The Beautiful Alabama Coast

Alabama's coast has long been a little-known gem favored by those who love places off the beaten track. Traditionally a special getaway for those in New Orleans and Mobile, over the last dozen years Alabama's Emerald Coast has been discovered by people in Atlanta, Nashville, and the cities of the mid-West. Many have discovered that the Alabama beaches not only provides the beauty of Florida without the congestion, but also saves a day's drive compared to better known coastal cities of the Florida peninsula.

Sugar white sand extends from Florida westward into Alabama. Further west, the coast of Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas do not have the fine, pretty sand and blue-green water unique to the Florida and Alabama coast. The difference is so dramatic that many people from Houston make the day's drive to Alabama rather than the short commute to the beaches near their homes. For an ever growing number of people, a visit here is a step back, to a time and place where "a trip to the beach" meant staying in an old beach house nestled in the dunes.

A Last Bastion of Coastal Beauty

Now, it's rapidly changing. Development is transforming Alabama's 30-miles of coastline into something much like Florida's. Already, the Alabama coastal cities of Orange Beach and Gulf Shores have ceased being sleepy seaside towns. In both cities, beach houses have been torn down and replaced with rows of massive condominiums that wall off views of the sea.

There is only a single stretch where the pace of yesterday remains intact. The Fort Morgan peninsula, which separates the Gulf of Mexico from Mobile Bay, extends westward from Gulf Shores to Fort Morgan, a historic Civil War-era site at the mouth of Mobile Bay. Along the peninsula, a mere ten miles of gorgeous beach is still peppered with traditional beach houses. But even here, the condominiums are coming. Already, three massive towers dot the skyline, and more are planned. Still, the Fort Morgan peninsula is a special find for visitors who prefer the languid pace of "a house at the beach" to the crowded concrete confines of large condominiums.

Along the beaches of the Fort Morgan peninsula, there is one special oasis that will never be developed. Directly on the Gulf of Mexico, the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge preserves several miles of virgin beachfront. Thanks to the foresight of a former Congressman who spurred its creation, this National Wildlife Refuge guarantees that a significant stretch of the beautiful Alabama coastline will be protected from development forever.

A Rare and Special Place

We were fortunate to discover this oasis years ago. Beginning in the early 1990's, we assembled a compound of three residential properties adjacent to the Congressional boundary of this permanently protected natural habitat. Some say we were smart; we think we were just lucky. We are now in our mid-50's and are looking ahead to retirement.

Our three properties constitute the rarest of beachfront finds: a residential beachfront compound adjacent to permanently protected natural habitat. These properties provide all the benefits of the Alabama coastline: sugar white beaches, gorgeous water, and views of both sunrises and sunsets that occur over the water most of the year. In addition, two of the three properties feature unique one-of-a-kind custom beach houses, specially designed for beach living. Most importantly, these properties provide something that is truly special and rare: direct access to, and permanently unobstructed views of, miles of virgin beach and sand dunes that will never be developed.

The Beach Compound consists of three properties. From each one, both sunrise and sunset unfold over the sea. To the east is the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge with sand dunes and live oak stretching as far as the eye can see. To the west is an enclave of vacation cottages. The view extends ten miles in each direction, from the nighttime glow of Gulf Shores to Fort Morgan at the end of the peninsula.