Del Webb Savannah at Heartwood is the single genuinely deed-restricted 55+ community of scale in metro Savannah — and it's in Bryan County, where Chatham County's valuable Stephens-Day homestead exemption simply doesn't exist. The Pooler and Savannah communities that do sit in Chatham County and could claim Stephens-Day — Savannah Quarters, Westbrook Villas, The Fairways, Habersham, Southbridge — aren't actually age-restricted at all, just marketed to retirees.
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Talk to a Specialist →This isn't a coincidence to be annoyed at — it's just how the market happens to sit. A buyer who wants both the enforceable age restriction and the best available property tax exemption in the region is asking for a combination that, as of today, doesn't exist anywhere in metro Savannah. One of those two things has to give, and it's worth deciding which one before you fall in love with a floor plan.
Stephens-Day freezes the county assessment portion of your homestead's taxable value at the value in your first year of ownership, shielding you from rising appraisals on that portion of the bill for as long as you own the home — though, like most such freezes, it resets when the home is sold. It's Chatham County's own program; Bryan County, where Del Webb Heartwood sits, has its own separate tax structure and doesn't offer the equivalent. A Heartwood buyer should get Bryan County's actual senior exemption terms in writing rather than assuming Stephens-Day-style protection travels with them.
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| Community | County | Deed-restricted? |
|---|---|---|
| Del Webb Savannah at Heartwood | Bryan (Richmond Hill) | Yes — genuinely age-restricted |
| The Landings on Skidaway Island | Chatham | No — all-ages private golf community |
| Westbrook Villas at Savannah Quarters | Chatham (Pooler) | No — age-targeted only |
| The Fairways at Savannah Quarters | Chatham (Pooler) | No — listed as all-ages |
Buyers who specifically want the guarantee of an age-restricted neighborhood — knowing the community's occupancy composition is legally locked in, not just marketed that way — really do have one option in this metro, and it happens to sit outside Chatham's tax structure. Buyers who prioritize Stephens-Day's assessment protection have several excellent all-ages or age-targeted golf communities to choose from, but none of them can legally promise you an age-restricted neighbor base.
The honest way to shop this market: decide first whether an enforceable age restriction or Stephens-Day's tax protection matters more to your specific situation, then choose the county accordingly — as of today, this market doesn't offer a way to have both in the same home.
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