brierwood estates history
On October 10th, 1967, the property Brierwood Estates stands on was purchased by Bennie Brooks Ward and Jamie B. Ward from Cape Fear Wood Corporation and Waccamaw Lumber Corporation. Bennie Brooks Ward, called Ben by his friends and family, was a physician who served the Shallotte area for over 40 years as a General Practitioner. Dr. Ward had a vision for a local golf course and despite efforts to gain investment partners with the Town and other individuals entered the course development phase as the sole developer. Dr. Ward and his friend Dr. John Madison created all the course architecture and design.
On January 22nd, 1969, Bennie and Jamie sold their interest in the property to Brierwood Golf Club, Inc. (At that time owned by Dr. Ward and Jamie Ward) in preparation to open their first nine holes. Somewhere around this time Dr. John Madison and Willie Ward (Dr. Ward’s brother) became partners in Brierwood Golf Club, Inc. to assist in planning and construction. Eventually, after buying out his partners, Dr. Ward became sole owner of Brierwood Golf Club, Inc.
On January 26th, 1969, Restrictive Covenants were legally filed and attached to all property described in The Declaration of Restrictions. These are the Restrictive Covenants that control Brierwood Estates to this day.
The first section of lots surveyed and mapped as residential lots in Brierwood Estates were actually on Queen’s Grant Circle. The map detailing the residential lots was recorded on May 1st, 1969 and on the map the Queen’s Grant area was referred to as Section 2 of Brierwood Golf Club Estates. While the original intent of Dr. Ward was solely the development of the golf course, the sales of residential lots in the Queens Grant area provided much needed funds to complete the first nine holes by the end of 1969.
On June 15th, 1972 a map was recorded which detailed the residential lots on Brierwood Road from the front entrance to the clubhouse. These lots were referred to as Section 1 of Brierwood Golf Club Estates. (Note: this map was recorded over 3 years after the recording of the Section 2 map.)
Finally, on October 15th, 1973 a series of 9 maps were recorded detailing the residential lots for the rest of Brierwood Estates and construction of the final nine holes begins. Those nine holes were completed during or around 1975 and became the front nine, moving the previous nine holes to the back nine.
In the 1980’s Dr. Ward partnered with Larry Shreve to further develop the real estate around the golf course. This started the construction of a large number of homes in Brierwood Estates with rapid development lasting for a number of years.
On July 17th 2014 the Brierwood Golf Course, Club House and assorted residential lots were sold to Blum Investment Group Golf LLC.
On June 1st, 2017 Brierwood Golf Course closes.
On September 15th, 2017 the Brierwood Association was formed for the purpose of keeping the community informed of important news and information pertaining to the community. Its Community Beautification Group maintained the front entrance area as a community improvement, its Safety and Security Group did citizen patrols of Brierwood Estates, and its Community Activities Group planned and organized community group activities. The Association disbanded in 2024; Brierwood.info continues independently.
On October 24th, 2017 The Town of Shallotte issued a Proclamation honoring the 50th Anniversary of the beginnings of Brierwood Estates at a Community Meeting planned by the Association Community Activities Group.
Today, counting homes under construction there are 370+ homes in Brierwood Estates with approximately 50 unimproved lots.