Tuesday, August 30, 2011

We Survived Hurricane Irene in Virginia

After finally getting our power back on yesterday afternoon, I reflected on what had just transpired the last 72 hours. Man, I really miss my air conditioning and cable TV! In all seriousness, having survived another hurricane in the Tidewater area of Virginia, it makes me really appreciate our family and helps me realize what's most important in my life.

Hurricane Irene hit our neighborhood pretty hard all day Saturday and into the night. We were very lucky in our neighborhood of Gatling Pointe, located in Smithfield, VA. Yes, we had one large oak tree come down and alot of limbs, but our home was intact and we experienced no flooding (we are 20' above sea level here in Isle of Wight County). Others were not so fortunate.



Here's the picture of the western sky from the Gatling Pointe Yacht Club Friday night- the calm before the storm

We watched the storm surge hit our neighborhood Yacht Club on Saturday afternoon, and we survived the high tide at 8:30 pm, missing only a few dozen boards on the pier (we've lost the pier twice in past hurricanes). Many of us participated in a "Irene Prevention Party" from our yacht club covered porch to watch the full force of nature in the early stages of the surge. As the water came over the dock Satuday night, waves splashing high over the top, we prayed that we wouldn't have to watch it float down the river Sunday morning.



Here'a a short compilation of video that I shot Saturday afternoon from the Gatling Pointe Yacht Club. the view is looking eastward across the James River frrom our covered porch. My two kids in college kept texting for updates expressing their concern. Sunday, we awoke to a beautiful breezy morning, and my 15 year old helped me begin with the day long clean up (actually several days of cleanup)...feeling lucky and realizing that it could have been worse.



Late Sunday, we all took a break from the cleanup to survey the minimum damage to our marina and pier, and enjoy the beautiful "day after".


Thursday, August 25, 2011

Havent you always wanted to live on the water? Now you can in Gatling Pointe in Smithfield, VA

One Acre Waterfront Lot Now Available in Gatling Pointe South in Smithfield, Virginia



Ever wanted to live on the water? This one acre, privately wooded homesite is now available in Gatling Pointe South- an ward winning waterfront community in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. Discover the best in waterfront living and resort style amenities. The Gatling Pointe Yacht Club offers a deep water marina with 68 boat slips, restaurant and club lounge, riverfront swimming pool, tennis and volleyball courts, playground, gazebo, and fishing pier. Gatling Pointe is nicely removed from the city, adjacent to the historic town of Smithfield, and convenient to all of the cities in the Hampton Roads area. Check out this video slideshow...



Lot 28 Southport Landing is over one acre of highly elevated land (23' above sea level) and offers long distance views across the tributaries and marsh surrounding Jones Creek. Five piers have already been added to neighboring lots in the last phase of Gatling Pointe South allowing deep water access. The privately wooded homesite has already a cleared building area and offers a level building site with panoramic views.

Enjoy waterfront living and the ultimate in privacy on this last waterfront lot in the award winning Gatling Pointe community. Just listed for sale at $399,900, it's an excellent opportunity to custom build the home of your dreams and discover a real sense of community in this beautiful, established neighborhood of 500 homes.



Gatling Pointe

Three times awarded "Community of the Year," Gatling Pointe features quality custom homes by the region's premier builders with amenities that rival most resorts. Nestled in Isle of Wight County, adjacent to historic Smithfield, you're only 15 minutes from Newport News and Hampton, and an easy commute to downtown Norfolk. Discover the best in waterfront living at Gatling Pointe, a centrally located waterfront community located in the heart of Hampton Roads. It offers unique waterfront living with resort-style amenities where dreams come true and a real sense of neighborhood is found.

Home values in Gatling Pointe range from the $300's to over $1,000,000.
Features and Amenities
  • Gatling Pointe Yacht Club with 68-slip deepwater marina (20' to 50' slips) and a club with restaurant and lounge
  • Club canoes available to explore the waterways
  • Riverfront swimming pool and kiddie pool
  • Tennis courts and playgrounds
  • Beach volleyball court with summer-league play
  • Protected natural environment
  • Central Park recreation area
  • Leisure trails lead to the riverfront club and marina
  • Year-round programmed activities and social events.
Contact Mark Edwards with East West Realty for more information about Gatling Pointe and the surrounding area. East West Communities has developed three award winning neighborhoods in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia - Gatling Pointe, Founders Pointe, and The Riverfront at Harbour View. Lot 28 Southport Landing (Owner/agent)

Equal Housing Opportunity

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Graystone at Eagle Harbor



Graystone at Eagle Harbor- new homes from the $300's in Isle of Wight County, Virginia, near Smithfield. Graystone is a custom home neighborhood in the Eagle Harbor community. Discover privately wooded homesites, seven quality homebuilders, and a convenient planned community with a resort style lakefront swimming complex, clubhouse, playground, and leisure trails.

New homes from the mid $300's, Eagle Harbor is only 10 minutes to Newport News/Hampton and just 15 minutes to the Harbour View area and the I-664 interchange in northern Suffolk.

For more information visit www.eagleharborva.com or www.eastwestcommunities.com
www.eagleharborva.com

Saturday, August 20, 2011

It's a Great Time to Build a New Home at Liberty Ridge in Williamsburg, VA

5 Reasons it's a great time to build a new home in liberty ridge, williamsburg, Virginia ~
Liberty Ridge Community
1. timing and unique opportunity~ Imagine your dream home. Every detail is yours to choose. Every window. Every angle. Every texture. Now follow your dream to Liberty Ridge, where our remarkable real estate demands equally extraordinary estate homes. Here, you’ll not only have the chance to design your home from the ground up, but the freedom to truly make it your own. As you’d expect in a community of this stature, architectural standards have been carefully crafted to protect its image, integrity, and longevity. We’ve paid close attention to reflecting the heritage of the area. Yet we intentionally opened the door to individuality—allowing a statement of your personal style unparalleled by other nearby communities. Our select team of the region’s premier builders will guide you through every phase of the construction process, from conception through completion.
In May, we officially saw the Grand Opening for our first two Model Homes- the Breakwater and Liberty Ridge models. The front entrance is now completed and the first 25 homesites are now available for purchase. Its extremely rare to find a custom home community with estate-sized homesites this close to Colonial Williamsburg (just ten minutes). Homesites are a minium 3 acres with lot prices starting at $200,000. Homebuilders are offering early homeowners attractive pricing on new home plans and it's a great opportunity to get involved on the ground floor.
2. Location ~ Conveniently located on Centerville Road, just ten minutes from Colonial Williamsburg and Interstate 64, Liberty Ridge offers a retreat from the hustle and bustle, but yet is just minutes to all that Williamsburg has to offer.



Click map for larger version.
Liberty Ridge’s prestigious Williamsburg address not only provides residents with rich historical content, but also with convenience to shopping and professional services, quick access to Virginia’s Interstate 64, a diversity of cultural activities and a bounty of ways to have fun.
Education and fun are literally just minutes away from Liberty Ridge—from Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, and the College of William and Mary, to Busch Gardens and Water Country USA.

Williamsburg is located 150 miles south of Washington, D.C., between Richmond and Virginia Beach. With the mountains to the west and the ocean to the east, it’s the perfect place to live. To get directions to Liberty Ridge from where you are, click here.
Colonial Williamsburg 10 minutes
Newport News/Hampton 30 minutes
Norfolk/Chesapeake/Portsmouth 40 minutes
Richmond 60 minutes
Virginia Beach 70 minutes
Washington DC 150 minutes
3. Beautifully wooded and private Homesites ~ Liberty Ridge encompasses 550 acres of beautiful, rolling terrain, graced with a mature tree canopy, located on Centerville Road in James City County, adjacent to Freedom Park. This new community features 138 homesites, ranging from 3 to 9 acres in size.

4. resort style amenities planned ~
• Future amenites planned include a resort-style swimming pool with cottage-style clubhouse, outdoor fireplace, children’s play area and activity field
• Two additional large community parks with picnic tables and walking trails
• Jogging/biking paths throughout the community including paved pathways, mulched trails and timber bridge crossings
• Paved trail along the community’s frontage on Centerville Road with access to Freedom Park
5. Quality Homebuilders and architectural guidelines ~
Liberty Ridge will offer a Preferred Builders Program featuring some of the region’s finest custom homebuilders. Each home to be built will be submitted to the Architectural Review Board for approval, ensuring that the highest standards for quality design and construction will be maintained throughout the community. Michael C. Brown Builder, Charles Ross Homes, Ron Curtis Builder, LLC, and Sasser Construction are four of the custom builders available for prospective homebuyers. These companies possess a combined total of more than 65 years of experience and have created some of the finest custom homes in the area. The collective success of these builders is rooted in an ongoing commitment to quality, innovation, and customer satisfaction. Their expertise in the industry, and attention to detail enables each of these builders to take what would be an ordinary custom home and turn it into something extraordinary.

As the sixth East West Partners' community in the Hampton Roads area, Liberty Ridge will offer distinctive custom homes and innovative amenities reflective of the award-winning communities that have become the company's trademark. East West has developed 35 communities across seven states, including five award-winning Hampton Roads communities: Founders Pointe, Eagle Harbor, The Riverfront at Harbor View, Gatling Pointe and Gatling Pointe South. Since 1972, the developer has been known for innovative land planning, an unwavering commitment to the environment, and communities offering year-round, resort-style living.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

The HOMEARAMA is coming to The Riverfront at Harbour View this fall.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Looking for a Reason to Buy Now? Here are 5 Good Reasons

Why wait? Now's a great time to buy a new home and if you're relocating to the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, be sure to check out Founders Pointe, located near Smithfield. There are many reasons why over 160 families have chosen to live in Founders Pointe since our Grand Opening in 2005.

Here are my TOP 5 Reasons to Relocate to Founders Pointe:

1. ATTRACTIVE LOCATION
Founders Pointe is located in the Carrollton area of Isle of Wight County, which is part of the Hampton Roads region. Although, Isle of Wight County is on the western edge, it's easy to get anywhere, and it's nicely removed from the city. You can also rediscover a small town atmosphere as Founders Pointe is near the historic town of Smithfield. Incorporated as a town in 1750, Smithfield is well known to have one of the best preserved historic districts in the country for a town reflecting different periods of historical architecture. there are landmarks like St. Luke's church built in 1632, and the Smithfield Inn & restaurant built in 1752. Another favorite tourist spot is the Smithfield Station.

It only takes ten minutes to reach the Hampton/Newport News area via the James River bridge. Isle of Wight County offers a quiet, peaceful lifestyle, the lowest tax rate in the region (.65/$100), and it is central to the Southside Hampton Roads cities and the Peninsula.
Families relocating from out of the area don't mind a 20-25 minute drive into work, and they prefer to live in a community with more to offer than just a house in a typical subdivision.

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Founders Pointe is located on the point of land on the left situated just to the southeast of the James River Bridge and just west of the Monitor-Merrimac Bridge tunnel. Founders Pointe is just 10 minutes to the Peninsula, I-664, and only 25 minutes to Downtown Norfolk. It is also only 40 minutes to Colonial williamsburg and 45 minutes to VA Beach. To see a map of where Founders Pointe is located, visit http://www.founderspointe.com/our-location/conveniences/.



2. Overall Neighborhood Concept and the Resort Style Amenities- (Fun)

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Have more fun in your neighborhood- The centerpiece of Founders Pointe is the exceptional resort-style recreational amenities the community has to offer. Rarely, does a neighborhood of this size (only 319 homes at completion) have a clubhouse and pool, but to find it on the scale of the Founders Pointe Residents' Club, that's truly unique. (Monthly Association dues are only $87/month which includes maintenance of the common area and access to the amenities.)
  • Residents' Club with swimming pool and 112′ water slide
  • 844′ observation pier offering panoramic views of Batten Bay and the James River
  • Three miles of biking/walking trails and sidewalks
  • Playground and sand volleyball court
  • Full-time Activities Director coordinating year-round events for all ages.
In addition to hosting sporting and fitness activities, the clubhouse serves as a center for holiday celebrations, themed social events for adults, and special interest clubs. A full-time activities director keeps the community's social calendar full with a year-round schedule of exciting events. The clubhouse's swimming pool and waterslide is augmented by a children's playground and sand volleyball court. Both children and adults make use of the network of nearly three miles of sidewalks and walking trails that wind throughout the community. An observation pier overlooks Batten Bay, with views reaching to the James River and the Hampton Roads. Founders Pointe provides a nurturing environment in which children can thrive and adults can relax.
 
3. Quality Homes, Distinctive Architecture

East West Communities, our community development team, spent alot of attention to the overall architectural theme and streetscape early on in the development process. Detailed front porticos, large front porches, proper symmetry and proportion- all all important aspects of creating an attractive streetscape, no matter what cul-de-sac or street you're on the the community.



A Preferred Builder team of ten quality homebuilders have helped carry out the vision of developing one of the most attractive and best looking neighborhoods in our region. You'll find a wide variety of distinctive home styles such as English Cottage, Craftsman, American Traditional, Colonial, and European Transitional style. Founders Pointe was twice selected as "Community of the Year" by the local homebuilder association. You can see the beautiful homes on the Interactive Map.



4. Sense of Place, Community
We often hear that one of the main reasons 160 families have relocated to our community is the real sense of community they find in their neighborhood. From the stone front entrance monument, past the well landscaped parkway entry, to the lakeside clubhouse and pool, and along the winding pathway to the observation pier on the river, visitors will quickly realize they have arrived at one of the most attractive neighborhoods in the Hampton Roads region.



The friendly front porches, well landscaped common areas, and the winding sidewalks also help add to the neighborly feel that our residents talk so much about. The roads that lead to Founders Pointe are lined by trees and some spectacular views over the waterways which also gives our commuters a chance to unwind on their way home.

Once home, residents enjoy the various activities found at their neighborhood clubhouse which overlooks a lake and a well landscaped trail system. There is also an opportunity to enjoy access to the water at the observation pier. We often hear, that's it's worth an extra 10 minute drive home to get home, where residents enjoy the panoramic, spectacular views across the water and the marsh that surrounds the tributaries leading to the James River. The experiences our families have with their children and grandchildren rival those at some of the great resort destinations.



5. Timing- Unique Opportunity, Beautiful Waterfront Property

With the low interest rates and the aggressive new home pricing by our builders, now IS a great time to buy a new home! The timing is excellent also because of the early stage of construction for the community. There's an outstanding team of builders offering top quality construction with seven new home plans now available for sale for the spring season! Homesites start in the $90's and new single family custom homes start in the $400's- an excellent value!

Finding a waterfront location so close to the major employment centers like Founders Pointe is rare and a unique opportunity. Be forewarned, one visit to see Founders Pointe, and you're likely to want to drop anchor here for good.

Visit www.eastwestcommunities.com for more information about other East West communities in Virginia.

Join Foundes Pointe on Facebook

Spring Homearama 2010

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Sunday, July 24, 2011

Haven't you always wanted your own private beach?

Now's your last chance to own your own private beach at The Riverfront at Harbour View. Four riverfront homesites are available along River Park Drive and several offer a sandy beach along the edge of the Nansemond River. It's rare to find sandy beaches along riverfront lots in these parts of Hampton Roads, but The Riverfront is blessed with some of the most spectacular waterfront homesites in Virginia.
The Riverfront at Harbour View offers two riverfront parks with piers, a lakefront amphitheater & playground, two swimming pools (with one on Eagle Lake), a Residents' Club & pavilion, and an 18 hole Championship golf course. The pier below is located in the newest phase of development and is near Shelter Cove Court, the location of this fall's HOMEARAMA model home show event put on by the Tidewater Builder's Association.
The Riverfront at Harbour View is located where the Nansemond and James Rivers meet and overlooks part of the Hampton Roads. Day boaters enjoy the beautiful waters of the James which offers breathtaking views and plenty of places to explore. Local boaters also know how to where the popular swimming spots are along the banks of the James.
For more information about new home communities in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, visit www.eastwestcommunities.com. Contact Adria Joseph, Tina Manrique, Priscilla LeMoine, or Mark Edwards with East West Realty at 757-638-9100 for more information. The Sales Center model is open daily.

(Hampton Roads is located in the southeastern part of Virginia and it includes the cities of Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Newport News, Hampton, York County, Williamsburg, and the town of Smithfield).