Notice those clever signs on Myrtle Beach area beach homes? Here’s who makes them

It’s a long-standing tradition when buying a home in the coastal areas of South Carolina, something that is often chosen even before the color of the house: A name.

With such names as “A Sight to Sea,” “Sandy Feet Retreat” and “Shore Thing,” the clever beach home monikers along the Grand Strand not only help tell them apart, they also showcase the personality and creativity of the owner – adding to the coastal charm.

And the practice of naming properties has only grown in popularity, especially when it comes to vacation rentals and those making the move to coastal towns hoping to enjoy a slice of the beach life.

“When I first came here ... I noticed (signs) on beach houses,” said sign maker Steve Jameson, who moved to Myrtle Beach from Kentucky in 1975.

Most of the signs were hand-painted, plywood signs with the names of their beach homes that were probably painted by the owner, Jameson said. He found it interesting that people were giving beach houses “cute little names.”

“I was falling in love with beach house signs,” said Jameson, owner of the Sign Man in North Myrtle Beach.

Jameson has made more beach house signs “than anything in the world,” he said.

“When people move here, the very first thing they want to do is get a palm tree,” Jameson said, “and then the next thing they want to get is a beach sign.”

How did naming homes get started?

It’s not really clear when the tradition of naming beach houses began in the Myrtle Beach area or along the South Carolina coast.

It is believed the practice originally started in England, where ancestral homes have names to identify the families that owned them. Plantations and estates in the U.S. eventually followed suit.

Before modern navigation systems, house names also made beach cottages easier to find. During the early 1940s and ‘50s, many beach cottages were usually not well constructed, unlike the grand oceanfront homes of today. In addition, street grids in beach communities were inconsistent, so having names on homes helped guests and delivery services find the homes more easily.

Joseph Rasinski still sees homes with signs that he hand painted and designed more than a decade ago.

Rasinski, who spent years perfecting his style of making beach home signs, can’t remember every sign he has made, but the Murrells Inlet resident estimates he’s done more than 1,000 since he began in 2012.

The 58-year-old made many of the signs that hang on homes from Surfside Beach to Garden City, he said.

And the more he made, “the more people wanted them,” Rasinski said.

Beach houses are a place ‘to have fun’

Walking into Jameson’s store is like walking into an art gallery.

There are residential signs hanging on the walls and on stands, and his own artwork, giant paintings of Myrtle Beach of the past, lean against the walls or are propped up throughout his studio.

Paint tubes, cans and brushes can be found in almost every work space.

In one area of the store, Jameson is touching up an owner’s beach home sign, while in another, he has white order slips hanging on a drafting board. These are custom orders for signs he is currently working on.

There were very few carved or sandblasted signs in Myrtle Beach when Jameson began his business in 1983. Jameson claims to be the first shop to make only sandblasted signs.

Sandblasting gives the look of old, weather-worn beach cottages that have spent decades being “blasted” by wind and beach sand. “It looks like the beach,” Jameson said.

At the time Jameson started his sign career, sandblasted residential signs were becoming popular along the East Coast, especially in Hilton Head, he said. As Jameson began making the signs, other Myrtle Beach area shops followed suit, making the signs popular not only for homes but also for golf courses, which placed them at every tee.

Jameson originally planned to make commercial signs, however, married couples on vacation kept coming in begging for signs for their homes, he said. After a few years, Jameson decided to make only residential signs.

It proved to be a good choice, allowing him to use his artist skills to “make things beautiful.”

Now, most of his customers are over the age of 50 – not the young tourists who once clamored for signs in the 1980s. And almost all of them are married, he said.

It’s reflective of the shift in the population that have moved to the Myrtle Beach area over the years – many of those retirees or close to retirement.

There are at least five binders full of Jameson’s work sitting on a table where he meets with customers to decide on the sign’s design and a name.

Many times people will choose a word that matches the letter of their last name or rhymes with it. Names can be cheeky, such as “Sand by Me,” or straightforward, with just the owner’s name.

But he understands why the signs are so popular.

“Beach houses are less formal than your primary residence,” Jameson said. “It’s a place for fun, a place for holidays.”

Making home signs a craft

A recent Facebook post by Rasinski about his work, which included examples, brought many comments from people wanting to know how they could get him to make a sign for their home.

Rasinski, who recently began working at ASL Signs in Myrtle Beach, will bring his residential sign craft to the custom sign company.

The company does make residential signs but is planning on using Rasinski’s talents to expand their sandblasting options for beach homes, owner Anthony Leggio said.

Rasinski, standing in the shop, explains how he designs and then paints a sign. He is detailed as points out the process.

“It’s a craft,” Leggio’s wife, Kristin, said about Rasinki’s work.

Depending on the style of sign and the labor involved in making it, prices can range anywhere from $125 to $600 or higher, Leggio said.

Many of the signs Leggio’s company makes are personalized and generational, he said. The residential signs are just a part of the beach vibes, Leggio said.

“Everybody wants to name their house,” he said.