Dreams become realities in Southwestern Virginia

During the long years when I and others were climbing the corporate ladder, there was always the expectation that somehow, somewhere, there would be an opportunity to slip the tether of corporate life and start over in a new and different game.

There were those who would do the unthinkable and buy a 60 foot sloop and enter the charter business and others who would drop out of corporate life to follow the path of spiritual  enlightenment, but most of us had a desire to go back to the land in some way and create a business where we could use our skills to develop a viable lifestyle in a more natural and wholesome environment.

As I recall, most of thought about it, but we rarely did much about it until we were forced to by circumstances.

The continuing instability of corporate life in the 21st Century is causing many more middle and upper level managers to seriously consider moving out of high priced urban surroundings to more rural parts of the country. If you work at home or telecommute, you will find that many places in Southern Virginia  now have a fiber optic infrastructure and high-speed connectivity that rivals that which is available in large cities.

When you can buy 40 acres of pasture and woodland on a major rural highway in Virginia for less than it costs to buy a tiny house and lot in Northern California or even Northern Virginia, it's time to take a good look at what you want to be doing in the next five years.

I recently toured a site in south Franklin County that would seem to offer an unparalleled opportunity for the buyer who wants to establish a family business in a rural surroundings. The 40 acre site is about one third hardwood forest and the rest is pasture with a gentle slope facing Southeast. It would seem to be an ideal site for a vineyard or any agricultural endeavor that would benefit from tourist traffic, as it is located on the State Rd 40 section of the Crooked Road.

The property has unlimited development potential because there is no zoning or restrictions and there is 600 feet of frontage on State Rd 40. There is ample space for multiple buildings on the property and it is builder ready.

This site is surrounded by farms, is four miles west of Ferrum College and four miles from Philpott Lake. It has recently been listed by one of my clients, the LCF Group, and is already attracting traffic from interested buyers. If you check their website, it is called the Crooked Road Vineyard.

It will be very interesting to see how buyers develop this property. It has amazing views, so it could be a private homesite or it could be a farm or a vineyard. I do not think it will remain available very long.

Comments

[Doug Thompson]

David:

You hit on the very reason that draws people to the area. However, this one paragraph scares me:

"The property has unlimited development potential because there is no zoning or restrictions and there is 600 feet of frontage on State Rd 40. There is ample space for multiple buildings on the property and it is builder ready."

Seeing land as development potential can be self-defeating when the object could, and should, be to look at way to preserve the beauty and open spaces of the land around us.

When I hear talk of development of rural land in our area I think of an old Joni Mitchell song, "Big Yellow Taxi" where the chorus was "they paved paradise and put up a parking lot."

Rather than see open land as a place to build, build, build, why not consider rehabilitating an existing home and leaving the open space for everyone to enjoy? Amy and I are trying to do that by placing, so far, more than 100 acres of local land under conservation easements to prevent such development and we hope to triple that effort.

Please, let's be careful about encouraging people to develop the land and make money. There are many more important things in life.

Doug

[Davis Wildman]

David,

I read and enjoy your 'musings' regularly as I'm always curious what newer residents have to say about Floyd. Let's have that cup of coffee you offered 'Greyfox' and chat about rural land development...I'll buy, you pick the spot.

Regarding your wood burning stove: we use the same type of wood burner in our living room and use a wood fired water stove when the temps really plummet.

You say you have to put a log on every 30 minutes to keep the stove at temp. Yours looks to be the same size as ours (ours is about 14 yrs old), but we don't feed it so often. We can bank a good fire, close it down for the night and have nice coals in the AM. I'm just wondering why your stove requires so much wood. Is the catalytic combustor working properly? Is the wood you're burning well seasoned? We can discuss more when we have that cup of coffee.

Looking forward to chatting.

With best regards,

Davis Wildman

[Dave]

That's nice, Dave. Some of us will thank you if you keep your development at that end of the Crooked Road.