Old Village

DiscoverOld Village Homes for Sale

All Listings	$1,000,000 - $2,000,000	$2,000,000 - $3,000,000
$3,000,000 - $5,000,000	Over $5,000,000

A Walkable Historic Waterfront Neighborhood

Old Village was assembled from five English settlements that grew up along Shem Creek and the harbor: Greenwich Village, established 1766; the Hibben Ferry Tract, 1770; Mount Pleasant Plantation, 1808; Hilliardsville, 1847; and Lucasville, 1853. In 1837, Mount Pleasant and Greenwich merged into a single town, and by 1872 the remaining settlements had been incorporated together as the Town of Mount Pleasant. Because it accumulated rather than was designed, Old Village still reads as a collection of micro-neighborhoods rather than one planned district.

The district's oldest home, the Hibben House, was built in 1755 and served as British headquarters during the Revolutionary War, where General William Moultrie was held. It still stands.

Today the streets are narrow, tree-lined and shaded by mature live oaks, and the walkability is genuinely rare in a Mount Pleasant that has grown outward for forty years. Children walk and bike to school. Neighbors walk to Pitt Street for coffee. A round-trip walk takes you from the Shem Creek restaurants through the historic district out to the marsh's edge.

The Old Village Historic District Commission

This is the most important thing for a prospective buyer to understand, and it is often missed: Old Village has no homeowners association, but it does have a design review body with more authority than most HOAs.

The Old Village Historic District Commission, established in 1979, is a five-member volunteer commission with jurisdiction over exterior changes to buildings and property within the historic district. That includes demolition, new construction, renovations and alterations — anything visible from the exterior — along with paint colors, fencing, landscaping modifications and outbuildings.

Work requires a Certificate of Appropriateness before a building permit can be issued. A deferral means revising and returning, typically adding a month or two to a timeline, and denials can be appealed but are expensive and slow. Recent commission attention has focused on massing and scale — particularly new construction that maximizes lot coverage at the expense of streetscape harmony.

For a buyer planning to renovate, add on, or tear down and rebuild, this process is the central variable in the transaction. It is worth reviewing the commission's guidelines and recent meeting minutes before making an offer, not after.

Landmarks and Daily Life

Old Village is anchored by a small commercial strip along Pitt Street.

Pitt Street Pharmacy is the neighborhood's institution — an original soda fountain pharmacy, one of the few left in the country, still serving milkshakes, root beer floats and grilled cheese alongside compounding prescriptions.

The Old Village Post House operates a tavern and restaurant with seven guest rooms above it, in an 1896 building that has been a Pitt Street fixture for generations.

Out of Hand is a lifestyle boutique known across the Charleston region for clothing, florals, beauty and home goods. Newer additions including a wine shop and additional dining have filled in around them in recent years.

Alhambra Hall is the district's waterfront centerpiece — a town-owned event venue on Middle Street with sweeping Charleston Harbor views. The present building was constructed in 1937 using timber salvaged from the abandoned Hog Island Ferry building, on the site of an 1847 dance hall and picnic ground. It reopened on August 27, 2025 following a $4.8 million renovation that delivered a new roof and siding, energy-efficient windows, refinished interiors, a large outdoor patio, new sidewalks, and landscaping with a wetland buffer protecting the harbor.

The adjacent playground was rebuilt from the ground up as a nationally recognized inclusive playground, with a smooth pour-in surface for mobility devices and ramps and handrails at varying heights. The hall hosts more than 160 events a year, and the grounds and Grand Lawn remain open to the public even when a private event is booked inside.

Pickett Bridge Recreation Area, at the end of Pitt Street and known to everyone locally as the Pitt Street Bridge, sits on the alignment of the old bridge to Sullivan's Island and extends across the marsh. It is one of the area's most beloved spots for fishing, walking and watching the sun go down.

The district also includes public tennis courts at Ferry Street and Royall Avenue, basketball courts on Royall Avenue, and more than two dozen historical markers commemorating everything from a War of 1812 encampment to a Revolutionary War battery at Haddrell's Point once visited by George Washington.

Home Types and Architecture

Old Village's inventory is the most varied in the region. Preserved eighteenth- and nineteenth-century homes sit alongside expanded 1920s–1940s cottages, mid-century Lowcountry residences, and recent custom builds by architects including Phil Clark and Tyler A. Smyth. Because nothing here was master-planned and no original review board curated the aesthetic, the streetscape changes block to block.

Many homes back to Shem Creek, the marsh, or Charleston Harbor, with deep-water lots concentrated along Haddrell's Point, Live Oak Drive, Haddrell Street, Pitt Street and McCants Drive. Deep water at all tides is a meaningful distinction here and worth confirming property by property.

Old Village is not gated and has no homeowners association or mandatory dues — but as noted above, exterior work falls under the historic district commission's review.

Schools Near Old Village

Public Schools

Old Village is served by the Charleston County School District, within Moultrie Constituent District 2. Homes in the district are currently assigned to:

Mount Pleasant Academy at 605 Center Street, located inside Old Village and walkable from most homes. The South Carolina General Assembly incorporated Mount Pleasant Academy in 1809 to educate the children of Christ Church Parish, making it the oldest public elementary school in the state. Classes were held in private homes, the village church and the courthouse in its earliest years; the present building on Center Street was completed in the 1960s. The school has been designated a U.S. Department of Education National Blue Ribbon School.

Moultrie Middle School at 645 Coleman Boulevard, also within walking distance of much of the neighborhood. The current campus opened in 2009 and was built with extensive natural light, outdoor classrooms and a media center overlooking the site.

Lucy G. Beckham High School at 1560 Mathis Ferry Road, which opened in fall 2020 on the site of the former Wando High School campus and serves the 29464 attendance zone covering south Mount Pleasant.

Attendance boundaries in Mount Pleasant have been actively revised as new schools have opened, and assignment is determined by the district rather than the neighborhood. Confirm current assignment for a specific address directly with Charleston County School District before making a purchase decision.

Private and Parochial Schools

East Cooper has a deep independent school presence, and one of the closest options is inside Old Village itself.

Coastal Christian Preparatory School — 681 McCants Drive, within Old Village. Affiliated with First Baptist Church, serving 2K through grade 12, and the only private school physically located in the neighborhood.

Christ Our King-Stella Maris School — 1183 Russell Drive in Mount Pleasant, minutes from Old Village. A Roman Catholic parochial school founded in 1950 and named for its two original contributing parishes, Christ Our King in Mount Pleasant and Stella Maris on Sullivan's Island. Serving K4 through grade 8, it is the largest Catholic elementary and middle school in the Diocese of Charleston and is accredited by SACS.

Palmetto Christian Academy — Mount Pleasant, a covenant Christian college-preparatory school serving preschool through grade 12.

University School of the Lowcountry — 690 Coleman Boulevard, a small independent school serving grades 3 through 12 with notably small class sizes.

Bishop England High School — Daniel Island, grades 9 through 12, within the Diocese of Charleston and the traditional continuation for Christ Our King-Stella Maris graduates.

Charleston Day School — 15 Archdale Street in downtown Charleston, serving grades 1 through 8, roughly fifteen minutes across the Ravenel Bridge.

Admissions timelines generally run a year ahead of enrollment. Confirm current grade offerings and availability directly with each school.

Location and Nearby

Old Village sits at the southern tip of Mount Pleasant along Charleston Harbor, with Shem Creek forming its northern edge. Downtown Charleston is approximately 10 to 15 minutes away via the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge. Sullivan's Island and Isle of Palms are roughly 10 to 15 minutes east, and Charleston International Airport is approximately 25 minutes by car.

The dining and nightlife of Coleman Boulevard and the waterfront restaurants along Shem Creek are minutes from most Old Village addresses — close enough to walk from the northern end of the district, which is part of why the Shem Creek edge trades the way it does.

Old Village FAQs

Is Old Village a gated community with an HOA?

No. Old Village is a public historic district within the Town of Mount Pleasant. It is not gated, has no homeowners association and no mandatory dues, and its parks and amenities — Alhambra Hall, the Pickett Bridge Recreation Area, public tennis and basketball courts — are open to the public. However, exterior changes to any property in the district fall under the jurisdiction of the Old Village Historic District Commission, which requires a Certificate of Appropriateness before a building permit is issued. Buyers planning renovations should review that process carefully.

What types of homes are available in Old Village?

Old Village has one of the most architecturally varied housing stocks in the Charleston region — preserved eighteenth- and nineteenth-century homes including the 1755 Hibben House, expanded 1920s–1940s cottages, mid-century Lowcountry residences, and recent custom builds by prominent regional architects. Many homes back to Shem Creek, the marsh or Charleston Harbor, with deep-water lots concentrated along Haddrell's Point, Haddrell Street, Live Oak Drive, Pitt Street and McCants Drive.

What is Alhambra Hall?

Alhambra Hall is a town-owned waterfront event venue on Middle Street in Old Village, built in 1937 on the site of an 1847 dance hall. It reopened in August 2025 after a $4.8 million renovation and hosts more than 160 events a year. The surrounding grounds, Grand Lawn and inclusive playground are free and open to the public year-round.

How far is Old Village from downtown Charleston?

Approximately 10 to 15 minutes via the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge. Sullivan's Island and Isle of Palms are about 10 to 15 minutes east, Charleston International Airport is roughly 25 minutes, and the restaurants of Shem Creek and Coleman Boulevard are minutes away.

Request More Information