THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 24, 1995 TAG: 9506220384
SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY MARY ELLEN MILES, SPECIAL TO REAL ESTATE WEEKLY
LENGTH: Long : 126 lines
The sales brochure mentions ``the blending of man and the natural environment.'' This is not commonly found with Virginia Beach townhouses, but Hartford Development Corp. seems to be accomplishing it.
Parkside Green is just off Holland Road, a bit east of Landstown Road. If drivers look carefully past the shoulder, they'll see some ornamental fencing, and beyond that, the townhouse models.
``We've been here about four years now,'' says Val Braun, Leading Edge Realty site agent since 1992, ``and people still walk in here asking when we're going to start building.''
Since the completed townhouses are farther down Saville Garden Way from the models, and cannot be seen from Holland Road, people don't realize the subdivision is almost complete. The last townhouses to be constructed will be closer to Holland Road; building will probably start this fall.
Within Parkside Green is Virginia's first certified Wildlife Habitat, almost 30 acres of untamed nature, bordering West Neck Creek. On the other side is another 30 acres of partial park land, maintained by the Homeowner's Association. Some townhouses are on the edge of the park.
One resident said when he moved in, he couldn't even drive his car down the main street one day because of the deer in the street. Since the increase in construction, however, the deer stay in the woods.
Hartford Development Corp. is the only joint venture of RML Corp. and Gallagher Associates, both residential building companies. Thom Gallagher and Robert Letchworth went to great lengths to preserve the environment, carefully researching and working with the city and other agencies to develop and build upon the area.
A bird sanctuary is also on the property. The park has a generous amount of equipment and other features, including a 2,000-foot mulched hiking trail, covered picnic tables, barbecue grills, volleyball courts, and a ``tot lot.''
The tots can romp on functional wooden equipment, including a children's train, which blends into the thickly forested backdrop. A wooden bridge sits over the neighborhood lake behind many of the wooded townhouse lots, with observation platforms and benches on each end of the bridge.
The park also has two meadows adjacent to the hiking trail.
``The first Winter we were here,'' says David Baxter, president of the Homeowners' Association, ``the kids and I went hiking. We'd only been in the woods for about two minutes before we spotted a mother deer and four does. I was so excited, I called my wife on my cellular phone to tell her about them.
``It's good for the kids, we tracked the deer prints through the snow.''
The area's great, Baxter says. ``More and more people are getting out,'' he says. ``They're Rollerblading, riding bikes, and taking walks.'' Beacause there are no thoroughfares from other neighborhoods, just one main road off Holland, ``we don't get or hear traffic from Holland road,'' he says.
``We boast we're in the country,'' Braun, the real estate agent, says, ``yet we're only about three miles from Lynnhaven Mall and close to interstate access.'' The area's schools, Landstown Elementary and Middle Schools and Kellam High School are also very close by.
The energy efficient townhouses offer a choice of two or three bedrooms. There were four original floor plans, but an additional two floor plans have since been designed because many people were looking for downstairs master bedrooms.
Of the six floor plans, half offer garages. ``The builder really listens to what the consumer wants,'' Braun says. Another unusual feature, says Gallagher, is that the units have varied lot widths. Traditionally, the average width of the lots and townhouse units have been about 20 feet; Parkside Green units go up to 28 feet, giving the feeling of being in a ``regular''-sized house.
When complete, Parkside Green will contain 249 units. Of those, 207 are currently sold, with most buyers relocating from other areas in Virginia Beach. Pricing starts at $84,000 and goes to a little over $100,000. A $1,000 option package is included.
The neighborhood's main road, Saville Garden Way, is wide, with no painted lanes. The city has almost finished the curbing. Near the model are old greenhouses, owned by a farmer.
Past a field is a wooden gazebo, pleasantly disguising the neighborhood's mailboxes and community bulletin board. Another smaller road forks off the main one. Some dwellings are not on wooded lots, but others have one side wooded. The neighborhood is situated so that woods encompass it.
Parkside Green, a close knit community, has ``a real nice mixture of age groups - retired couples, first home buyers and a whole slew of middle-aged, divorced people,'' Braun says.
One resident, Faye Mango, moved to Parkside Green in April. ``I like it,'' she says. ``I wish I had done this a long time ago.'' She didn't need her big house and yard anymore or ``the mess to take care of'' she says.
Now her wooded, corner lot and house are just the right size for her and her ``little buddy,'' a Pekinese dog. She has a friend who lives in the area, who recommended it.
The area's ``out, not in the city,'' says Mango, ``yet real close to everything, quiet except for occasional base jets, peaceful, clean, really pretty, with well built homes.''
David Baxter and his family moved into the neighborhood on Christmas Eve 1993, staying up into the ``wee hours'' to trim the tree for their children to see the next morning.
He and his wife searched for single-family housing first, but decided they were so high in price and most of the ones they liked needed work. They also decided they didn't want a large yard to tend.
When they toured the models at Parkside Green, says Baxter, ``within 30 seconds we decided we liked it. We enjoy it here; we're very pleased.'' Their back yard is just large enough for the dog, says Baxter, and takes only about 45 minutes to cut, edge and rake.
``We've got nice neighbors,'' he says ``the more we meet, the more we enjoy the neighborhood.'' Everyone knows each others' names, the kids' names and even the pets' names, he says.
``The people on our block call out `Good morning Dave!' when I go out, wave when we drive by and even let our dog drink from their dogs' water bowls.''
Baxter is the first president of the Homeowners' Association, which has begun to take charge of some neighborhood functions from the builder. One of the items the association will handle is the upkeep of the neighborhood's ``common areas,'' the park.
``The association's main goal,'' Baxter says, ``is making sure the neighborhood remains nice, like it is.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo on cover by Christopher Reddick
Color photos by Christopher Reddick
Parkside Green in Virginia Beach...
Robert Letchworth, left, and Thom Gallagher, the developers of
Parkside Green
Staff photo by CHRISTOPHER REDDICK
The playground at Parkside Green. The developers tried to keep it
as natural as possible.
by CNB