Lake Toxaway, North Carolina – September 28, 2009. . . Private equity residence club ownerships are now available at Catatoga, a 308-acre resort community near Lake Toxaway. The Residence Club at Catatoga offers one-eighth ownership, deeded interests in either a single-family residence on a private wooded home site or the Lake Lodge overlooking 22-acre Lake Catatoga. Both properties include full access to Catatoga Club’s extensive amenities including two miles of private trout fishing – with one mile designated as trophy brook trout water.

The single-family residence offering provides owners a beautifully and fully furnished three-bedroom, three-and-one-half bath home for just $125,000, while the Lake Lodge offers owners a six-bedroom, six-full and two-half bath fully furnished lakefront lodge for $350,000. The Residence Club at Catatoga offers unlimited, flexible use to owners all four seasons of the year (subject only to the club’s reservation policy and availability).

“The Residence Club at Catatoga allows buyers seeking a world-class mountain getaway the opportunity for home ownership at reasonable prices without the concern and complications of constant maintenance and upkeep,” says Steve Schneider, Merrill Trust Group’s Director of Sales and Marketing. “At Catatoga the club staff takes care of all your needs, including daily cleaning and housekeeping, concierge services, and maintenance. It’s an ideal vacation home solution.”

Catatoga is the perfect location for anyone seeking a serene getaway. In addition to its private lake and trout stream, the gated community is also close to fishing streams and extensive hiking opportunities in the surrounding Pisgah National Forest and Gorges State Park, which borders Catatoga on the south and west.

Nestled among stately hardwood and pine-covered mountains on a high plateau, Catatoga has two spectacular private waterfalls, a clubhouse with outdoor swimming pool, tennis courts, Jacuzzi, steam room, sauna, fitness center, game room, bar and lounge, boathouse and dock, and miles of secluded hiking trails. The Outpost cabin—including a general store, outfitters shop and Day Spa—is expected to open this fall. 

There are also completed and fully furnished homes available at Catatoga, as well as home sites located in private wooded settings, some with lake and long-range views. Prices for fully furnished homes start at $595,000, and home sites are available for as little as $85,000. A limited number of Catatoga Club non-resident memberships are also available.

Merrill Trust Group, LLC, is a developer of private clubs and resort communities throughout the southeast. Merrill Trust communities include Foxhall Resort and Sporting Club, the nation’s first urban resort and sporting club residential community in Atlanta, Georgia; Sky Valley Resort and Country Club, the highest elevation community in Georgia; Catatoga, a private retreat in Lake Toxaway, North Carolina; and Daytona Beach Resort and Conference Center, an oceanfront resort in Ormond Beach, Florida.

For more information on Catatoga sales, call Jim Staton at 828-877-6270 or email him at jstaton@catatoga.net. For media information, call Deborah Huso at (540) 474-5147, or e-mail drhuso@writewellmedia.com.

Sky Valley, Georgia – September 1, 2009. . . Sky Valley recently released its first home sites since developer Merrill Trust Communities and Resorts, LLC, purchased the community in 2004. There are currently 12 new developer home sites available, most of them situated at 4,000 feet or higher with long distance views toward the mountains of northern Georgia and western North Carolina.

“This is a historic opportunity for new buyers to own some of the prime property in Sky Valley,” says Merrill Trust Group’s Director of Sales and Marketing Steve Schneider. “For the last several years, the only way buyers could find views like this at Sky Valley was to purchase a resale property. Now we have choice home sites available with some of the best views in the community.”

Established in 1969, Sky Valley is Georgia’s highest elevation community, originally established as the southernmost ski resort in the country. The community’s valley floor rests at an elevation of 3,200 feet while the surrounding forested ridgelines climb to elevations over 4,000 feet. One of North Georgia’s most well-established resort residential communities, Sky Valley has a newly redesigned golf course by Bill Bergin, one of Altanta’s premier golf course architects, as well as more than 600 single-family homes, plus condominiums and timeshare units.

The recently released high elevation home sites are one acre plus in size with prices starting at $125,000. In the last 10 weeks, Sky Valley has sold nine properties, showing a definite turnaround in the North Georgia real estate market. “I think people feel comfortable buying here,” says Schneider. “Many of our buyers have parents or grandparents who have owned here for years, and the community has a long history.”

Merrill Trust Group, LLC, is a developer of private clubs and resort communities throughout the southeast. Merrill Trust communities include Foxhall Resort and Sporting Club, an equestrian and golf resort residential community in Atlanta, Georgia; Sky Valley Resort and Country Club, the highest elevation community in Georgia; Catatoga near Lake Toxaway, North Carolina; and Daytona Beach Resort, an oceanfront community in Florida.

For more information on Sky Valley sales, call 800-437-2416, Ext. 3. For media information, call Deborah Huso at (540) 474-5147, or e-mail drhuso@writewellmedia.com.

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Hot Springs, Virginia – June 23, 2009. . . Despite the slowdown in real estate sales and home construction nationwide, the mountain resort community of Hot Springs, Virginia, continues to draw well-to-do vacation home seekers, many of who have recently completed or are building second or third homes at the resort residential community of Homestead Preserve. Located adjacent to the landmark Homestead resort, Homestead Preserve has garnered much attention in recent years for its unusual commitment not just to environmental stewardship but to preserving the architectural legacy of the famed Warm Springs Valley, a centuries-old healing and health escape centered on natural mineral springs.

After more than two years of intensive architectural research, the developers of Homestead Preserve, all of whom were involved in the creation of the award-winning community of Celebration, Florida, began work on a 450-home community in Bath County, Virginia, designed to reflect the native historic architecture and landscaping of the Allegheny Mountains. Situated on 2,300 scenic acres surrounding the villages of Hot Springs and Warm Springs, the development’s homes feature four distinct styles of historic architecture, which include Highland Classical, Highlands Farmhouse, English Romantic, and Highlands Arts and Crafts.

“I believe we have risen to the occasion of a challenging opportunity to create neighborhoods that blend seamlessly into the already existing community of Bath County,” says Homestead Preserve Co-General Manager Don Killoren. “The homes we are building today reflect the architecture that is already here and which has developed naturally over the course of the last two centuries. Not many developers take that kind of care when creating communities to blend the new right in with the old.”

To date, there are more than two dozen completed homes at Homestead Preserve, and seven more are currently under construction. All Homestead Preserve residences have met strict historic architecture guidelines that ensure they blend into or complement the natural landscape. Working closely with Pittsburgh-based Urban Design Associates, Homestead Preserve has developed a Pattern Book that details the area’s rich architectural history, settlement patterns, and even native plants and trees appropriate for landscaping. Architectural firms who contributed to the Pattern Book included Versaci Neumann + Partners, Middleburg, VA; Robert Adam Architects, London, England; John Reagan Architects, Columbus, OH; Frazier Associates, Staunton, VA; Jim Samsel Architects, Asheville, NC; and Commonwealth Associates, Norfolk, VA.

Homestead Preserve has won numerous accolades for its commitment to both historic preservation and environmental and cultural heritage stewardship. Among them are the 2009 Valley Conservation Council Better Models for Development Award for “Excellence in Historic Preservation,” the 2009 Palladio Adaptive Reuse and/or Sympathetic Addition Award for its restoration of a 1920s agricultural complex into a community center, and the 2008 Outstanding Adaptive Use Award from the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities.

Situated on sites ranging in size from ½ to 13 acres, Homestead Preserve “historic” residences range in value from $1 million to over $4 million. They have been constructed of natural materials including wood siding, stone, brick, timber, and stucco. All homes have been served by underground utilities to maintain the historic character of the landscape yet still feature state-of-the-art advances, including new “fiber-to-the-home” technology.

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, LLC, 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, LLC, is one of the Southeast’s leading and most diversified real estate companies.

For more information on Homestead Preserve sales, call 877-213-6491. For media information, call Deborah Huso at (540) 474-5147, or e-mail drhuso@writewellmedia.com

Hot Springs, Virginia – May 25, 2009. . . The Valley Conservation Council recently awarded Homestead Preserve the 2009 Better Models for Development Award for “Excellence in Historic Preservation” in recognition of its restoration and adaptive reuse of the historic Old Dairy in Warm Springs, Virginia.

“This is a beautiful and comprehensive rehabilitation of a rural agricultural complex,” says Sara Hollberg, Valley Conservation Council (VCC) Planner. “The dairy barns and silos have been an iconic part of the Bath County landscape for generations, and it is wonderful to see their future secured.”

Homestead Preserve completed restoration of the seven historic structures that now make up the Old Dairy Community Center in 2007, at the cost of about $6 million.  Today Old Dairy is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is also a designated Virginia Historic Landmark.  The restored agricultural complex has been the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions over the past two years, including an award for Outstanding Adaptive Use from the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (APVA) last year and receipt of the 2009 Palladio Award for historic restoration.

“We are incredibly honored by this award,” says Don Killoren, Co-General Manager of Homestead Preserve.  “To receive recognition from such a respected conservation group as the VCC for our thoughtful development approach and restoration efforts in Bath County means a great deal to us.”

VCC recognized ten projects this year that serve as models for development in the Shenandoah Valley region. All represent ways to grow that respect local character, create livable communities, complement historic resources, and conserve natural assets. The awards include projects from Winchester, Berryville, Woodstock, and New Market as well as Warren, Augusta, Rockbridge, Bath, and Botetourt counties.

1. “The issue is not whether we will continue to grow, but where and how we want to grow,” says John Eckman, VCC’s Executive Director. “These projects prove that development not only can fit the character of our traditional communities but also add to it.”

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, LLC, 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, LLC, is one of the Southeast’s leading and most diversified real estate companies.

For more information on Homestead Preserve sales, call 877-213-6491.  For media information, call Deborah Huso at (540) 474-5147, or e-mail drhuso@writewellmedia.com.

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Hot Springs, Virginia – April 14, 2009. . . Homestead Preserve was one of six communities receiving “Best Preservation Practices” honors in Pinnacle Living Mountain Homes magazine’s 2009 Best of the Mountains Awards. The magazine cited Homestead Preserve’s conservation of more than 10,000 acres of land with The Nature Conservancy and Virginia Outdoors Foundation as well as its strict architectural guidelines as primary reasons for the award.

Pinnacle Living Mountain Homes also praised Homestead Preserve’s restoration and adaptive reuse of the Old Dairy Community Center in Warm Springs. In 2007, Homestead Preserve developers completed a $6 million restoration of the 1920s agricultural complex and community icon. Old Dairy is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places and as a Virginia Historic Landmark.

“We are honored to be recognized for the fourth year running in Mountain Homes’ ‘Best of the Mountains’ awards,” says Homestead Preserve Co-General Manager Don Killoren. “The fact that we make the list year after year attests to our ongoing commitment to the environment and the community of Bath County.”

The five other communities honored for “Best Preservation Practices” this year include Balsam Mountain Preserve in Sylva, NC; Cold Mountain in Asheville, NC; Red Wolf Run in Asheville, NC; The Cliffs Communities in NC and SC; and The Preserve at English Mountain in Sevierville, TN.

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, LLC, 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, LLC, is one of the Southeast’s leading and most diversified real estate companies.

For more information on Homestead Preserve sales, call 877-213-6491. For media information, call Deborah Huso at (540) 474-5147, or e-mail drhuso@writewellmedia.com.

Warm Springs, Virginia – March 17, 2009. . . Homestead Preserve’s Old Dairy Community Center received recognition last month from the Palladio Awards Program for the restoration and adaptive reuse of the structure completed in 2007. The Palladio Awards are sponsored by Restore Media, publisher of Period Homes and Traditional Building magazines. Urban Design Associates (UDI), Old Dairy’s project architect, won the 2009 Palladio Adaptive Reuse and/or Sympathetic Addition Award for its restoration of the 1920s agricultural complex and its renovation of the buildings to meet the modern needs of a community and recreation center for the conservation community of Homestead Preserve.

Homestead Preserve’s Old Dairy Community Center consists of seven historic structures dating to the late 1920s. Those structures include a three-story Main Barn, Herdsman’s Cottage, as well as a Ham House, Calving Barn, Bottling Building, and Bull Barn. Built in 1928, Old Dairy served The Homestead in Hot Springs for more than 50 years, supplying all of the resort’s dairy and beef needs.

Homestead Preserve, which purchased Old Dairy from The Homestead in 2002, spent $6 million to restore the long abandoned historic agricultural complex in 2007. In the last two years, Old Dairy has received numerous recognitions including listing on the National Register of Historic Places, designation as a Virginia Historic Landmark, and an award for Outstanding Adaptive Use from the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (APVA).

The Palladio Awards Program is designed to honor outstanding achievement in traditional design. The Palladio Awards are named in honor of Andrea Palladio, the Renaissance architect who created modern architecture for his time while using models from the past for inspiration and guidance. The awards are sponsored by Period Homes and Traditional Building magazines. Old Dairy will be featured in the June issue of Traditional Building.

UDA is a group of architects headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who design cities, towns, and neighborhoods. Their goal is to create beautiful places with lasting value for the communities they serve. UDA has won repeated awards from the Congress for New Urbanism, Urban Land Institute, and the National Association of Home Builders for their pattern books, urban site plans, and urban redevelopment plans.

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, LLC, 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, LLC. is one of the Southeast’s leading and most diversified real estate companies.

For more information on Homestead Preserve sales, call 877-213-6491. For media information, call Deborah Huso at (540) 474-5147, or e-mail drhuso@writewellmedia.com.

Hot Springs, Virginia – January 27, 2009. . . With the fall completion of the Homestead Preserve Boarding Stables at Homestead Preserve, all promised amenities at the resort residential community adjacent to The Homestead are now complete. Equestrian owners will be able to reserve the six-stall stables for their horses beginning in the spring.

The boarding stables completion is the last in a list of promised resort amenities for Homestead Preserve owners, the first of which was the Old Dairy Community Center, completed in May 2007. Old Dairy, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, houses Homestead Preserve’s spa, convention hall, fitness center, recreational rooms, meeting space, country market, pool, and community offices.

Homestead Preserve also has a number of quiet gathering places completed within the community, including Quarry Hill Park and Old Camp Meadow, and roads and infrastructure for most available home sites have been completed with a few remaining fiber optic cables to be run this spring.

“The completion of our amenities is a major milestone,” says Homestead Preserve’s Director of Sales and Marketing Ian McIlvaine. “Owners and prospective owners can rest secure knowing they’ve made a sound investment here at the Preserve. They’re not going to have to wait for infrastructure or amenities to be completed before enjoying their homes here. We’ve provided these services on the front-end of our development. They’re paid for and available now.”

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, LLC. 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, LLC. is one of the Southeast’s leading and most diversified real estate companies.

For more information on Homestead Preserve sales, call 877-213-6491. To schedule media interviews with Celebration Associates developers, call Deborah Huso at (540) 474-5147, or e-mail drhuso@writewellmedia.com.

Hot Springs, VA – December 1, 2008. . . Bundoran Farm and Homestead Preserve developer Celebration Associates recently invited Robert Mitchell, CEO of Linger Longer Communities in Greensboro, Georgia, to join the firm as a partner in charge of Celebration Associates’ current and future projects in the Carolinas and Georgia.

Mitchell has served as President and CEO of Linger Longer Communities since 2006. Prior to that, he served as President and COO of the 14,000-acre golf community of Reynolds Plantation, which was selected as the number one golf community in America by the Robb Report. Mitchell has more than 30 years of experience in project development and resort management, including work with the Walt Disney Company and the Kessler Collection of Hotels in Florida.

“For as long as I can remember I have wanted to own my own company,” Mitchell says. “Joining Celebration Associates as a partner is going to give me the opportunity to do that in partnership with two of the southeast’s most respected real estate community developers.” Mitchell will assume his new leadership role with Celebration Associates December 1, and will be based in their office in the Village of Baxter.

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 11 years led the Clear Springs Development Company, owned by The Springs Company, in developing the community of Baxter Village in Fort Mill, South Carolina, and is also the managing partner leading the real estate development projects at Homestead Preserve in Hot Springs, Virginia; Bundoran Farm in Charlottesville, Virginia; and the Mount Washington Resort at Bretton Woods in New Hampshire. Crosland, LLC 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, and worked with Mitchell when they were both employed by the Walt Disney Company. Crosland, Inc. is one of the Southeast’s leading and most diversified real estate companies.

To schedule media interviews with Celebration Associates developers, call Deborah Huso at (540) 474-5147, or e-mail drhuso@writewellmedia.com.

Hot Springs, Virginia – November 4, 2008. . . Last month Homestead Preserve received the 2008 Scenic Virginia Award for Scenic Viewshed Preservation. The award honors the Bath County, Virginia conservation community for its efforts to maintain scenic viewsheds, preserve open space and forestland, and protect natural landscapes during the course of development.

When Homestead Preserve developer Celebration Associates purchased the Virginia Hot Springs Company in 2002, they sold 9,250 acres of their original 11,500-acre purchase on and around Warm Springs Mountain and the Cascades Gorge to The Nature Conservancy. In October 2004, they placed an additional 935 acres into permanent conservation easements with the Virginia Outdoors Foundation to ensure the protection of the area’s mountain ridges and pastoral landscape for future generations.

One of the major distinguishing factors of Homestead Preserve’s environmental commitment, which caught the attention of the Scenic Virginia Awards committee, is the intensive field work that went into creating Homestead Preserve’s master plan. In 2002, Celebration Associates established an aerial map of the property to allow the planning team to study topography, forest cover, streams, and watersheds. Then, on the ground, planners evaluated the landscape to determine which areas would be suitable for development and which should be preserved.

“Our planning team also studied the views from each home site as well as the views into the development from local roads and highways to make sure home sites would blend into the natural surroundings and not be intrusive on the viewshed,” explains Homestead Preserve’s Co-General Manager Don Killoren. “We are honored to have these conservation efforts recognized by Scenic Virginia.”

Scenic Virginia, Inc. is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to preserving, protecting, and enhancing the scenic beauty of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The organization’s primary purpose is to encourage and support public and private actions that enrich the Commonwealth’s scenic beauty, particularly along Virginia’s highways and byways.

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 877-213-6491. To schedule media interviews with Celebration Associates developers, call Deborah Huso at (540) 474-5147, or e-mail drhuso@writewellmedia.com.

Boone, North Carolina – October 20, 2008

Echota, the highest-selling resort community in the North Carolina High Country, has new amenities to offer owners this year. The community recently opened its Amenity Center on the Ridge, which offers a central gathering place for Echota and Echota on the Ridge owners with stunning views of the Blue Ridge skyline and Grandfather Mountain.

A timber frame clubhouse with rustic poplar bark siding, the Amenity Center features a billiard room, grand ballroom for parties and get-togethers, kitchen, and elevator access between floors. It also has state-of-the-art fitness equipment lined up in front of a big screen TV as well as two spa treatment rooms where owners can schedule a relaxing massage. An outdoor patio with fireplace and bar offer a lovely space for enjoying crisp spring evenings within view of the mountains.

The Amenity Center’s mountaintop pool also opened last summer, sporting a cascading waterfall feature with native plant landscaping and outdoor spa.

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, call 866-283-9420. For media inquiries, call Deborah Huso at (540) 474-5147, or e-mail drhuso@writewellmedia.com.