“When you cross that bridge, you’re in another place. There’s nothing like it. Having our morning coffee while watching the wildlife over the marsh makes our home so special.”

From Washington, D.C. To Kiawah Island…

Pictured with daughter Kimi

Q: Where are you from?

Aileen: I was born in the Philippines, but my mom was recruited by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and Bethesda, Maryland, became our first home in the United States.
Bob: I’m from Pittsburgh originally, but we’ve been based in Washington, D.C., for the last fifty years.

Q: How did you two meet?

Bob: My office is on Pennsylvania Avenue. I was one block over, looking in the window of a shoe store. And, you know, we’re a block from the IMF.
Aileen: I was having lunch with my mom and was walking up G Street. Bob said hello and asked for my number. He caught my eye with his three-piece suit and his piercing blue eyes. He has always been my GQ man! Our first actual date was at Columbia Country Club. It was such a lovely evening of dinner and dancing.
Bob: They played the Bee Gees and Peg o’ My Heart, and we danced all night. She is a whirlwind dancer!

Q: What is your work, Bob?

Bob: I’m an investment advisor. I started out about fifty years ago with Legg Mason, out of Baltimore and Washington.

Q: How did Kiawah come on your radar?

Bob: We came down forty-some years ago for a Legg Mason event.
Aileen: I think that was in 1980. We stayed at The Inn. When Kimi went to college, we rented a home during the winters to see if we could make a life here. The house we were renting was being sold, so we were walking in Freshfields Village and decided to pop into the Real Estate office, where we met Rocky Stelling, who showed us around Kiawah. Within a week, we bought our home.

Q: What do you think really sold you on Kiawah?

Aileen: The quiet. When you cross that bridge, you’re in another place. There’s nothing like it. Having our morning coffee while watching the wildlife over the marsh makes our home so special.
Bob: I like single-lane traffic. I like the fact that there is no signage. It’s very soothing to be here.
Aileen: Nature, but also I don’t think I could live here full time if I didn’t belong to the Club. The minute we walked up the steps of The Beach Club, I said, This is it.
Bob: We’re very happy to have the Club. It makes it so easy. There’s so much variety.

Q: What do you think makes The Club so special?

Bob: It’s the people. It’s nice to see the same staff and to feel so at home.
Aileen: Where else can you walk in, sit down—
Kimi: And you’re family.
Aileen: Jeff, the bartender, comes with our drinks right away, and we’ve barely sat down! Do you know how special that is? Plus we see our neighbors, so it’s the community. It’s the people like Jacob, Jan, John, Lorraine, Sam, Corina, Kendall, and Steve, just to name a few, that make you feel so welcome and at home.

Q: Kimi, tell me about your first memories here.

Kimi: They brought me here at such a young age that I only have pictures to jog my memory.
Aileen: Remember the Jeep tours to Vanderhorst? With the safari hats? That’s all you did.
Kimi: Then we came a lot my last couple years of college. And college is loud—everything’s busy and fast. I came here and could hear myself think. It’s so peaceful.

Q: What does your social scene look like?

Aileen: I spend a lot of time playing tennis. Craig and Marquel introduced me to the game six years ago. I love it so much that in 2020 we purchased a condo overlooking the Roy Barth tennis courts. Tennis was where I met my core group of friends; I even play USTA and CALTA with these wonderful ladies. I also do a little volunteer work. I’ve been involved with the Haygood Grady Fund that raises money for Roper St. Francis [Cancer Care]. I volunteered for Arts, etc. for three years, and we are also involved with the Kiawah Island Conservancy. It’s such a wonderful community. There are people from all over the world, and it’s the nature, family, and lifestyle of Kiawah that brings us all here.