This home was star in a big movie filmed in Myrtle Beach. Here’s what it looks like inside
When Maggie Maher bought her Myrtle Beach home 10 years ago, she didn’t know she was buying a piece of the city’s history.
All she knew was that the home needed a lot of work and that her Realtor was encouraging her not to buy it.
But it was the sliding glass door that opens the full length of the screened-in porch that caused Maher to fall in love with the home. It was only later that she learned her new home had been a star in one of the biggest movies filmed in the Myrtle Beach area.
“Shag: The Movie” was set in the summer of 1963 in Myrtle Beach, where four teenage girls head for a weekend adventure before one of the friends, Carson (Phoebe Cates), is to be married. The film, also starring Bridget Fonda, Annabeth Gish and Scott Coffey, was released in 1989.
The movie features scenes from Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach, including shag dancing, North Ocean Boulevard and various other locations. Many scenes were filmed in 1987 and included locals as extras.
The house was built in 1965 and sits near the coastal city’s Golden Mile – a one-mile stretch of North Ocean Boulevard with upscale homes and scenic beachfront property. Maher kept some parts of the home that lent itself to the film, including the giant outside deck that is visible from Burchap Drive.
“I couldn’t get rid of that,” she said.
Maher was surprised the first time a tour trolley went by her home and fans of the film often slowly drive by the home to see where the movie took place, Maher said.
“It’s kind of neat,” Maher said, “especially since I fell in love with Myrtle Beach.”
How many times was home in film?
Maher has watched the movie. She’s unsure what scenes were actually filmed in the home. However, when she bought it, what is now her living room was a completely open area.
Actually, no scenes were filmed inside the home, according to Kathryn Hedgepath, creator and narrator of Myrtle Beach History Trolley & Step-On Tours.
The only time the home was shown in the movie was when the girls pull into the driveway to pick up Pudge, played by Annabeth Gish. Pudge’s mother comes onto the home’s front patio.
All of that is in the first 10 minutes of the movie, and the home is never seen again, Hedgepath said.
The four bedroom, three bath home was purchased for under a half million dollars a decade ago, according to county records.
The 57-year-old, who works at Hilton Grand Vacations, lives there with her two dogs, Goose, a golden retriever, and Brutus, a shih tzu.
There’s really not any area that Maher hasn’t touched. “Just the hardwood floors,” she said.
Although the outside still has a 1960s vibe, the inside boasts modern touches with sleek designs complemented by rustic decor, such as woods.
The once open living room area is now a cozy sitting room that leads into the dining room and kitchen. Maher has turned one of the bedrooms into her office and her master suite has doors that lead out onto the balcony. The master bath includes a stunning oversized stone shower with a stand-alone bathtub, perfect for bubble baths or washing the dogs.
Outside, there is a back deck and in the front, the large deck that has wraparound wooden seating sits on top of the two-car garage. The fenced in yard has mature trees and beautiful landscaping.
There also is a pool where Goose loves to go swimming.
Maher often sits on the outside deck where she can hear the ocean late in the evening, she says. It’s one of her favorite things to do.
Movie pays homage to state dance
The movie’s title is a nod to the official state dance of South Carolina. The dance, which took hold in the 1940s and ‘50s, was to beach music and is a cross between the jitterbug and 1950s bop. There is a national shag dance competition each year in North Myrtle Beach.
North Myrtle Beach is the center of the shag community, hosting thousands of shaggers who descend on the city three times a year to dance and reconnect with others.
There are several locations in the city where someone who wants to learn the dance can do so.
Maher, who moved from south Florida to Myrtle Beach to be close to family, has even tried the dance a time or two, heading to North Myrtle Beach to learn it.
For her, the home’s popularity is a bonus.
This story was originally published May 14, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
