Dyal Compass

There was a very definite moment when I knew so completely I had to take a risk.

Turns out it was a pivotal risk, one that would create Dyal Compass, and it happened one still, hot Lowcountry day. I was walking the beach at Kiawah Island with my son, who was then 17, as part of an exercise regimen prescribed for him after he suffered a third-degree burn injury. It was a low point for both of us: he’d had to pass on his summer job because of the injury, and I was recovering from a divorce I didn’t want. We were both trying to get “back on our feet,” back to ourselves. The waves were crashing as I pointed out a beautiful double lot where a stately old Georgian-style home stood. It was for sale, I told him, a once-in-a-lifetime location. I found myself thinking big, out loud: Most would tear it down and start over, but if I bought it I would enhance it, make it as majestic as the lot and “green” to boot.

“You could lose money,” my son cautioned immediately.

That was when I knew. As a parent, as a person, I had to set an example. More than ever, my family needed to “rise from the ashes.” Whether it’s a third degree burn or a divorce, you move forward and engage in life. Nobody’s going to save you. I wanted to prove to myself and my sons— and the country — that risk can be a good thing. My experience has been that with risk and challenge comes growth and forward movement, recognition of strength, awareness of weakness (and a keener sense of how to use both). I wanted to be the change I longed to see.

And I got to be! Along with a fantastic team of experts, I transformed that home into a gorgeous, “green” — Silver LEED-certified, in fact — Kiawah retreat so awesome it was recently named a top 10 oceanfront property in the country by Ocean Home Magazine. It’s the first LEED home on Kiawah Island, too, with the island’s first solar panels. Perhaps most gratifying for me, it’s jump-started a new awareness and energy-sensitive consciousness on the island.

In the face of risk, I realized my strength was being able to see possibility, being able to form a vision beyond the norm. So when the 12-acre parcel of marsh-front land where Indigo Park now stands came up for sale in 2009, I felt like somebody needed to step up and not allow it to become just another high-end development — I knew it was a gem. When I walked it, I knew this was it. I call it “Central Park” because it’s the heart of the island, in the nucleus, close to everything.

We immediately donated the most premium, three-acre piece of the parcel to Kiawah Island Conservancy for a community park easement. I think we set the standard doing that. It’s a park within the park, and the views — you have to see them. Put simply, they allow pause.

My vision was for the most energy-sensitive, eco-friendly neighborhood on Kiawah Island. And we did it! A community of 16 newly constructed homes, Indigo Park will be the first, 100 percent LEED-certified development on a resort island in the entire nation. To top it all off, one of the houses is the HGTV Dream Home 2013.

Perhaps the happiest part of my journey is the response I’ve gotten from people all over the country, homeowners and builders contacting me to find out what materials and methods we used, how to proceed and put in place an eco-friendly plan. I have such a sense of pride that people are stepping forward and opening up to go beyond the standard approach to building.

Yes, I took a risk. Both my sons are proud! I am proud! I ask myself often, “Do I want to turn 90 and not have done this?” I wanted a project that was an effort to better the world. It’s become a reality as homeowners on Kiawah and beyond embrace my vision. And that’s a risk worth taking.
- Candace Dyal