Millsboro

In 2002, developers purchased a Millsboro peninsula on Indian River Bay, slowly building a resort-style community, dubbed The Peninsula, between salt marshland and loblolly pine tree forests. Today, an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course weaves between these natural elements and a boardwalk hiking trail traverses a 225-acre nature preserve along the neighborhood’s eastern edge. Residents can ride bikes to pastel-painted, shingle-style clubhouses and the private beach, where Cape American beach grass and common reed patches line the white sand shoreline. According to Toni Schrock, a Millsboro local and Realtor with Northrop Realty, these amenities make The Peninsula a tight-knit community. “You really get to know your neighbors here because you play golf with them and see each other at the clubhouse. It’s also the only gated neighborhood in Millsboro, so it’s very elite.” Driving to Rehoboth Beach and getting groceries from big-box stores are also easily accessible thanks to John J. Williams Highway, just west of the neighborhood. Homes along The Peninsula’s sidewalk-lined streets are still being built, with the oldest properties dating back to 2003. Craftsman-style homes painted in shades of blue, white and gray sit on 8,000-square-foot lots, often backing up to the golf course. Ornamental hedges and river birch trees wrap around four-bedroom Federal-style dwellings with stacked porches. Concrete foundations and two-car garages raise coastal traditional homes overlooking The Peninsula’s shoreline. Queen Anne-style townhouses circle cobblestone cul-de-sacs, while pale yellow and green condo complexes are along Windswept Drive. Condos and townhouses can cost between $450,000 and $550,000, while single-family houses can cost between $750,000 and $1.5 million. Storm surges and heavy rainfall put homes closest to Indian River Bay in a flood zone. Though a few rental properties are in the neighborhood, Schrock says that mainly full-time residents live here. “None of the houses back up directly to the water, so it’s not super popular for vacationers. Plus, they have to pay a separate fee to use the amenities.” The golf course’s bent grass fairway has seven holes overlooking Indian River Bay and Lingo Creek. Every clubhouse and sports facility in the neighborhood is near the first hole. Pool tables, brown leather lounge chairs and shuffleboard tables fill the 33,000-square-foot clubhouse, where members can enjoy wood-fired pizza and wine on the veranda overlooking the course. Kids boogie board on the zero-entry wave pool, surrounded by beach chairs and white umbrellas atop sand. Next door, tennis and pickleball courts sit outside The Athletic Club, home to a fitness center and an indoor and outdoor pool. Cycling and yoga classes are held regularly in the aerobics room. The Peninsula Nature Preserve spans the neighborhood’s eastern border along Lingo Creek. Boardwalk trails traverse tidal marsh terrain covered in cattail patches. Walkers and bike riders can stop at docks along the way to fish for largemouth bass and bluegill or sit on a bench, watching as bald eagles and great egrets fly above. Rollercoasters and ice cream shops line the Rehoboth Beach and Boardwalk, about 15 miles northeast of the neighborhood. But even with this proximity, Schrock says locals rarely venture outside The Peninsula for beach access. “So many tourist beaches are nearby, but people don’t really want to go anywhere but the private beach. You can do all the same activities that are at Rehoboth Beach, like fishing, kayaking and crabbing, just without the crowds.” A small white pavilion sits in front of the neighborhood’s private beach, dotted with blue and green Adirondack chairs. Locals can launch a kayak from the wooden pier and fish atop rock jetties. When the sun sets, ghost crabs run across the sand, allowing kids to catch and release them. Costing about $400 per month, The Peninsula’s HOA provides trash pick-up, snow removal and lawn maintenance. Residents must also pay for one of three club membership plans. The Social Membership allows access to the clubhouse and athletic club for $15,000 per year, while the $25,000 Sport Membership includes the tennis complex and golf course. At $47,000, the Reserve Membership offers priority tee-time bookings, use of the golf practice facility without extra fees and reduced rates at other courses managed by Troon. Children can attend Long Neck Elementary, graded a B by Niche, and Millsboro Middle School, which earns a B-plus. They may continue to B-rated Sussex Central High School, where Career and Technical Educational Pathways include animal science, marketing and agriculture engineering. Harris Teeter and Giant are the closest grocery stores, both along John J. Williams Highway. The same street has fast-food drive-throughs like Dunkin’ and McDonald’s and locally owned pizza restaurants and breweries. Despite this commercial convenience, Schrock says residents typically go to waterside restaurants. “If people want to go out to eat, they will almost always drive to somewhere on the water. Serendipity is a good date night place, and it’s open year-round.” Tiffany light fixtures glow over red leather booths in the diner-style room, while multi-colored parasols adorn the dining room’s ceiling at Serendipity, a waterfront spot serving Italian and Polish food. “Paradise Grill is a huge bar, and everyone goes there on the weekends because they have live music,” she adds. Tiki hut bars, cornhole boards, and wooden, turquoise-colored tables cover Paradise Grill’s private beach. Open from May until September, the seafood restaurant also has a bright yellow music venue known to host DJs and tribute bands. Though locals can easily ride a bike or walk to amenities within The Peninsula, they need a car to get anywhere else. Dover is 50 miles north via John J. Williams Highway and Delaware Route 1. Delaware Route 404 is about 20 miles to the west, making Washington D.C. and Baltimore another 100-mile drive in the same direction. The Bayhealth Emergency and Urgent Care Center, 12 miles northwest of the neighborhood, is the closest hospital, and the Salisbury Regional Airport offers daily flights with American Airlines, about 30 miles southwest.

Tucked along the Indian River Bay, Long Neck is a Millsboro peninsula that cattle farmers and fishermen once settled in the early 1900s before it was developed into three manufactured home subdivisions. The White House Beach community came first in the 1970s, followed by Pot-Nets Lakeside and Pot-Nets Bayside in the early 2000s. “Long Neck is an amenity-rich area, no matter which neighborhood you live in,” says Maria Bennett, a broker with Iron Valley Real Estate at The Beach, who has sold several homes in the area. “There are swimming pools, walking paths and tons of private beach access, even if you don’t live waterside.” Locals can follow the peninsula’s golf cart paths to Paradise Grill, a beachside bar and live music venue, and to marinas filled with pontoons and center console boats. Yellow witch hazel shrubs, pink rose bushes and other meticulously landscaped patches surround inland hubs like playgrounds, gazebos and tennis courts. Delaware Route 23, known locally as Long Neck Road, brims with locally owned pizzerias, bait shops and ice cream shacks, while nearby Delaware Route 5 has several big-box grocery stores. Beige and white single-wide homes line streets around a 6-acre lake in Pot-Nets Lakeside, Long Neck’s northernmost community. Pot-Nets Bayside, the peninsula’s largest and most central neighborhood, has double wides, often on 3,000-square-foot lots made up of gravel parking spots and small grass yards. Wooden docks and boat tie-ups sit behind three-bedroom shoreline homes in this neighborhood. On the southeastern tip, a dense canopy of loblolly pine trees shades mobile homes in the White House Beach community, where each property comes with a boat slip, regardless of whether it’s on the water. Storm surges and rising sea levels put houses closest to the water at a greater risk of flooding. Buying anywhere on the peninsula typically costs between $75,000 and $275,000, a range lower than a Millsboro home’s average $375,000 selling price. Homeowners in each community also pay monthly land leasing fees, which is common in manufactured home communities, with prices ranging from $1,000 to $1,500 depending on lot square footage. “The land leasing fees are what fund amenities for each neighborhood. It’s essentially a homeowners association fee without the title,” Bennett says. The peninsula also has a few rental options, including the 50 RV parking spots at Paradise Point Campground and Lingo Creek’s Colonial Revival-style apartments. About 20 designated vacation rentals are sprinkled around Bayside, offering one-to-two-week-long stays. Pot-Nets has six different communities across Millsboro’s coast, and all residents, including those in Lakeside and Bayside, gain access to every community’s recreational facilities. For instance, less than 4 miles northwest, the Baywood neighborhood has two 9-hole golf courses with half-price tee times for Pot-Nets residents. On Long Neck, a half-mile walking trail circles Lakeside’s body of water with a wooden boardwalk leading to a white gazebo at its core. Bingo and wine and cheese socials are regular events in the shingle-style Lakeside Community Center. Pin oak trees and marsh grass border the nearly mile-long fitness and exercise trail, which leads to the community’s first swimming pool and the baseball diamond off Indian Cabin Creek Road. Blue umbrellas shade white lounge chairs around the second swimming pool on Clew Street, where locals will also find a concrete basketball court and two rubber tennis courts. Starting on Loop Drive, the gravel and paved golf cart trail weaves between numerous ponds, ending at Pot-Nets Cove. Queen palm trees sit in front of Pot-Nets Marina’s wooden boat slips, which cost $1,750 to buy. Calm bay water rolls against the 10 acres of residents-only beaches, spread out across the peninsula’s southwestern tip. Hammocks, picnic tables and an American flag dot White House Beach’s section of private shoreline, where anglers often catch rockfish and flounder on rock jetties. Though certain amenities are only available to residents in the six Pot-Nets communities, Bennett says others are accessible for all locals. “Pot-Nets’ walking and golf cart trails aren’t gated-off like the swimming pools and tennis courts, so everyone on the peninsula uses those.” Amusement park rides, seafood restaurants and vintage lampposts line the Rehoboth Beach and Boardwalk, just a 15-mile drive east of Long Neck. Painted in shades of yellow, orange and turquoise, Paradise Grill is a waterside restaurant and hangout spot open from May until September with tiki hut bars, a pirate ship playground and boat slips accompanied by a full-service marina. Crowds form around the beachfront stage for DJ sets and tribute bands on Wednesday through Saturday nights. Acoustic musicians perform at the raw bar, where oysters are shucked right in front of patrons. Though Bennett admits the restaurant is a tourist destination, she says it’s still a hot spot for Long Neck locals. “Vacationers come over from Rehoboth Beach for the concerts, but locals will drive golf carts down weekly for dinner and drinks even if there isn’t anything going on. I actually know people who’ve moved here to be closer to Paradise Grill because it’s so fun.” Children can attend Long Neck Elementary School, graded a B by Niche, and Millsboro Middle School, earning a B-plus. They may continue to C-plus-rated Sussex Central High School, where Career and Technical Education Pathways include agricultural engineering, marketing and teaching. On Long Neck Road, locally sourced produce and Amish-made groceries stock the wood shelves at Muzzi’s Produce, which has an outdoor fruit stand in the parking lot every summer. Next to Ace Hardware, Longneck Deli is a small counter-service spot where locals pick up freshly made hoagies and Cajun crab dip before going to the beach. Red Coca-Cola logo umbrellas shade patio seating outside Bona Pizza, another take-out spot known for New York City-style pies. Chain grocery stores, including Harris Teeter and Giant Food, and fast-food drive-throughs, like Dunkin’ and McDonald’s, are along Delaware Route 5, just west of Long Neck. Though locals can walk or golf cart to the beach, Long Neck Road is convenient for several types of travel. It has several Delaware Authority Regional Transit bus stops, and the road connects to Maryland Route 404, making Baltimore and Washington D. C. about 120 miles west. Delaware Route 1 is 20 miles north, leading drivers 30 more miles to Dover. The Salisbury Regional Airport, 35 miles south, offers daily flights with American Airlines, and the closest hospital, TidalHealth Nanticoke, is 30 miles west in Middleford.