News Title:The Cove at Glenns Bay: final opportunities and D. R. Horton’s townhome success in Surfside Beach
The Cove at Glenns Bay is a new townhome community located on the ocean side of Highway 17 in Surfside Beach, offering buyers the opportunity to own a newer home in one of the most desirable and recognizable family-oriented areas of the Grand Strand. Surfside Beach has long been known as “The Family Beach,” and its appeal comes from a combination of beautiful beaches, a relaxed small-town atmosphere and convenient access to the much broader range of entertainment, dining, shopping and recreational opportunities throughout the Myrtle Beach area. The town encompasses approximately two miles of oceanfront and is intentionally positioned as a quieter alternative to the larger resort environment of Myrtle Beach, while remaining close enough to enjoy its attractions.
That combination makes Surfside Beach particularly attractive for both year-round residents and vacation-home buyers. Families are drawn to the clean, accessible beaches, neighborhood-oriented atmosphere, parks and recreational opportunities, while visitors appreciate the area's restaurants, fishing pier and easy access to the rest of the Grand Strand. Surfside's reputation as a family destination is further reinforced by its designation as the first autism-friendly travel destination in the United States. The result is a beach community that offers a more relaxed coastal lifestyle without giving up the convenience and attractions associated with the Myrtle Beach market.
The Cove at Glenns Bay is accessed from Glenns Bay Road, just south of Holmestown Road and near U.S. Highway 17. Glenns Bay Road is an important east-west connector through the Surfside Beach area, providing convenient access between the beachside portion of Surfside Beach, Highway 17 and the communities and commercial areas farther west. The location gives residents relatively easy access to beaches, restaurants, shopping, golf and other Grand Strand attractions.
The community itself was developed around a single neighborhood street, Bayou Loop, creating a relatively small and intimate setting. D. R. Horton constructed 13 buildings containing six townhomes each, along with one additional five-unit building, for a total of 83 townhomes on approximately 12 acres. The Cove at Glenns Bay therefore represents a fairly compact townhome development, providing a lower-maintenance alternative to a detached single-family home while placing residents within the highly desirable Surfside Beach market. Current public listings describe the community as having 83 homesites and emphasize its proximity to Surfside Beach, Myrtle Beach State Park, golf, shopping and dining.
Another particularly attractive characteristic of The Cove at Glenns Bay is the ability to use the townhomes as short-term rentals, subject to the applicable community and local requirements. That feature broadens the potential appeal of the development beyond traditional owner-occupants, giving buyers the potential to use the property as a vacation home while also having the option of generating rental income when they are not using it themselves. In a market where proximity to the beach and the ability to participate in the vacation-rental economy can be significant considerations, this adds another dimension to the community's appeal.
D. R. Horton offered their Pearson floor plan in The Cove at Glenns Bay.
The Pearson two-story townhome floor plan offered by D.R. Horton in The Cove at Glenns Bay has approximately 1,418 square feet of living space with three bedrooms, two-and-a-half bathrooms and a one-car garage. The Pearson design features an open-concept first floor combining the kitchen, dining area and family room, along with a convenient half bath and access to the rear patio, while all three bedrooms, two full bathrooms and the laundry area are located upstairs. The Pearson emphasizes efficient use of space and a practical layout suited to new, higher-density townhome communities, with some versions featuring modern finishes such as quartz countertops, shaker-style cabinetry, stainless-steel appliances and luxury vinyl plank flooring.
D. R. Horton first began to close on the townhomes in The Cove at Glenns Bay back in late April of 2025. A little over a year later. D. R. Horton is on the verge of selling out all of the townhomes in the Cove at Glenns Bay.
As of August 2026, the townhomes in the Cove at Glenns Bay have sold from $250,000 to $335,000 with an average selling price at just above $277,000.
The Pearson floorplan by D. R. Horton is a successful selling design in the Myrtle Beach area. D. R. Horton is now also delivering the Pearson floorplan in their new Conway townhome community - The Townes at Amber Bluff – where D. R. Horton is developing 125 townhomes. D. R. Horton closed the first set of townhomes in The Townes at Amber Bluff in September of 2025 and has been selling at a rate of almost 10 townhomes a month for the past year. As of August 2026, the Townes at Amber Bluff have sold from $224,000 to $249,000 with an average selling price at approximately $238,000.
D. R. Horton and Lennar are both national homebuilding giants with significant single-family and attached-home operations. Nationally, the difference in their product mix is relatively modest, with D. R. Horton reporting approximately 85% of its home sales revenue from detached homes and Lennar reporting a somewhat similar share of attached housing. The more meaningful distinction between these two national builders emerges in the Grand Strand, where Lennar has made townhomes a much more prominent part of its local development strategy, while D. R. Horton remains overwhelmingly focused on single-family detached communities. That makes D. R. Horton's decision to develop a community such as The Cove at Glenns Bay particularly interesting in the context of the Myrtle Beach market.
D. R. Horton has built its tremendous scale around efficient, large-scale residential development, standardized floor plans, purchasing power and streamlined construction operations. Those advantages can also translate effectively to townhomes, where more homes can be built on a smaller tract of land while providing buyers with a lower-maintenance alternative to a detached home. The Cove at Glenns Bay demonstrates how D. R. Horton can selectively apply that model to the townhome market when the location and economics make sense. The Cove at Glenns Bay combines 83 townhomes with an exceptionally attractive Surfside Beach location, limited availability of coastal land and the added appeal of short-term rental potential, creating a product that can appeal to primary homeowners, second-home buyers and investors.
The contrast with Lennar is particularly evident throughout the Grand Strand. Lennar has incorporated townhomes into numerous local developments, including Hidden Pines, Victory Point, Hoffman Park, Collins Walk, Forestbrook Village and Champions Park, along with the upcoming Parkview townhome community near Surfside Beach, making attached housing an increasingly visible component of Lennar’s local growth strategy. D. R. Horton’s townhome activity, by comparison, has been much more selective, with The Cove at Glenns Bay and The Townes at Amber Bluff in Conway representing notable examples. That makes The Cove at Glenns Bay an interesting case study—not because D. R. Horton does not build townhomes nationally, but because townhomes remain a relatively small part of D. R. Horton’s Grand Strand strategy. Here, D. R. Horton has successfully adapted its large-scale operating model to a higher-density coastal product that fits particularly well with the land constraints, buyer demand and investment characteristics of the Surfside Beach market.