After my slideshow on conservation subdivisions for the James River Association, a developer asked if I might do a quick design on his property to demonstrate how these principles would apply to his land. The upshot is that this became the first conservation subdivision proposed under the County’s new ordinances (which I helped to write), and its popularity in the marketplace led other local developers to adopt this approach as well. Within a decade more than 5,000 acres were preserved through this simple, profitable, technique, at no cost to the county, and involving no sacrifice by landowners (and this figure continues to rise with every new approved plan). Homes were generally situated at the edges of fields, enabling most of the woodlands and the farmland to be preserved, in addition to several Civil War earthworks. The majority of the open space was donated to the Cold Harbor unit of the .Richmond National Battlefield, administered by the US National Park Service.
Stratford Hall, Weddington, NC || Stablewood Park, Pass Christian, MS || North Oaks, MN ||
The Park at Wolf Branch Oaks,
Mt. Dora, FL || The Fields at Cold Harbor, Hanover County, VA ||
Partridgeberry Place, Ipswich, MA || Cedar Meadow, Charlestown, RI || Chimney Rock, Flower Mound, TX ||
Winfall Village, Winfall, NC || Deep Bay Village Extension, Regional District of Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, BC