Homestead Preserve One of Many Celebration Associates Communities Making Real Environmental Commitments

Views like this one at Homestead Preserve will remain pristine for future generations.

Hot Springs, Virginia – August 20, 2008. . . In Bath County, Virginia, preservation has not only taken precedence over profit; it has also created it. Since it first began offering homes and home sites for sale in 2005, Homestead Preserve has sold a third of the sites in its 450-home conservation community in Hot Springs. Situated on 2,300 acres in Virginia’s Allegheny Mountains, Homestead Preserve’s acreage could have supported as many as 2,700 homes.

Instead, in a rare and daring move, Homestead Preserve developers, Celebration Associates based in Charlottesville, elected to preserve the natural landscape for future generations. Of their original 11,500-acre purchase in 2002, they elected to sell 9,250 acres on and around Warm Springs Mountain to The Nature Conservancy and, in October 2004, placed an additional 935 acres into permanent conservation easements with the Virginia Outdoors Foundation. The developers have also established a “building envelope” on each individual home site to further protect the integrity of the landscape. These actions will insure that no more than 325 acres, or less than 3% of the original 11,500-acres purchased, will ever be affected by development.

While many developers make cursory nods to conservation by putting a few dozen acres in “green space,” Celebration Associates has a long history of developing communities that demonstrate a real and lasting commitment to environmental stewardship. Celebration Associates founding partners Charles Adams and Don Killoren both made their mark on conservation development and New Urbanism, helping spawn a nationwide trend, when they led planning and design of the town of Celebration, Florida in the mid 1990s.

Currently, the partners are at work on new conservation communities up and down the East Coast, including Bundoran Farm near Charlottesville, Virginia. A 2,300-acre working farm, Bundoran will remain largely intact with over 90% of its acreage protected from development for perpetuity. Bundoran Farm is one of only 47 members worldwide of Audubon International’s Gold Signature Sanctuary Program.

Celebration Associates is also involved in the development of a mixed-use, master-planned community adjacent to the landmark Mount Washington Resort in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, where 600 acres of a 922-acre landscape will be left to the course of nature.

“We hope our communities will set an example,” says Charles Adams, “and show that when developers emphasize preservation, they actually enhance the value of their property. We’re not only preserving natural landscapes for future generations, we’re satisfying a desire that families have to be in a place where natural heritage still has meaning.”

Homestead Preserve developers and Celebration Associates partners Charles Adams and Don Killoren were instrumental in the design and development of Celebration, Florida, near Orlando, which was hailed as the “Most Advanced Community in the Country from 1996-1998” by The Guinness Book of World Records. Celebration Associates has for the past ten years been a partner in developing the community of Baxter Village in South Carolina, and is also a partner leading the real estate development projects at Bundoran Farm in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the Mt. Washington Hotel at Bretton Woods in New Hampshire. Crosland, Inc. of Charlotte, NC is a financial partner in Homestead Preserve, Bundoran Farm and Mount Washington Resort. Crosland’s President and CEO Todd Mansfield was also directly involved in the development and success of Celebration, Florida. Crosland, Inc. is one of the Southeast’s leading and most diversified real estate companies.

For more information on Homestead Preserve sales, call 877-224-9477. To schedule media interviews with Celebration Associates developers, call Deborah Huso at (540) 474-5147, or e-mail drhuso@writewellmedia.com.

Escape the Dog Days of August in the North Carolina High Country

Boone, North Carolina – August 12, 2008. . . At the turn of the last century, the North Carolina High Country was a favorite summer retreat of wealthy lowlanders looking to escape the heat and humidity of the coast and Piedmont. Many built elaborate “cottages” in villages like Blowing Rock, where they enjoyed summers of mountain scenery, cool nights, and breezy days.

Contemporary visitors to the High Country continue to flock to this region in the heat of summer. In fact, visitors spend as much as half a billion dollars annually in the High Country, according to statistics from the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area. And many still seek extended stays in their own second homes or in long-term rentals.

Despite the recent softening of the real estate market, Vice President of Sales and Development with Echota, the High Country’s highest selling resort community, says, “Second home sales remain strong this year. Echota has closed on over 50 real estate transactions this year almost exclusively with buyers who will use their condominiums or single-family residences as second homes.” Sears indicates that vacation rentals in Echota are strong this year as well, showing no decrease from last summer’s figures. “With climbing gas prices, people are taking their summer getaways close to home,” adds Sears. “The North Carolina High Country is three hours or less away from all of North Carolina’s major metropolitan areas.”

And there’s no shortage of attractions in the High Country. The region straddles the Blue Ridge Parkway and offers access to Grandfather Mountain, the Linn Cove Viaduct, and Moses H. Cone Memorial Park. Endless opportunities for shopping, dining, and festivals await visitors to Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and surrounding villages, including three different Mast General Store locations, and families with children continue to enjoy Tweetsie Railroad. Meanwhile, An Appalachian Summer Festival provides season-long performing and visual arts activities.

Echota is located about two hours from Charlotte and three hours from Raleigh-Durham. Echota Developer Mark Harrill is President of Foscoe Realty and Development. He is the leading developer of second home resort communities in the North Carolina High Country. He has been developing mountain property in the area for more than two decades and has demonstrated a commitment to blending architecture into the landscape. Echota properties range in cost from the $300,000s to $700,000.

For information on Echota sales or rentals, call 866-283-9420. For media inquiries on Echota or the North Carolina High Country, call Deborah Huso at (540) 474-5147, or e-mail drhuso@writewellmedia.com.