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["Gloria Morris" <gloriamorris59 AT gmail.com>]

On 6/21/07, VAN DELL JORDAN <vdjor AT yahoo.com> wrote:
> Gene, maybe a "homesteaders subdivision" might be a
> project for a reformed real estate professional.  One
> who does not have the "max out" mentality of
> developers.
> Van Dell


That is essentially what I found, Van. A farm was carved up into smaller
plots of land by a family who wanted to have like-minded neighbors. The
restrictive covenants specifically allow for farm animals. The covenants
also allow for home based businesses, multiple outbuildings, and other such
homestead friendly things that are banned in most rural "subdivisions."

It isn't an intentional community. Anyone can buy here. There is no active
home owners' association. There is no board that has power to allow or
disallow a prospective buyer from coming in to the neighborhood. But the
very nature of the subdivision attracts those who are interested in
homesteading, home-based businesses, and self-sufficiency (it also attracts
hunters and the horse set, as it is on the edge of a large state forest). It
has features that scares away people who are deeply city oriented, too. In
addition to chickens and goats and horses and various sorts of shops (car
repair, welding, etc.), there are owner-built houses next to mobile homes
next to really nice professionally built houses (not that owner-built houses
can't be extremely nice, but we all know that many do-it-ourselfers are not
necessarily masters at all the trades - OK, maybe JAMES is <evil grin> - and
so some of the homes are less well-done than others, shall we say). That
sort of mixture is anathema to most subdivisions, as people fear it would
drive down property values. While I'm sure it limits the values, the prime
reason for buying here is what it offers: lifestyle.