Fine ProPerties www.caar.com/FineProperties n volume 15 issue 4
a beautiful farmhouse and land. Someone
Farms
else would want a 10,000-square-foot home.
Somebody would love the big mansion and
still have the land, but would not want a
working farm.”
Du Bose added that it isn’t the number of
acres that characterize a property as a farm or
and
an estate, it’s “the look, the setting, the feel.”
Estates
There doesn’t seem to be a hard-written rule
about acreage at all.
“We’ve called property with 5-10 acres ‘es-
tates’ because they have big manor homes,”
she said. “A 1,000-acre spread could be a farm
if the house wasn’t a real significant home in
terms of size or historic aspects.”
Offer a Blend of
The amenities that buyers are looking
for when purchasing a farm or an estate are
equally subjective, but as far as intangibles go,
Beauty and Lifestyle
Faulconer says most people want some priva-
cy, but they don’t want to be too isolated.
“Big views are very important to a lot of
By Joanne DiMaggio people and they come here for that,” he said.
“Most want a private setting that offers a pas-
“Buy land, they’re not
making it anymore.”
Mark Twain may have had humor in mind
when making this statement, but its wisdom
is not lost on today’s buyers looking for farm
and estate property. Acreage surrounding a
modest farm home to properties with large
manor homes continue to be a popular com-
modity in Central Virginia, and the present
market shows no signs of that dissipating any
time soon.
“Obviously it’s the natural beauty of our
area,” said Sally Du Bose, Owner/REALTOR®
of Virginia Real Estate Partners, when asked
why the area is so ideal for people wanting
farm and estate property. “Many people went
to the University and that’s a huge draw, as is
our medical center. People know it’s a good
place to live. From our location you can get
to Richmond in an hour and to D.C. in two
hours. But it’s the beauty here that knocks
their socks off. Those of us who already live
here sometimes forget how overwhelmingly
“Farms” and “estates” are sometimes toral, quiet atmosphere, versus being right on
beautiful our area is.”
lumped in the same real estate category, and the highway. They come here to escape a lot
Jim Faulconer of McLean Faulconer, Inc.,
Faulconer said that is because there’s not of the urban issues. Everybody’s different, so
believes the City of Charlottesville is a major
much of a difference between them. it’s hard to say it’s all one category. Some peo-
“It’s more of a connotation,” he said. “We ple want to come here and be in a place where
draw. “There’s an eclectic mix of people here,
call an estate an estate mainly because of a everyone can see them and other people want
including all age groups from diverse back-
large manor home, as opposed to a more to be more isolated. There’s something for ev-
grounds who are here because of the univer-
modest farm-type home. Out West they erybody as far as types of reasons for buying
sity community. That enhances everyone’s
would call our farms ‘ranches.’ We tend to here.”
lifestyle, whether they live in the country or
call them farms because it’s an Eastern U.S. Most people—he believes—choose the
not. The second thing that makes it special
term, but it has nothing to do with acreage. Charlottesville region because it’s more un-
is the unique natural beauty of Central Vir-
In my opinion, it’s more the manor home ver- derstated than Middleburg or California.
ginia. We’re close to the Blue Ridge, so it’s a
sus the farmhouse.” “If you’re a jetsetter, you would find Char-
much more beautiful countryside than to-
Du Bose, who grew up on a farm where lottesville too slow,” he said. “We have some
wards Richmond, where it flattens out. I have
she rode horses and tended to cows, agrees Hollywood people who looked at Central Vir-
clients who could live anywhere and they pick
that the primary difference is the size of the ginia but didn’t move here, because they de-
Charlottesville because it’s a mix of natural
house. “An estate has a bigger house and is a cided it was a little too slow. But other people
beauty with the dynamics of a small, cosmo-
more stately type of property. The two terms want a more relaxed lifestyle—not being out
politan city.”
could be synonymous, but I personally love in the boondocks, but living close enough
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