diversity, location and price.

Even with rising home values, West Oak Forest remains moderately priced compared with trendy neighborhoodsnearby. The homes range in size from 800 square feet to 2,000 and sell from $90,000 to close to $175,000. Accented by well-groomed front lawns, the yards run from one eighth to three-quarters of an acre.

Another advantage is the subdivision's setting. True to its name, West Oak Forest is buffered from busy U.S. Highway 17 South by a grove of trees, and most streets and yards are dotted with pines, live oaks and palmettos. It is convenient, too. W. Oak Forest Road, which becomes Playground Road at its northern edge, is a connector between Savannah Highway and S.C. Highway 61. There are traffic lights at both ends.

What may stand out the most about West Oak Forest is its racial makeup. In a metro area where most neighborhoods are predominantly white or black, West Oak Forest has a healthy mix today. Blacks and whites have lived side by side at least since the early 1970s.

"It's probably 5-0/50 on my street," said Hyer, who is white. "I have wonderful neighbors."

Eugene Coakley Jr. and his wife of 55 years, Wilhelmena, bought their one-story brick home at Wantoot Boulevard and N. Sherwood Drive in 1973. They raised seven children, several of whom joined the military.

"It is a well-integrated area. We all live together," said Coakley, who is black. His occupation is overseeing the golf carts at Charleston Municipal Golf Course.

"We live in a neighborhood where you keep your yard nice," said Coakley, cutting the grass with his riding mower last week.

Rev. Miriam Frances, pastor at Greater Mount Pisgah church in downtown Charleston, has lived on St. Clair Avenue for 22 years. In 1971, she was paying $60 a month rent and had recently purchased a new dining room suite. Sitting at the table one day, "the spirit came to me. If I can do all that, I can buy a house." She opened the telephone book to Read & Read Real Estate. A day later, she bought a modest-sized concrete block home. "It's always been very quiet," she said.

Jay Wilson, partner with Coldwell Banker Coastal Properties, described West Oak Forest as "up and coming. It's close to downtown (and a good choice) if you don't want a cookie cutter home," he said.

The dwellings offer design opportunities to ambitious buyers. Four years ago, Steve and Mary Brunson bought a home on West Oak Forest Road that was built in 1955. The house, dominated by wall-to-wall shag carpeting, had an outdated look. The Brunsons pulled out the carpet to reveal hardwood floors. The couple and their 2-year-old son Liam are moving east of the Cooper to be closer to Brunson's job as manager of a Mount Pleasant restaurant. Still, Mary Brunson was complimentary of their West Oak Forest home. "I liked it. It's a great starter home, especially the (large) back yard," she said.

Hyer, a showroom counselor at a plumbing fixtures company in North Charleston, said a number of young families are moving into West Oak Forest, which has a bike path and borders city tennis courts, an aquatic center and baseball fields. The neighborhood is adding speed humps on side streets to slow down traffic and plans to install new entry markers.

"We've got a wide diversity of people," said Hyer, who has a 9-year-old stepdaughter. "The homes are well built. This is a nice, old established neighborhood."

To reach West Oak Forest from downtown Charleston, take the Ashley River bridges to Savannah Highway. Turn right at the light on West Oak Forest Road.

Jim Parker covers real estate and automotive news. Contact him at 937-5542 or jparker@postandcourier.com.

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