How We Chose Our Land

Here in the Blue Ridge Mountains, we could get a premium-priced lot with a mountain view, which is most often steeper, and more costly to build on, and often farther from town. But, for a similar price, we found a larger parcel, tucked in the woods, in a low-density development with a large park area for dogs, kids, and adults to roam in the grass near converging streams, a rustic pavillion, and lots of tall shade trees.

We wanted to buy a lot from an established, trusted developer, who would be around for years. Bridgewater was developed on part of Taylor Ranch, known for its longhorn cattle. Fourth-generation Cane Creek Valley resident, Billy Taylor, planned Bridgewater to be open, wooded, quiet, and accessible. Here's a quick drive-through video from their Web site. Rural, but not remote, and with top-quality public schools nearby, it felt right for us.

The one-and-a-quarter-acre lot we chose is wooded, with the building site set back about 125 feet from the street, among a variety of hardwoods, pines, mountain laurels,  rhododendron, and galax. It slopes gently toward the back, so it will accommodate our single-story-with-walkout-basement plan.