Jacksonville: Where Florida Begins

Preservationists had wanted to save the circa-1916 course, which was founded by railroad magnate Henry Flagler. Others objected to the project's size, which could increase St. Augustine's population by 10 to 15 percent at buildout. Still, after exhaustive negotiations, the project was approved and is under way.

Most new development bearing a St. Augustine address is occurring on the vast open tracts south of the city.

Palencia, located on U.S. 1, is a 1,450-acre, mixed-use community being built around a town center and an Arthur Hills championship golf course. Developed by a consortium consisting of the Houston-based Hines Corporation along with homegrown developers Fletcher Land Corp. and H. Smith Inc., Palencia is designed in a Spanish-Colonial style and also features parks, recreation areas and nature preserves.

World Golf Village, located on I-95, is a 6,300-acre, mixed-use community that is home to the World Golf Hall of Fame as well as to two world-class golf courses: The Slammer and Squire, designed by Sam Snead and Gene Sarazan, and The King and Bear, designed by Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus.

New at World Golf Village is The Cascades, a gated active-adult community with a clubhouse and a sports complex with a pool and sundeck.

KINGSLAND/ST. MARYS

More than 250 years after it was chartered, Camden County was discovered. Or perhaps rediscovered is a more appropriate word. After all, prior to the Civil War, this heavily forested corner of southwest Georgia was dotted with plantations growing rice and sea-island cotton. And St. Marys, then the southernmost city in the United States, was a lively seaport parish.

The Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base and Gilman Paper Company later relocated to Camden County, spurring growth and helping to diversify the local economy. But in 1996, when Money magazine placed St. Marys at No. 1 on its list of "America's 50 Hottest Little Boomtowns," relocators took notice.

Since then, St. Marys and neighboring Kingsland have emerged as bedroom communities for Jacksonville, located just 35 miles to the south. And that trend has accelerated, thanks in part to Home & Garden Television's much-ballyhooed Dream Home 2004.

Last year's Dream Home, which was given away to a lucky viewer on March 3, was built in Cumberland Harbour, a 1,000-acre community under way on the banks of the St. Marys River.

As Money magazine had done eight years before, the HGTV promotion gave the region priceless exposure as a desirable place to live.

But in addition to resort-style real estate developments, buyers are drawn to the St. Mary's area because of its natural splendor. Camden County is home to the Cumberland Island National Seashore, the largest southernmost barrier island in Georgia and an erstwhile getaway for turn-of-the-century industrialists.

There is no more majestic sight than watching the island's population of wild horses gallop along the 17-mile-long shoreline as the sun sets. And it's positively eerie to wander through the ruins of Dungeness, the once-opulent Carnegie estate, and its forlorn outbuildings.

Also on the 36,415-acre island is Plum Orchard, a circa-1898 Georgian Revival-style mansion originally built by the Carnegies and donated to the National Park Service in 1971. And the circa-1901 Greyfield Inn, a Carnegie property still owned by the family, offers luxurious accommodations and a wonderful restaurant.

The inn received international publicity when John F. Kennedy Jr. chose it as the site for his ill-fated marriage to Carolyn Bissette.