CBJ: Bundoran ‘preservation development’ begins

By Brian McNeill

Published: August 10, 2008

Construction has begun on the first of roughly 100 energy-efficient houses that will be part of a huge new 2,300-acre development nestled amidst apple orchards, rolling farmland and forests in southern Albemarle County.

Bundoran Farm, located near North Garden, will be a low-density rural residential community with the majority of its acreage protected under easements and deed restrictions that limit future development and preserve the site’s agrarian charm.

With the construction of Bundoran’s first house — which will be home to a couple from New Jersey — the Charlottesville region’s first “preservation development” is marking a major milestone.
Yet the house itself, a 3,236-square-foot farmhouse, is also notable.

It is a custom-built, pre-fabricated house designed by a Middleburg architect who is a leading national expert on building houses that combine traditional American architecture with modern amenities.
Once completed, the new two-story Virginia vernacular farmhouse will appear as if it was built around 1900.

“When it’s built, it’ll look like it’s been there forever,” said Joseph E. Barnes, Bundoran Farm’s director of development. “It’ll be a great combination of old and new. It’s going to be the best of both worlds.”

The architect, Russell Versaci, wrote the 2003 book “Creating a New Old House” and is editor-at-large of the New Old House magazine. His portfolio of farmhouse designs is inspired by homes built during America’s first 200 years. The house under construction at Bundoran Farm is called the Currier. Other models include the Cobbler, the Scribner, the Vintner and the Barrister.
A pre-fab home factory in Vermont manufactures such houses designed by Versaci. One of Versaci’s houses, the Chandler, is being built at the Homestead Reserve in Warm Springs. Another, a country cottage, is under construction outside Middleburg.
Versaci’s houses aim to reinvigorate modern home design with the character and soul of old houses, Versaci’s communications manager, Kathie Friedley, said.

“Everyone wants to see a turnaround to the glut of subdivision ugliness which has crept across this country like a cancer,” she said.
Versaci’s houses are not cheap, starting at around $200 per square foot — nearly twice the price of the average Charlottesville-area home for sale.
The Maple Ridge Group, a Charlot-tesville-based homebuilding firm, is constructing Bundoran Farm’s first house. The crew expects to finish construction by April 1. Three other houses set for Bundoran are in the design process.
“It’s a wonderful community that has held to the very high standards that others have attempted, but have not kept, in the interest of selling more houses,” said Noell Michaels, managing partner of Maple Ridge.
In addition to its first house, Bundoran Farm crews are constructing roads that wind throughout the development.

Once finished, Bundoran Farm — which is roughly a third the size of Charlottesville — will appear much as it does today. An estimated 90 percent of the property will remain untouched by residential development. Trees or terrain will obscure many of Bundoran’s houses to preserve the property’s scenery.
The project was the brainchild of Robert Baldwin, founder and CEO of the New Hampshire-based Qroe Companies. In the 1970s, Baldwin came up with the idea of preservation development, which allows a limited amount of residential development while preserving the vast majority of a property’s scenic beauty.

Baldwin and Qroe’s regional director, David I. Brown, were killed on June 14, 2006, as they attempted to land their single-engine airplane at Bundoran Farm’s 3,000-foot grass runway. Brown was piloting the aircraft and Baldwin was the only passenger. A National Transportation Safety Board investigation that was published a year later cited pilot error in the crash.
Following Baldwin’s death, his son, Bob Baldwin Jr., took over his father’s leadership role with the Bundoran Farm project. Baldwin is now co-general manager of the project.

Bundoran Farm’s developer, Edge Valley Preservation LLC, is composed of Qroe Farm Preservation Development, Celebration Associates, the Springs Company and the Crosland Group.
Like nearly every Charlottesville-area residential real estate firm, Edge Valley has been affected by the slowdown in the real estate market, Barnes said.
“Real estate’s a challenging thing right now, but we’re still doing pretty well in the market,” he said.
Though sales may be a bit slower than ideal, Barnes said the development is still attracting a lot interest from potential buyers who have heard about Bundoran’s mission.

Along with its ideals of preservation and conservation, the development also aims to be environmentally friendly — a key selling point in an era of global climate change and rising energy prices. All houses that are built as part of Bundoran Farm must attain a minimum of the Earthcraft certification, a measure of a homes energy efficiency.
“The people who are coming out here really care about what we’re trying to accomplish here,” Barnes said.