Windstar Bay

Windstar Bay at a glance

Windstar Bay is a small lakeside subdivision of single-family homes on the north shore of Old Hickory Lake, in the Walton Ferry / Sanders Ferry peninsula area of Hendersonville (Sumner County, TN 37075). It fronts the Drakes Creek arm of the lake — the main Hendersonville boating basin — with Black Jack Cove the nearest named cove and a protected no-wake pocket that listings call "Skinny Dip Cove" tucked along its shoreline. The community dates to roughly 1998 and filled in through the mid-2010s, so you'll find original late-'90s homes alongside newer custom builds from 2014–2016. Plan on confirming the exact home count with us: aggregators list around 129 homes, but at least one statistics profile merges Windstar Bay with the adjacent "Waters Edge," so that number may run high.

Here is the honest part most listings gloss over: Windstar Bay is NOT a uniformly waterfront community. It is a mix of true private-shoreline lots, lake-view lots, and fully interior lots, and the relationship to the water changes street by street. The lake-edge streets — Windmill Pointe Circle, Lakecrest Circle, Shorecrest Circle, and Beacon Light Cove — are where the genuine private shoreline tends to sit (think 1-acre lots with big-channel views or frontage on a quiet cove). Streets like Windstar Bay Boulevard, Sandpiper Circle, and Fairlake Court lean lake-view or interior and trade more on the community feel and proximity to the water than on a backyard that touches it. A "lakefront" label on a listing does not, by itself, tell you whether the lot has its own usable shoreline — let alone a dock.

On price, the market here is bimodal rather than a single tidy range. Interior and entry-level homes have recently listed in the low-to-mid $700Ks, while true lakefront commands roughly $1.4M to $1.875M-plus; the community's median sale has run around $690K. Several of the luxury lakefront listings have shown price reductions, which is a read on negotiating room at the top of this specific market — not a price prediction. The homes themselves are large (broadly 2,900–6,400 sq ft, four to five bedrooms), the HOA is modest, and the documented shared amenities are a clubhouse and a community pool overlooking the lake — no on-site marina, and no community dock or boat ramp turned up in our research. Windstar Bay tends to draw buyers who want the lake lifestyle and a resort-style community feel near Nashville, with a smaller, higher-end slice chasing genuine private waterfront. One caution worth repeating: some sources describe "waterfront luxury condos" here, but every primary source we found shows single-family homes only — the condo angle is likely a mix-up with a separate Hendersonville complex, so don't count on a condo product without confirming it with us first.

Which lots actually reach the water

Here is the honest version that listing photos rarely make clear: Windstar Bay is a mixed lakeside community, not a uniformly waterfront one. It is roughly 129 single-family custom homes that grew up along Old Hickory Lake from about 1998 through the mid-2010s, and the homes fall into three very different relationships with the water. A true-waterfront lot has private shoreline you can walk down to. A lake-view lot looks out over the water but does not own frontage. And a good share of the homes are simply interior lots inside a lake community — close to the lifestyle, near the clubhouse and pool, but with no water of their own. The price tags follow that split: the current active range runs from the low-$700Ks for interior and lake-oriented homes up to roughly $1.4M-$1.875M for the genuine lakefront cul-de-sac homes.

The lake-edge streets — Windmill Pointe Circle, Lakecrest Circle, Shorecrest Circle, and Beacon Light Cove — are where the real private shoreline shows up. These are the addresses that back to the water, including lots on the protected no-wake 'Skinny Dip Cove.' By contrast, Windstar Bay Boulevard, Sandpiper Circle, and Fairlake Court read more as lake-view, lake-access, or interior, and they tend to lean on the community amenities and the nearby marinas rather than a private dock. Even on the waterfront streets, though, two things are true that buyers consistently get wrong. First, not every lot on a 'lakefront' street actually touches the water — verify the specific parcel. Second, and most important, owning waterfront here does NOT mean you own a dock.

That second point is not theoretical in Windstar Bay — it is documented. Old Hickory Lake is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) reservoir, and a private dock requires a USACE permit under the lake's Shoreline Management Plan; only about half the shoreline is classified 'Limited Development,' where a dock may be approved, and the rest prohibits docks entirely. Multiple actual listings here prove the caution. One flagship lakefront home on Windmill Pointe Circle has had no dock and only a 'new dock permit currently pending Corps of Engineers approval.' A lakefront home on Beacon Light Cove was tagged 'Lake Front' yet listed 'No Dock' outright. And a waterfront home on Windstar Bay Boulevard markets backyard fishing, canoeing, and kayaking — with no dock mentioned at all. The takeaway: a waterfront price here does not guarantee a usable, permitted, or transferable dock.

• True waterfront (private shoreline) — Windmill Pointe Circle, Lakecrest Circle, Shorecrest Circle, and Beacon Light Cove. These lake-edge streets hold the genuine private frontage (including cove lots on the no-wake 'Skinny Dip Cove'). A dock here still requires a USACE permit and is not automatic — confirmed examples on these very streets have either a pending permit or 'No Dock.'
• Lake-view / lake-access / interior — Windstar Bay Boulevard, Sandpiper Circle, and Fairlake Court tend to be lake-view, deeded lake-access, or interior. Some boulevard homes market 'direct lakefront access' for paddling but do not reference a private dock; treat that as access, not a slip, until verified.
• Community lake amenities (shared, not private shoreline) — the documented HOA amenities are a clubhouse and a community pool by the lake; HOA dues run roughly $55-$72/month depending on section. No community-owned dock, shared boat slips, or boat ramp surfaced in the research, so boat owners without an on-lot dock rely on nearby commercial marinas such as Drakes Creek Marina (441 Sanders Ferry Rd) and Anchor High.
• No confirmed dock anywhere by address — across every source reviewed, not one Windstar Bay address was documented with an active, permitted private dock. That does not mean none exist; it means dock status must be confirmed lot by lot, never assumed from the 'lakefront' label.

Docks & the Army Corps reality

Old Hickory Lake is not a private lake — it is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Nashville District) reservoir, and the federal government controls the shoreline below the Ordinary High Water Mark regardless of who owns the upland lot. That single fact reshapes how you should read every "lakefront" listing in Windstar Bay. A private dock here is never automatic: it requires a USACE Shoreline Use Permit, and under the lake's 2020 Shoreline Management Plan only about half of the shoreline is classified "Limited Development" — the category where a private or community dock may be approved. The rest is allocated to Prohibited Access, Public Recreation, or Protected Shoreline, where no dock can ever go. So dock eligibility is a function of how the Corps has allocated the shoreline in front of a specific parcel, not of the lot's price or its "waterfront" label. Just as important: an existing dock's permit does not transfer automatically with the sale. The new owner has to apply to the Corps in their own name, and approval is not guaranteed.

Windstar Bay makes this real. The community's own listings prove that a waterfront price tag does not guarantee a usable dock. A flagship true-lakefront home on Windmill Pointe Circle (a one-acre lot with big-channel views and 2023 rip-rap shoreline stabilization) had no dock at all — its listing stated that "a new dock permit is currently pending Corps of Engineers approval," meaning it was not yet permitted. The premium cove-front home on Lakecrest Circle, backing to the no-wake "Skinny Dip Cove," referenced no dock either. A lakefront listing on Beacon Light Cove was tagged "Lake Front" yet explicitly listed "No Dock" under its exterior features. And a waterfront home on Windstar Bay Boulevard marketed "direct lakefront access" for fishing, canoeing, and kayaking from the backyard while pointing buyers to nearby commercial marinas — language consistent with water frontage but no permitted dock. By contrast, other Windmill Pointe addresses have advertised an existing private dock with roughly 100 feet of frontage. The takeaway: dock status varies lot by lot within this single subdivision. We found no community dock, shared boat slips, or community boat ramp in Windstar Bay's HOA amenities (documented as clubhouse and pool only), so boaters without a permitted on-lot dock rely on nearby marinas such as Drakes Creek and Anchor High. Before you fall for a view, confirm the parcel's shoreline allocation classification and current dock-permit status directly with the USACE Old Hickory Lake Resource Manager (5 Power Plant Road, Hendersonville), and verify whether any existing permit would convey or whether you'd be applying fresh.

The market here

Windstar Bay trades as two very different markets under one name, and a buyer who blends them together will misread the numbers. The interior and lake-view stock — homes like the one at 138 Sandpiper Circle, recently around $725,000 — sits in the low-to-mid $700s. The true private-shoreline tier is a separate world: cove and channel lots on Windmill Pointe Circle and Lakecrest Circle have been listed from roughly $1.4M up to about $1.875M. A single blended price-per-square-foot is misleading here; published averages have ranged from the low-$300s/sqft on current waterfront actives down to stale ~$125/sqft snapshots from a few years ago that were weighted toward older interior homes. We price the two tiers separately, because the lakefront premium is real and the dock-permit reality (covered above) can swing a waterfront home's value as much as the view does.

Inventory in a ~129-home community is naturally thin — typically only a handful of homes are active at any time — so a couple of listings can define the whole picture. As of mid-2026, several of the luxury lakefront listings carried price reductions and one Windmill Pointe home was pending after a longer cycle, a signal that the top tier was being negotiated rather than clearing at ask. That is a snapshot, not a forecast. On the appreciation side, the general (non-waterfront) stock has climbed substantially: a non-waterfront home on the boulevard recorded a sale in the low-$400Ks in the late 2010s, and aggregators cite prior resales roughly in the $572,000–$770,000 band, against today's $700K+ asks. Because the live picture moves week to week, the figures here are reference points — we pull current active inventory, days-on-market, and the most recent recorded sales (including verified closed prices for the specific street and lake-relationship you're after) when you're ready. Call us at 615-265-1000 for a live read. (Source: Compass — Windstar Bay listings.)

The HOA & what it covers

Windstar Bay runs on a single, modest homeowners association rather than the layered club, golf, or marina memberships you find at bigger lake developments. The dues are genuinely low for the price tier, though the exact figure depends on the section and era of the home: aggregator and listing data put them anywhere from roughly $45 to $55 a month on some homes up to about $71-$72 a month elsewhere (the annualized ranges cited run from about $660 to $860). That spread almost certainly reflects different fee schedules across the community's build-out (which ran from roughly 1998 into the mid-2010s), so treat any number you see online as a starting point and confirm the current dollar amount on the specific home you're considering. What the fee covers is consistent across sources: grounds maintenance and the shared recreation facilities, which in practice means the community clubhouse and the pool overlooking Old Hickory Lake. Underground utilities are also noted as an association feature. We did not find any mandatory golf, club, or marina membership attached to Windstar Bay, and there's no documented community-owned dock, boat slips, or boat ramp -- boaters here rely on nearby commercial marinas like Drakes Creek Marina and Anchor High rather than an on-site facility.

One honest caveat on the amenities themselves: the clubhouse and lakeside pool are described by several listing sources, but at least one independent profile lists no community amenities at all, so confirm with the HOA that both are shared, owner-accessible facilities (not a single home's private pool) before you count on them. Because no official Windstar Bay HOA website turned up in our research -- everything came from third-party listing sites -- the smart move is to request the recorded CC&Rs (covenants), the current dues amount and fee schedule, the budget and any reserve study, and the rules on items that public sources never spelled out: whether leasing or short-term rentals are restricted, and whether the development is actually gated (we could not verify a gate either way; the community reads as a standard sidewalked neighborhood). You can reach the Windstar Bay HOA at the address of record, 117 Shorecrest Circle, Hendersonville, TN 37075, listed phone (615) 757-3006 -- verify it's current. And keep the lake piece separate from the HOA piece entirely: because Old Hickory Lake is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoir, your dock rights are governed by a USACE shoreline permit on your specific lot, not by the HOA, so a low HOA fee tells you nothing about whether a given waterfront lot can have a dock. To talk through what to request and how the dues line up against comparable Hendersonville lake communities, call The Will Johnson Team at 615-265-1000.

Amenities & community life

Windstar Bay is a modest, neighborly community when it comes to shared amenities, not a big-ticket resort with a long list of facilities. The two amenities that show up consistently across listings are a community clubhouse and a swimming pool sited to overlook Old Hickory Lake. That lakeside pool is really the social heart of the place, and because it sits on the water, every member gets a piece of the lake experience even if their own lot is interior or lake-view rather than true waterfront. One thing worth flagging up front: a couple of sources list the clubhouse and pool while at least one community profile lists no amenities at all, so we'd want to confirm the pool and clubhouse are active, shared HOA facilities for the specific section you're considering before you bank on them.

Just as important is what Windstar Bay does NOT have. We found no evidence of a gated or guarded entrance (despite an appearance on one realtor's generic "gated communities" sidebar, no listing, HOA document, or community page describes an actual gate), and no tennis courts, golf, or community-owned marina, boat ramp, or shared dock. Treat all of those as absent unless the HOA confirms otherwise. In practical terms, that means boating here is served by nearby commercial marinas rather than anything on-site.

• Lakeside community pool overlooking Old Hickory Lake — the main shared amenity (confirm it serves your section; one source lists no community amenities).
• Community clubhouse — the second documented amenity; pairs with the pool as the neighborhood gathering spot.
• No gate, tennis, or golf found in any source — treat as absent pending HOA confirmation.
• No community marina, boat ramp, or shared dock — boaters use nearby commercial marinas (Drakes Creek/Sun Life Marina at 441 Sanders Ferry Rd, Anchor High, Blue Turtle Bay) and the Sanders Ferry Park public ramp.
• Modest HOA dues — reported in a roughly $55 to $72/month range across sources (annualized figures of ~$660 to $860 also appear), covering grounds maintenance and the recreation facilities. The figure varies by source and likely by section, so verify the current dues on the specific listing.

Day to day, the vibe reads as a walkable, suburban lakeside enclave (neighbors describe sidewalks and an easy residential feel) rather than an amenity-heavy lifestyle development. The draw is the lake setting, the pool and clubhouse, and proximity to the water — not a roster of clubs or courts. The HOA is small and locally run; the listed contact is the Windstar Bay HOA at 117 Shorecrest Circle, Hendersonville, TN 37075. There is no dedicated official community website that we could locate, so the most reliable details (current dues, what they cover, and any rules) come straight from the HOA and the recorded CC&Rs.

Schools

Windstar Bay is served by Sumner County Schools. Listing sources commonly show the homes here as zoned to Walton Ferry Elementary, V.G. Hawkins Middle School, and Hendersonville High School — but those come from real-estate aggregators rather than the district's own zone-finder, so treat the elementary in particular as a starting point and confirm it by address. We don't publish school ratings or quality opinions here on purpose; what matters for a buying decision is confirming the exact zoned schools for the specific address you're considering, because attendance lines are drawn by parcel and can be redrawn over time.

A note that comes up often: you may see Merrol Hyde Magnet School mentioned in connection with Hendersonville. Merrol Hyde is a countywide application/lottery magnet, not a geographic attendance zone, so it is not the base-zoned school for Windstar Bay even though families anywhere in the county may apply. There is also timing worth flagging. Sumner County's school board approved a rezoning in May 2026, effective for the 2026-27 school year, tied to the Stop 30 / Drakes Creek road project. Based on the research, that change targeted other schools (it reassigned students at Dr. William Burrus Elementary and Knox Doss Middle, and rezoned the Monthaven Park Apartments area) and did not alter Windstar Bay's zoned trio. Because Windstar Bay sits near that same Drakes Creek corridor, though, this is exactly the kind of community where you'll want to confirm current zoning rather than assume it.

Location & getting around

Windstar Bay sits on the north shore of Old Hickory Lake in Hendersonville (Sumner County), in the Walton Ferry / Sanders Ferry peninsula area. The subdivision fronts the Drakes Creek arm of the lake — the main Hendersonville boating basin — with Black Jack Cove the nearest named cove and at least one waterfront listing referencing a private no-wake 'Skinny Dip Cove.' A quick note on the lake itself, because it shapes everyday life here: Old Hickory is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Nashville District) reservoir that holds a very stable pool (around 445 ft elevation), which is a real plus for waterfront and dock stability. For boaters, the closest full-service option is Drakes Creek Marina (441 Sanders Ferry Rd — wet/dry slips, fuel, rentals), and the Sanders Ferry Park public ramp is the nearest launch; Anchor High Marina and Blue Turtle Bay Marina are also nearby. Reminder that runs through this whole page: a lakefront lot here does not automatically come with a dock — that is a per-lot USACE permit question to verify before you buy.

Getting around is one of Windstar Bay's quieter advantages. SR-386 (Vietnam Veterans Blvd) is the primary controlled-access artery out of Hendersonville, feeding into I-65: figure roughly 18 miles to downtown Nashville, about 22 minutes in ideal conditions and 30–40 minutes in heavier traffic, and around 27 minutes to Nashville International Airport (BNA). (These are city-of-Hendersonville averages, not measured from the subdivision entrance, so your exact drive will vary.) For care close to home, the nearest hospital with a 24/7 emergency department is TriStar Hendersonville Medical Center at 355 New Shackle Island Rd — a few minutes away in Sumner County. On utilities, expect the typical Hendersonville/Sumner setup: public water and sewer, Piedmont natural gas, electric from NES or CEMC depending on the address, and internet via AT&T Fiber or Xfinity — confirm the exact providers for any specific lot.

History & character

Windstar Bay is a small, established lakeside subdivision on the north shore of Old Hickory Lake in Hendersonville (Sumner County), Tennessee, in the Walton Ferry / Sanders Ferry peninsula area near the Drakes Creek arm of the lake. Multiple listing sources put the community's origins at about 1998, with construction continuing into the 2010s, so you'll find a mix of late-1990s and early-2000s homes alongside newer custom builds (some of the true-lakefront homes were built in the mid-2010s, roughly 2014 to 2016). It's a compact neighborhood — sources cite about 129 homes — and it reads as a custom single-family community, not a tract development, with larger homes (roughly 2,900 to 6,400 square feet) and lots running up to about an acre on the lake-edge streets.

The character here is best described as a relaxed, lake-oriented enclave rather than a uniformly waterfront one. The lake-edge streets — Windmill Pointe Circle, Lakecrest Circle, Shorecrest Circle and Beacon Light Cove — hold the true private-shoreline lots (one listing on Windmill Pointe sits on a roughly one-acre lot with big-channel views; a Lakecrest home backs to a protected no-wake cove). Windstar Bay Boulevard, Sandpiper Circle and Fairlake Court skew toward lake-view and interior lots that lean on the community's resort-style feel and proximity to the lake more than on private water frontage. Reported HOA amenities are simple — a clubhouse and a community pool, with modest dues (sources range from roughly $55 to $72 a month) — and the neighborhood is generally described as walkable and suburban in feel. Note that whether it is gated is not confirmed in the research, and we did not find a community-owned dock, slips or boat ramp; boaters typically rely on nearby commercial marinas such as Drakes Creek (Sun Life) and Anchor High.

Buying a lake home here from out of state

Buying a Windstar Bay home sight-unseen is very doable, but a lake purchase here has one extra layer that an ordinary suburban closing does not: the water. Most out-of-state buyers we work with start with a live video walkthrough, where we walk the home and the lot for you on camera, stand at the shoreline, show you which direction the lot actually faces the water, and answer questions in real time. That matters more in Windstar Bay than in most communities, because the lake relationship is not uniform. The lake-edge streets (Windmill Pointe Circle, Lakecrest Circle, Shorecrest Circle, Beacon Light Cove) hold true private-shoreline lots, while Windstar Bay Boulevard, Sandpiper Circle, and Fairlake Court skew toward lake-view or interior lots that lean on the clubhouse, pool, and nearby marinas rather than your own backyard frontage. A video tour lets you confirm what a given address really is before you spend a dollar on travel.

The single most important step on any waterfront lot here is verifying the dock situation before you fall in love with a listing. Old Hickory Lake is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) reservoir, so a private dock is never automatic with a waterfront lot. It requires a USACE permit, only roughly half of the lake's shoreline is classified as Limited Development where docks may even be considered, and an existing dock's permit does not transfer to you automatically (the new owner must apply to the Corps). This is not theoretical in Windstar Bay. We have seen true-lakefront listings in this community carry no dock at all (one premium Windmill Pointe Circle home had only a dock permit still pending Corps approval; another lakefront listing on Beacon Light Cove was tagged "No Dock"). So a waterfront price tag does not guarantee a usable, transferable dock. For any specific lot we verify the parcel's shoreline allocation and dock-permit status directly with the USACE Old Hickory Lake Resource Manager (5 Power Plant Road, Hendersonville) and the listing agent, so you know exactly what you are buying.

From there the playbook is the standard lake-buyer due diligence, run remotely: a full home inspection (and, where relevant, a separate look at any existing dock, seawall, or rip-rap shoreline stabilization), a per-parcel FEMA flood-zone check with a flood-insurance quote in hand before you remove contingencies, and a remote closing handled by a Tennessee title company with documents sent to you electronically or by mobile notary. Sumner County zoned schools should be confirmed by address through the district's InfoFinder tool or by calling (615) 451-5200, since attendance zones can change. We represent buyers in Windstar Bay at no cost to you, and because we are on Old Hickory Lake constantly, we can tell you which lots are genuinely worth the trip to see in person.

Who it fits

Windstar Bay tends to suit buyers who want a custom, single-family home in a small, established lakeside pocket of Hendersonville (roughly 129 homes, dating to about 1998 with later infill) and who value being on the water's doorstep without taking on a large new-build community. Because the neighborhood is genuinely mixed, it works for a few different buyers at once: someone chasing a true private-shoreline lifestyle on the lake-edge streets (Windmill Pointe Circle, Lakecrest Circle, Shorecrest Circle, Beacon Light Cove), and someone who simply wants to live in a lake-oriented community with a clubhouse and pool near the water but doesn't need a dock in their own backyard (the interior and lake-view lots on Sandpiper Circle, Fairlake Court, and parts of Windstar Bay Boulevard). It also fits people who like having marinas and a public ramp close by: Drakes Creek Marina on Sanders Ferry Road and the Sanders Ferry Park boat ramp are minutes away, so you can keep a boat on the lake even if your own lot doesn't have a slip. With SR-386 (Vietnam Veterans Boulevard) carrying most of the Hendersonville-to-Nashville traffic and TriStar Hendersonville Medical Center nearby, it leans toward buyers who want lake living that's still an easy reach of the city for work and errands.

It's a tougher fit for a few buyers, and being honest about that up front saves heartache. If your whole reason for buying is to step off your own permitted dock, do not assume a "lakefront" price tag delivers one — Old Hickory Lake is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoir, a private dock requires a USACE permit, not every waterfront lot is dock-eligible, and an existing dock's permit doesn't auto-transfer to you. Within Windstar Bay we've already seen waterfront homes listed with no dock and only a permit "pending Corps of Engineers approval," so the dock question has to be answered per lot before you commit, not after. Buyers set on a condo should also look carefully: the verified for-sale inventory here is single-family, and the "waterfront condo" stories often trace to separate Hendersonville complexes, not this subdivision — so confirm before counting on it. And anyone needing a guard-gated entrance, on-site marina, tennis, or golf will likely prefer elsewhere; nothing in the research confirms those amenities, only the clubhouse and lakeside pool. If you're weighing a specific street or lot, call us at 615-265-1000 and we'll help you pin down the lake relationship, dock eligibility, HOA terms, and the zoned schools (Sumner County Schools — verify the exact zoned schools by address via the district's InfoFinder or (615) 451-5200) before you write an offer.