Mount Pleasant mansion sells for $7.5 million

MOUNT PLEASANT -- That stately, Southern-style plantation home overlooking Charleston Harbor from the mouth of Shem Creek now beams as the town's most expensive residence.

The 7,015-square-foot house recently sold for $7.5 million to a Michigan family, according to county property records.

That works out to about $1,069 per square foot.

The five-bedroom property, built in 2003, is on Haddrell Street in the town's Old Village neighborhood. It boasts a dock, luxury-level finishings and a saltwater pool that spans nearly the length of the house.

The buyers, Randolph and Donna Friedman, intend to move there permanently, said real estate agent Douglas Berlinsky of Charleston-based Disher Hamrick & Myers, who represented the Friedmans.

The sale closed Aug. 18. The buyers declined to comment.

The previous record for a Mount Pleasant residence was the 2007 sale of 101 New St., also in the Old Village. That house fetched $3.25 million.

The recent Shem Creek sale even tops the record list for homes in historic downtown Charleston, where the most expensive home to change hands is 37 Meeting St. Also known as the James Simmons House, the 8,350-square-foot residence sold in May 2009 for slightly more than $7.37 million to a New Jersey couple.

Kiawah Island recently set its own luxury real estate record when a company managed by Chicago-based beverage distributor Jude Reyes bought a 9,900-square-foot oceanfront home on Ballybunion Drive for $14 million.

The string of top-dollar transactions shows that despite the economic slowdown, deep-pocketed buyers are seizing on opportunities to purchase special properties.

"In a good market or weak market, a property like that still has strong demand," Berlinsky said of the Haddrell Street property.

The Haddrell home's sellers, Richard and Sarah Coen, listed the property this year for $10 million.

Carolina One Real Estate agent Nancy Hoy, who represented the sellers, said the property attracted several offers, but the Coens picked a buyer who could close quickly.

Charleston County court records show that lenders filed a foreclosure lawsuit against the Haddrell Street home in July seeking to recoup $4.8 million.