Blue Clay Farms offers country-like living north of Wilmington
Growing colorful fields of flowers, fruits and vegetables has a deep-rooted history in Blue Clay Farms. In the heart of this small community of less than 200 people is a generational family farm, which has become a big attraction for Wilmingtonians and tourists alike for its flower picking and seasonal produce. Situated north of Wilmington International Airport, Blue Clay Farms is also home to North Kerr Industrial Park, which features dozens of warehouses for businesses such as Frito-Lay and FedEx Ground. The enclave attracts homebuyers looking for countryside appeal, a short drive from shopping malls and Wrightsville Beach. “Blue Clay Farms is very rural,” says Caroline Dugas, the Owner of Living Seaside Realty Group, who’s been a resident of the Port City area for more than three decades. “The name Blue Clay implies a lot of clay in the ground, which has kept the community from being developed as quickly as other areas — makes it hard to run water and sewer out to it,” Dugas says.
There are two places to buy homes in Blue Clay Farms
A few ranch-style homes sit on spacious lots in Blue Clay Farm’s far southeastern corner, while the HOA-controlled Cape Landing subdivision offers Craftsman-inspired neotraditional homes on smaller lots of less than a quarter acre. The median price for a single-family home is around $475,000, above the national median. Properties don’t go on the market often. A 2,500-square-foot home sold for around $475,000 in April 2025, and a nearly 3,000-square-foot home sold for about $530,000 two months later.
Family-friendly fun at Trask Family Farms
For six generations, Trask Family Farms has been tending to over 35 acres of farmland in the center of Blue Clay Farms. At one time, the operation was considered the East Coast’s largest vegetable and fruit producer. Today, shoppers can pick up seasonal produce from the on-site market or join a community-supported agriculture subscription box. The farm offers family-friendly experiences throughout the year, from pick-your-own flowers to a corn maze and ticketed farm-to-table dinners that are held among the blooms in the flower field.
Wrightsville Beach, several parks and waterways offer recreation
Life in Wilmington often involves going to the beach. Blue Clay Farms is about 10 miles away from Wrightsville Beach, which features miles of sandy shore, surfable waves and a fishing pier. Boating and kayaking are popular pastimes along the Cape Fear River and Smith Creek. Green spaces close to Blue Clay Farms include Olsen Park, where the Miracle League of Wilmington hosts baseball games on a rubberized field designed for players with physical disabilities. The field sits next to Kiwanis Miracle Playground, the city’s largest accessible playscape. Nearby, Smith Creek Park offers a wide paved multi-use path that circles a lake for nonmotorized boating and kayaking, while Blue Clay Bike Park has around 8 miles of trails for mountain biking. Northern Regional Park and Ogden Park offer typical amenities, from sports facilities and playgrounds to walking paths and picnic shelters.
Shopping and dining along the College Road corridor
A few shopping centers and stand-alone retailers dot North College Road. Food Lion anchors NorthChase Centre, which features familiar chain restaurants as well as a few local spots. Uncle Louie's Pizza Lounge offers a sports bar-like atmosphere for Italian fare. A few doors down, the family-owned and operated Miranda Mexican Restaurant serves modern takes on family recipes. University Centre, a large outdoor shopping mall with dozens of name-brand stores, is about 6 miles south of Blue Clay Farms. High-end boutiques and a Regal movie theater are available at Mayfaire Town Center. Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center, Wilmington’s full-service hospital complex, is less than 10 miles away.
New Hanover County’s education options from grade school to university
Niche gives New Hanover County Schools an A-minus overall rating. The district has more than 40 schools serving about 25,000 students. All homes in Blue Clay Farms are zoned for Castle Hayne Elementary, Emma B. Trask Middle and Emsley A. Laney High. All three schools earn B-plus ratings. Students can choose to attend Laney High, which offers a STEM program, or apply to another high school in the district. Each high school has a signature program or specialty.
The Northside School of Christian Leadership, which Niche does not yet rate, is in Blue Clay Farms. The school opened in 2022 and currently offers prekindergarten through fourth grade. It hopes to become a fully accredited pre-K through 12th-grade school in the future.
Cape Fear Community College’s North Campus is off Blue Clay Road, just outside Blue Clay Farms. The two-year college offers more than 70 areas of study as well as workforce development programs and job training. The University of North Carolina at Wilmington, where budding marine scientists get to study the region’s coastal environment, is less than 10 miles away.
Commuters are close to highways and Wilmington International Airport
After crossing the Cape Fear River, Interstate 140 gently curves through Blue Clay Farms’ northern half. The highway connects to Interstate 40, which stretches from the coast to the North Carolina High Country and into Tennessee. No highway driving is needed to reach Historic Downtown Wilmington, about 6 miles away.
Wilmington International Airport is directly south of the community. “A lot of people like to be close to the airport,” Dugas says. “We have a lot of people who have remote jobs in Wilmington. We’re a destination for people who work elsewhere.” A study is underway to determine the impact of noise from the airport on the surrounding area. The airport is partnering with the public and the Federal Aviation Administration for this study, which began in 2024 and will last throughout 2025.
Important to know
According to FEMA’s National Risk Index, New Hanover County has a very high risk of hurricanes. Mandatory evacuations are possible throughout the Atlantic Hurricane Season, which lasts from June through November. The agency’s flood maps indicate that nearly every home in the Cape Landing subdivision lies in a flood hazard area.
