Daniel Island Families: Meet the Patterson Family

Kate Maas

Our next stop in the Daniel Island Families series is the Patterson Family of Village Crossing Drive. Meet parents Michael and Sarah; their children Will and Hannah, rising 8th and 4th grades, respectively, at the Daniel Island School; and Charlie, the family dog. We sat down with the family (minus Hannah away at Girl Scout camp) in the cheerful kitchen of their beautiful new house in the Edgefield Park neighborhood of Daniel Island.

 

Can you tell us a little about your family, and where you’re from originally?

Sarah Patterson: Michael and I both grew up in the same town in Virginia and went to rival high schools. But we didn’t actually meet until we got to college, when we were introduced by mutual friends. I went to Virginia Commonwealth College and Michael did his undergraduate at James Madison, then his law degree at Regent University. 

Why did you decide to move to Daniel Island? 

SP: After we got married and had kids, I saw an ad for Daniel Island in Coastal Living Magazine, where you could send away for a free DVD to learn more about the community. After Michael and I watched it, I said to him, “We just have to see this place!” The two of us took a road trip down to Charleston to see the island. The very week we returned from our visit, Michael started looking for jobs down here. Once he finally graduated from law school, I said, “Honey, pack your bags. We’re moving to Daniel Island.”

Michael Patterson: By moving down here, we were able to check off all the boxes: Charleston was a coastal city. It was right near the beach. And it has a unique history that’s perfect for a history major like me. Charleston’s not “big box.” There’s stuff here you can’t find in any other city. As for Daniel Island, I don’t know that I’d ever been to a community that’s as unique as this one is. You ride by the Daniel Island School and see, like, 900 bikes, and you ask yourself, who rides their bike to school anymore? A friend of mine told me about a family they knew who decided to move to Daniel Island after seeing all those bikes. 

Why did you choose Edgefield Park as the neighborhood you wanted to live in?

MP: We wanted to be close to Daniel Island School, so the kids could ride their bikes there. 

SP: When we moved to Daniel Island, in 2008, we lived in a condo on River Landing Drive before moving into a townhouse on Pierce Street. We knew we wanted to live in a bigger house eventually. After getting a generous offer on the townhouse, we moved to an apartment on Bucksley Lane while we looked for a new house. We just didn’t really see anything that we loved. 

MP: Then our real estate agent suggested building a house. I was really excited. David Weekley was our builder.

SP:  We tweaked a floor plan to include two master bedrooms - one for my mother who lives with us -  and replaced the dining room with a huge open kitchen-living room space for entertaining. 

Will Patterson: And my sister and I finally have our own rooms!

SP: We never thought we’d be able to have something like this. It's a dream come true. But we’ve certainly worked hard enough to get to this point.

What kind of work do you do?

MP:  I started out with the Charleston Police Department, working with Team 3. I loved being a police officer. The job was very rewarding. It prepared me for my next job in the Solicitor’s office, essentially South Carolina’s version of a District Attorney. Now I work in private practice at the law firm of Moore, Ingram, Johnson & Steele LLP on Daniel Island.

SP: For the past eight years, I’ve been working with Dr. Jimmy Smith at HealthSource on River Landing Drive. I’ve watched his chiropractic business really grow. 

Where do you like to hang out on Daniel Island?

WP: My house or my friends’ houses, playing basketball in someone’s driveway. We also play soccer, and football in the winter, in the field behind the school. 

SP: We like to go to our friends’ houses, too. We’ve made lots of friends here, including the parents of our kids’ friends. 

MP: We also love events on the island, like the Concerts in the Park. The way Daniel Island is set up, you get to take advantage of a lot of opportunities to be outside. 

Do you have any favorite restaurants on or off the island? 

MP: We like to go as a family to Agave and Wasabi here on the island. 

WP: My favorite place is Daniel Island Grill - it’s got good food and sports. 

What’s for dinner at the Patterson house tonight?

SP: Leftovers. We had friends over last night so we’ll finish what’s left of the BBQ chicken and pasta salad. 

Do you have any special family traditions?

SP: We like to explore, so we take a lot of trips to coastal places within a four-hour drive, like Amelia Island in Florida and St. Simon’s Island in Georgia. 

MP: We also spend a week every August at Lake Sunapee in New Hampshire. We usually add on another seaside town just before we get there, like New York City or Boston.

WP: I like that there’s different kinds of food at every place we visit. I tried the shrimp at St. Simon’s Island. It was pretty good, but it could have used some ketchup. 

What are you reading right now? What TV shows or movies would you suggest?

WP: My dad has gotten me into the Inheritance Series, about Eragon the dragon rider. It’s sort of an alternate history, like Lord of the Rings. As for movies, I just saw the sequels to Now You See Me and Independence Day. Finding Dory was a good movie, too. It’s great to enjoy a sequel to a Disney movie I liked when I was much younger.

MP: I read constantly and listen to books on tape when I’m driving. Right now I’m reading - and listening to - action/thriller books by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. I also love Clive Cussler, Steve Berry and Game of Thrones. I think I’ve read that series three times. 

SP: Michael and I enjoy getting into a good TV series, like House of Cards. 

MP: And action movies like Iron Man, and Transformers. As Will mentioned, we just saw Independence Day 2. It’s not quite as good as the first one, but it’s still a fun movie. 

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received? 

MP: As Sarah always says to me, “Don’t let life pass you by.” I listen to her now. I always tended to work a lot, and kept putting off fun things that I wanted to do with my family. Nowadays, I take more time off to be with them. 

WP: My dad tells me to overachieve. Even if there’s a pre-set limit on how much you need to do to achieve success, dad says that it’s important to go beyond that limit and do as much as you can. 

If you could choose three words to describe your life on Daniel Island, what would they be? 

MP: Living. The. Dream. 

SP: We feel very blessed.