Go Ape has recently opened their first outdoor adventure course in Virginia, located just minutes from Colonial Williamsburg, and right next door to Liberty Ridge, in Freedom Park.

The creators of Go Ape adventures take one lush, green forest  and a healthy dose of breathtaking scenery; blend that with a smattering of treetop high wires, tricky crossings (using ladders, walkways, bridges and tunnels made of wood, rope and super-strong wire) and wind-in-your-face zip lines; then finished it all off with a mega dose of people in search of their inner Tarzan.

Freedom Park is now home to Go Ape’s biggest treetop course yet — made up of numerous rope ladders, 37 new and exciting crossings to include the Trapeze, Wobbly Ladder, Big U and Spider’s Web, 2 tarzan swings and 5 zip lines.  There are 5 individual sections within the course, each section taking you higher into the forest canopy and finishing with a zip line more exciting than the previous one!  Zip #5, the grand finale to the course, is a mammoth 600 foot ride!

After your adventure, don’t miss the rich historical experiences also found in Freedom Park.  Visitors can explore the site of a 18th century cemetery, the Revolutionary War Battle of Spencer’s Ordinary and recreated cabins showing on the nation’s earliest Free Black Settlements in America.  In addition to being surrounded by history, the park features two miles of hiking trails and more than 20 miles of some of the best mountain biking trails in the region.  Be sure to swing by the brand new visitor center and catch up on all the facts of the park.

Charles Ross Homes’ offers a unique combination of expertise in residential architecture, building science, and construction. Their approach is to partner with clients beginning in the design stage to produce a home that meets their lifestyle needs and respects their budget requirements. In addition, Charles Ross Homes employs a licensed architect on staff. You can bring your own plan or allow them help design a plan to perfectly suit your needs. Either way, their more than 25 years experience will ensure your home will be completed on-time, on-budget and with the quality you expect.

Visit Charles Ross Homes’ furnished model for sale at 3409 Liberty Ridge Parkway, priced at $1,050,000, on a 3-acre wooded homesite.   The home offers 4,265 square feet of living area with a downstairs master suite plus 3 additional bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths, a 3-car garage, and a second floor media room.

Walking through the center of Williamsburg is like living history: Colonial Williamsburg, the heart of the town, is a functioning restoration of an 18th-century British colonial capital. Here restaurant servers wear breeches and petticoats; the likes of George and Martha Washington wander through the historic area; and passers-by routinely hear fife and drum music.

The local university, College of William and Mary, is famous for both its academics and for having educated three U.S. presidents.  And thanks to the school’s Christopher Wren Association, retirees can take courses where Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe and John Tyler once tread.

The Christopher Wren Association (CWA) was founded by two retired educators, Wayne Kernodle from The College of William and Mary and Ruth Kernodle from Christopher Newport University. With a membership of only $85 per semester, retirees can take up to 12 class units spread over a 12-week period, in addition to the many CWA events and activities. The enrollment the first semester, in 1991, was 105 and has now increased to over 1600. This growth has coincided with the increase of the retired population in the Williamsburg area.

You won’t sacrifice modern-day comforts in this historic town either.  There are three airports and half a dozen hospitals within an hour’s drive. You can golf almost year-round at one of about 20 nearby golf courses, and you can shop till you drop at one of the many malls and specialty shops.

The Liberty Ridge community offers beautiful homes and private wooded homesites, perfect for retirement living.  Located just minutes from Colonial Williamsburg, and the College of William and Mary.

Stop by our Welcome Center and talk to Tom Butler for more details.  Open Tuesday through Sunday.

Chris Thornberg, former UCLA economist and founder of Beacon Economics, once criticized the National Association of Realtors and other housing industry bulls for saying that same thing back.

In 2007, the Realtor association had launched an ad campaign telling Americans that it was a good time to buy or sell a home.  Thornberg disagreed with their stand, telling the Orange County Register that buying a home was folly at that time.

Now, four years later, at the Voit Real Estate Services’ commercial real estate forecast in Newport Beach, Thornberg is saying: “If you’ve been thinking about buying…… buy now.”  But don’t expect prices to bounce back next year, he warned. Or the year after that.  “It is definitely a long-term hold,” he said.

Thornberg’s forecasts have been increasingly optimistic over the past two years ago.  But Thursday, Thornberg said, “I’m probably the most optimistic than I’ve been about the economy in the last eight years.”

Thornberg cited a host of indicators pointing to improvement. Durable goods orders, industrial production, imports, exports, rail car loadings and hotel occupancy rates all are up. Home and consumer delinquency rates are down.

Commercial real estate vacancies have peaked and are starting to come down, he said.  And, the threat from the Euro debt crisis is overblown. At worst, it will cause a mild recession in Europe, which won’t be enough to bring down the world economy,  he maintained.

Inflation? There’s “no sign of inflation at this point in time,” he said.

Thornberg cautioned that the economy isn’t out of the woods. Consumers still are overspending. A solution is needed to the federal deficit. A financial panic could derail the recovery.  The U.S., he said, still is far from full recovery.

But “this is going to be a good year,” he concluded. “You’re going to see pops in all sectors. Yes, there are some bumps out there. … But this is as optimistic as I’ve been in a long time.”

“We invest a lot of thought in the design of each of our homes to ensure they are aesthetically pleasing inside and out and that they fit contemporary lifestyle needs,” said Charles Ross Homes staff architect, Keith Sobczak.  “We are especially pleased to have taken top honors in two categories.”  The Liberty Ridge model was originally a Frank Betz Associates, Inc. design that was modified and customized for this community by the Charles Ross team.

Charles Ross Homes has been designing, building, and remodeling homes in the Williamsburg area for 29 years.  They have designed and built homes in a variety of architectural styles and in sizes from 1,200 square feet to more than 11,500 square feet.  The are a featured builder in the new Liberty Ridge community.

The following Trends for new homes were presented during a recent Southern Living® Custom Builder Seminar at Founders Pointe:

1. Unique flooring materials such as reclaimed wood, walnut, other exotic hardwood finishes are becoming more popular. Pebbles are being used on shower surfaces, offering a foot massage while showering. And, a herringbone pattern is being used for outdoor brick pavers to create greater character and warmth.

2. Wall coverings are making a comeback. Bold geometric patterns are a popular look.

3. Creative use of color with bright yellows and reds, and deep chocolate among the more popular shades.

4. Fabulous ceiling treatments including medallions with trim detail, coffered ceilings, and materials typically used for floors applied to the ceiling.

5. Greater use of natural and hand-crafted materials such as wrought-iron gates and antique doors. Many are using reclaimed wood, beams and mantels milled from trees cleared from their lots. Old photos were used in door panels from an old house in Virginia. They were displayed in our Berkshire Pointe model in Founders Pointe (Virginia).

6. Functional and Fabulous kitchens with features such as cabinets with glass doors, and a center island with fold-away table. The kitchen is where buyers make their decision! The kitchen below is from the Meadow Glen model by Norman Miller in Founders Pointe (Virginia).

7. Unique use of lighting such as pendant lighting, smaller chandeliers hung over dining rooms tables rather than a single large one.

8. Live-Work Spaces such as desk-top work surfaces in the kitchen. Work spaces at counter height rather than desk height.

9. Outdoor living spaces with fireplaces and outdoor cooking. (The Southern Living Showcase Home pictured below by Sasser Construction shows the ultimate “Twilight porch”.)

10. Maximizing space with built-ins Drop zone and cell phone charging areas, mudroom seating, cubbies, and other interesting uses for nooks inside the home. (Shelves under a staircase is an easy area to inlcude a built-in shelf)

Other Hot buttons for Kitchens in 2011:

* Center islands
* Mix finishes
* Wine racks
* Extra kitchen storage space under islands on ends of cabinets
* Staggered-height cabinets
* Walk-in pantries
* Solid surface or stone countertops
* Decorative moldings, Glass doors,
* Plate racks, Tilt-out sink tray
* Built-in spice and wine racks
* Deep drawers, Over-refrigerator cabinet
* Wastebasket base cabinet (hidden)

Brick was used on the interior wall of this Founders Pointe home to give a feeling of warmth in this Kitchen. African walnut floors, and pine cabinets. The center island was a shaker style cabinet with a darker stain and a leather finish granite top.

Branch Lawson, East West Partners (Left), Brent Warren (Center), Mark Edwards, East West, Russ Hohmann custom builder (Right)

East West Communities is community development company in Virginia and Florida. For more information about our communities, please visit www.eastwestcommunities.com .

Freedom Park is a 600-acre forested retreat adjacent to the Liberty Ridge community.  This beautiful  James City County park is rich in history – dating back to the 1650′s.  It is the site of an 18th century cemetery, the Revolutionary War Battle of Spencer’s Ordinary in 1781, a 17th century domicile, and the site of one of the nation’s earliest Free Black Settlements, which includes three historically-accurate recreated cabins which are furnished with items authentic to the period, 1803-1850.

Freedom park also features an “Ellipse Garden” with more than 800 species of native vegetation, approximately two miles of hiking trails, and more than 20 miles of mountain bike trails winding through historical sites, forests and along creeks, and open meadows.  The bike trails are designed, built and maintained by the Eastern Virginia Mountain Bike Association.  The garden is developed and maintained by Williamsburg Botanical Garden.

Interpretive Center Hours:
Monday- Friday 10am – 5pm
Saturday 9am – 5pm
Sunday 9am – 5 pm

An informative commentary on the prospects of building a new home from HandyAmerican.com.  Beautiful wooded homesites are now available in Liberty Ridge and ready to begin construction on your dream home. 

In times of an economic boom there is always a waiting list for everything from models of new cars to clothing styles. And in the car plants not only are the assembly lines going full blast but if they slow it’s because the parts manufacturers can’t keep up with the demand. This is the same with new home construction because there are only so many skilled builders to go around and they can only work as fast as the supplies used for the construction arrive on the site. So what happens when the demand is not there?

In times when the media is telling people how bad things are getting…the bargain hunters are beginning to stir. Moguls like Warren Buffet and J.P. Morgan did not become rich by running away from the stock market when big blue chips like IBM and various oil stocks were in a depression. Instead they bought at bargain prices. This works the same with real estate and building a home. Because when prices of homes begins to fall new home construction slows and good contractors become more available and at a cheaper price.

Cash Flow

Businesses, even the biggest ones, have to be liquid. In other words they have to have money to operate on a daily basis. In fact this is a big problem in the car industry because in tough times the big ticket items and luxuries are passed over for more sensible purchases.

Many contractors have skilled crews that have worked for them for a long time. It takes a lot of time and money to get good group of people up to the skill level where they can build a quality home with minimal supervision. So, if the contractor does not have the volume of work to keep them busy then manpower, along with equipment and other trappings, have to be sacrificed in order to pay for the essentials like keeping the business solvent.

Suppliers

After Hurricane Andrew hit south Florida in 1992 almost every lumber producer in North America was running full tilt to supply the are with new building materials. In subsequent disasters through the rest of the decade and well into the next more disasters also required an unexpected demand from the building industry. As a result construction materials spiked during these periods and remained higher than normal. Wood, concrete, roofing and especially copper have seen record high prices in the past few years driven by the demand for reconstruction materials and the spike in new construction in other parts of the country. In addition the spike in oil prices almost doubled the price of paving a driveway and roofing supplies also were on a steep curve.

In a slowing economy building materials are not only in a surplus state but delivery schedules are almost instantaneous. This not only means that contractors can get the supplies cheaper but also there is less time spent waiting for them so that the home goes up quicker saving even more money.

Labor

In many factory situations collective bargaining has assured workers that they will get a certain amount of money for time spent at the plant. This almost never waivers and, in fact, in boom times it is often increased. The residential builder does not work in this way. With custom builders labor is usually hired as the work increases and let go if there is a slow down. As mentioned before, a good contractor hates letting people go because he or she knows that good labor is the future of the company. The contractor also knows that building is cyclical and sooner or later the demand will come again.

Quality

In times of high demand the subtrades also have to pay more for scarce labor so their price to the contractor will go up. Another downside is that sometimes the extra labor force is not fully trained and so homes are built on a steeper learning curve because there are so many new people. Mistakes occur and fixing them becomes a time problem, often long after the home has been occupied. And sometimes the fine quality of a new home is never achieved and the homebuyer has to take legal action to get the job finished.

In addition, when there is a building boom schedules get behind because of late supplies and also because many subtrades take on more than they can handle. This can also affect the price as well as the quality. Maintaining a balance while waiting for new business is the tricky part of the business.

The Buyer is King

So while others are preaching gloom and doom the smart homebuilder is in the driver’s seat. Contractors need work to keep going and to keep the talent pool together so this is a time to get great deals. In addition, look for a developer with land for sale in a favorable area.

Because the building industry works on buyer demand, think carefully about building. A new home built to your specifications may cost less than one that is already built and sitting across the street. This is because the seller is already committed to the bank for a certain amount and can’t sell it for less.

Kick-Off your Holiday memories, with these upcoming Colonial Williamsburg events:

December 4: The Grand Illumination
In the 18th century, illuminations were sometimes held to commemorate the birth of the reigning sovereign. Today the Grand Illumination is held in the Historic Area.  Musical performances from multiple stages throughout the Historic Area begin at 5:15 p.m. and fireworks displays from three locations—the Palace, Magazine, and Capitol—at 7 p.m. Make this event one that is not to be missed!

December 6: Secrets of the Chocolate Maker
This program demonstrates the process of making chocolate 200 years ago—from roasting and shelling the cocoa beans through grinding the nibs into chocolate.
10 a.m.–4 p.m. Included in Colonial Williamsburg admission

December 10: Lady Dunmore’s Ball
You have been invited to celebrate Queen Charlotte’s birth night and the christening of newborn Lady Virginia at the Governor’s Palace. Partake of entertainments featuring music, dancing, traveling players, refreshments, firelit gardens, and the opportunity to interact with the finest of colonial Virginian society. His Lordship is only offering a limited number of invitations, so be sure to reserve your place for this season’s one-night-only event!
7 p.m. $100

December 24: Community Christmas Tree Lighting
Gather at the Courthouse steps on Duke of Gloucester Street for the annual Williamsburg tree illumination and the traditional retelling of the city’s first Christmas tree.
5:30 p.m. No ticket or reservation required

These signature homes are available for purchase, or you can design and build your own private retreat on one of our other available homesites.  Each residence will be nestled in its own private enclave of 3 to 9 acres, where neighbors share scenery, not each other’s yards.

As you’d expect from a community of this stature, architectural standards have been carefully crafted to protect its image, integrity, and longevity, paying close attention to the heritage of the area, while still opening the door to individuality—allowing a statement of your personal style unparalleled by other nearby
communities.

Winning destinations were identified based on the greatest number of recommendations from reviewers who traveled with family. Top family-friendly hotels were determined by the highest review ratings from those who traveled with family. Unlike any other honors, TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice winners are based on millions of real and unbiased reviews and opinions from travelers around the world.

For travelers planning their next family vacation, TripAdvisor has identified some of the very best family-friendly spots in the U.S. and around the world,” said Barbara Messing, chief marketing officer for TripAdvisor. “These outstanding destinations offer myriad opportunities for families, including first rate attractions, restaurants, hotels and vacation rentals.”

Travelers’ Choice Family Award-winning Great U.S. Destinations to Discover:

1. Williamsburg, Virginia
2. Virginia Beach, Virginia
3. Lake George, New York
4. Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
5. Branson, Missouri
6. Gatlinburg, Tennessee
7. Corpus Christi, Texas
8. Port Aransas, Texas
9. Daytona Beach, Florida
10. Destin, Florida

For the complete 2011 Travelers’ Choice Family lists, go to http://www.TripAdvisor.com/TCFamily.

At Liberty Ridge, the remarkable land demands equally extraordinary estate homes.  Residents will not only have the chance to design theirs home from the ground up, but the freedom to truly make it their own.

The Liberty Ridge showcase model is decorated and open daily for tour. The home is available for sale.

Daily Press Newspaper, May 11, 2011.
This furnished model at Liberty Ridge, a new community in James City County, is on the market for $1.175 million.
Address: 3409 Liberty Ridge Parkway, one of two furnished models at Liberty Ridge, a new community with 138 home sites on 550 acres, each site 3-9 acres, on Centerville Road, James City County. Read more…

A silent auction was held where each artist donated a piece of work with the proceeds being donated to the fine arts program at area high schools.

On Saturday and Sunday, May 14 and 15, an art show and open house was held at the new master-planned Liberty Ridge neighborhood by East West Communities, located in Williamsburg – just outside of Colonial Williamsburg.  The event featured art displayed in two new model homes, the fully furnished Liberty Ridge by Charles Ross Homes and the Breakwater by Michael C. Brown Custom Builder.

Developed in partnership with one smART gallery, an art events company representing over 300 artists throughout Virginia, Liberty Ridge presented a showing of original art including contemporary & traditional paintings, sculpture and furniture. Works of art by 18 featured artists were displayed in both homes. Pieces of art completed by Williamsburg area students in the Fine Arts Program at Warhill and Lafayette High Schools were also displayed and over $1,200 was raised in a silent auction to support the continued growth of art in these two local high schools.

Dr. Dianna Lindsay, the Assistant Superintendent for the Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools, attended the art show and commented, “What an original idea to have an art gallery showing in these beautiful model homes. I enjoyed the event and am thrilled that it raised funds to support the fine arts program in our public schools.”

A full list of artists, samplings of their work, and more information about this unconventional art show can be found at www.libertyridgeva.com/gallery-show or by calling the Liberty Ridge Information Center at 757-565-1100.

The Liberty Ridge Information Center is located at 3400 Liberty Ridge Parkway. The community encompasses 138 homesites on 550 acres, with each homesite ranging from 3 to 9 acres in size. The property is made up of beautiful, rolling terrain graced with a mature tree canopy.  A Residents’ Club with a resort-style swimming pool, clubhouse, outdoor fireplace, children’s play area, biking/walking trails, and two community parks will be featured in the community.