News

For sale: condo with chicken coop
by Sara Schaefer Munoz
Wall Street Journal, May 17, 2007

Forget the golf-course community or the manicured subdivision. A number of developers are now offering homes on working farms.

Catering to Americans' desire to live "green," developers around the country are creating communities on or adjoining farms, pitching views of sorghum fields, grazing livestock, and local -- very local -- food, such as eggs residents collect from the property's henhouse. The communities, however, aren't necessarily in the boondocks. Some are in suburbs or near cities.

Bundoran Farm, a community under development in Albemarle County, Va., is offering 100 home sites on a working cattle farm and apple orchard at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. South Village, a project in suburban South Burlington, Vt., was recently approved for 334 homes surrounding a 40-acre farm that will grow corn and other organic produce; Babcock Ranch, in southwestern Florida, is building nearly 20,000 homes surrounded by 73,000 acres that include a cattle ranch and a vegetable farm.

Meanwhile, existing farm subdivisions are expanding: Tryon Farm in Michigan City, Ind., which produces sorghum, millet, alfalfa and eggs, is offering additional homes in the woods and near its ponds and millet fields. Prairie Crossing, in Grayslake, Ill., which has an organic farm and henhouse and touts "views over cultivated fields of vegetables," recently completed 36 new condominiums.

For city folks, moving to a farm can require some adjustment. Such projects generally have small-scale organic agriculture, such as vegetable fields, chicken coops or a limited number of cattle. Residents must be willing to accept the rumble of tractors, natural grasses instead of a manicured front lawn and land-management activities, such as an annual "prairie burn" in which surrounding fields are set afire to rid them of nonnative species. They may also have to deal with the smells from the chicken coop.

The projects are one form of conservation development, a movement that aims to balance growth with preservation that has been accepted by municipalities in recent years as a way to maintain open space or rural character. They also are a way for developers to distinguish themselves in a slowing housing market, catering to people's increased interest in environmental sustainability and desire for locally grown food.

But even though the communities are usually environmentally friendly and preserve rural character, they can still trigger objections from local residents who oppose any development that will add to traffic, strain local resources or block views. South Village, in Vermont, took six years to get approval, in part because of a neighbor's objections.

The projects make financial sense for developers. Buying farmland and having farmers work it -- a common set-up of such developments -- is an inexpensive way to manage open space. Ed McMahon, senior resident fellow for sustainable development at the Urban Land Institute, a research group that promotes responsible land use, points out that many residents of golf communities don't even play the sport but will pay a premium for the protected views. House and home-site prices in the different communities vary greatly, from around $200,000 to more than $1 million.

The projects are also appealing to farmers, ensuring protection of their operation and creating a ready-made market for their goods among local homeowners.

Another aspect is the "sense of community" that some of the projects advertise. While pitching in on the property isn't required, residents take part in activities like splitting wood and planting vegetables and are active in community decision-making. Some people like all the interaction, but urbanites moving to a farm development in search of solitude might be taken aback.

David Coldren, a 65-year-old retiree, moved to a home on Tryon Farm from a downtown Chicago high-rise several years ago, drawn to the idea of "little houses on the prairie," he says. But it's not always the quiet existence of his childhood on a Kansas farm. He was recently hit with a barrage of requests to attend meetings on the most environmentally sensitive way to rid the grounds of phragmites, an invasive plant. When he had guests over recently, he was interrupted by a resident at his door urgently asking for help to free snakes trapped near the community swimming hole.

"If you were planning to come here and sort of hibernate, it's not easy to do," Mr. Coldren says.

There can be other surprises for people who are not used to being around agriculture. Nicole Jain Capizzi is manager of the learning farm at Prairie Crossing, where kids participate in educational activities such as feeding chickens and harvesting vegetables. She says that the first thing newcomers to the henhouse remark upon is the strong smell.

When kids see the chickens, she says, "they are amazed to find out that's where chicken nuggets come from."

Indeed, living at Prairie Crossing has made 6-year-old Ethan Bond a less finicky eater. His mother, Jennifer Bond, says the exposure to agriculture got vegetable-averse Ethan to eat lettuce and carrots, as well as hard-boiled eggs.

"Things he wouldn't eat for me they actually try at the farm," she says.

The agricultural developments are set up in different ways. The developer of Prairie Crossing, Prairie Holdings Corp., first bought the land and then found an experienced farming couple to lease it. On the other hand, Qroe Companies, the developer of Bundoran Farm, purchased an existing cattle farm and apple orchard and will reserve about 1,000 acres for agriculture. Homeowners agree to subsidize the farm in slow years but can also earn revenue when it does well.

Qroe President Robert H. Baldwin Jr. says creating a community where agriculture is functional and where people can live is a delicate balance. For example, the company debated whether or not to put up fences along the roads that run through the cattle fields. This would chop up space for roaming cattle, but they ultimately wanted to avoid scenarios like cows blocking cars or running at a kid on a bicycle. [at right: Families harvest carrots on the farm at Prairie Crossing, a community in Grayslake, Illinois.]

"We want to make sure that this is real agriculture, not two show horses in a one-hundred-acre pasture," he says. "But we are realistic enough to know it is not going to be pure highest-value agriculture."

Developers are also hoping the communities will appeal to buyers because of their location. Even though the farms offer a rural feel, residents won't have to give up the services of urban life, such as shopping or good medical care. Bundoran Farm is 20 minutes outside of Charlottesville, Va., and Prairie Crossing is within walking distance of commuter lines into Chicago. Mike Sands, Prairie Crossing's environmental team leader, says the location has appeal for the farmers and homeowners alike.

"Where else can you can farm and still get take-out Chinese?" he says.