Charlottesville is seeing some of the highest growth rate in the state with a large percentage of buyers moving towards the city. With this move towards in-town living, we are seeing are less cars, more bikes and trends such as bicycle garages like Southern Development Homes offers at Burnet Commons.

Read more here.

“According to trulia.com’s recent survey, twice as many buyers prefer new homes over exist-ing ones. In fact, the survey reveals that two in five Americans strongly or somewhat prefer a newly built home over one that was previously occupied. That’s a sizeable 41 percent of the pop-ulation that prefers shiny and new. In-terestingly, the results also show that the biggest advantage of buying new is that you’re able to get a house custom-ized before construction is done – in es-sence, you are guaranteed a home that mirrors your personality and matches your lifestyle.” Read more in Real Estate Weekly’s article on Buying New vs Old Homes.

Together with the Chamber of Commerce, Southern Development Homes officially announced the opening of Village Oaks in a ribbon cutting ceremony last week.

Learn more about The Villages: Two 55 and better communities (The Villages at Nahor and Village Oaks) located in Fluvanna County Virginia, just 15 minutes from Charlottesville Virginia.

Southern Development Homes is the new owner of The Villages at Nahor and will be completing the community with new construction and upgrading the existing amenities.

Meet Shannon Hughes, Southern Development Homes’ Architectural Designer

Favorite place to eat in Charlottesville?

There are so many delicious restaurants here that this is like picking a favorite child, but I would have to say Bang! is one of my absolute favorites.  How can you not enjoy choosing from a million Asian tapas and martinis?  Though The Local and MAS are definitely in the running as well.

Best way to spend a weekend?
I’m going to make an assumption here that the weather is a little milder.  I would go to Fridays after Five for free live music and great food and beer trucks.  Or perhaps First Fridays and check out all of the art galleries and museums downtown for free.  There is a definite “free” theme.  The rest of the weekend would have to include getting out of town to go to a winery or brewery and take in some of the beautiful scenery of the area.

Favorite Southern Development Floor Plan?
Well I am definitely a little biased on this question, but I love The Belleview.  When you walk in, you will have an amazing clear view from the front to back of the house.  Everything you need is on the first floor, so if you don’t want a basement or second floor, you don’t have to add one!  Stairs are the enemy!  It is the epitome of spacious, one-level living.  It also happens to be one that I have designed from the very beginning to end, and I can’t wait to see it realized!

Best Trip you’ve ever taken?
In college, I was fortunate enough to participate in a Europe Travel Program with the School of Architecture.  We visited Germany, France, Spain, Italy, and Portugal, just to name a few.  We walked around the cities and took photographs, sketched, and discussed the architecture and urban environment around us.  I’ve never seen so many beautiful things in such a condensed amount of time.  I think that is why I love the downtown mall so much, it has a very European vibe.

What do you like best about working for Southern Development?
I love how relaxed and fun everyone is, but at the same time being really, really good at their jobs.  I have learned so much in the past year working here.  There is a wealth of knowledge about every aspect of the process.  If you buy a house from Southern, you are in great hands!