Author: jessie-abrams

There was a time when the Morrises felt comfortable sending their 15-year-old son from their home on Blueberry Road on his bike down Route 20. But that was more than 25 years ago. With many proposed changes coming to the rural area around Key West, some old conveniences may be compromised, says Cal Morris. But based on what he has experienced, he says the friendliness and character of the neighborhood will remain unchanged.
 

At a glance Distance from Downtown: 3.8 miles Distance from UVA: 5 miles Elementary school: Stony Point Middle school: Sutherland High school: Albemarle Homes sold in past 18 months: 9 Homes on market currently: 2

After leaving the community in 1974, Morris, father of four and UVA grad, said he thought it was time to come back a decade later. Morris said one of the original builders and developers, Butch Schwav, offered him a lot in the last section of undeveloped land in the neighborhood. When he realized it was the plot of land where he used to take his children camping and spend family time together, Morris said he was sold. He says he felt a personal connection with the land and with the neighborhood.

“We didn’t come back to Virginia, we surely didn’t come back to Charlottesville. We came back to Key West,” Morris says.

While Morris says the community spirit hasn’t changed over the past 20 years, some things have: There are now at least 220 homes, and the types of residents are different. Morris says there has been a fair amount of turnover in homes as older residents are starting to move away and younger families begin to occupy the area. Morris says he likes that the neighborhood is getting younger, but he thinks more people need to participate in neighborhood activities and give more energy to the neighborhood’s various associations.

Key West is a quiet, well-established neighborhood around which the pressures of development sometimes churn.

“I would like to see more of the younger group getting involved, however I also understand that this is a very busy time in their lives,” Morris says. “It’s just not conducive to getting new ideas.”

Nagging concerns

Morris has few complaints about the neighborhood, but there are a few challenges to its residents. The last parcel of land in the community was developed in the early 1980s, and while Morris says the newer houses are probably a little “higher scale” than most others in the neighborhood, two of the roads were not built to state specifications and require residents on Steubin Lane and Explorers Road to maintain them. This means residents are responsible for snow removal in the winter and general maintenance year-round. Also, up until a few years ago the neighborhood relied on a community system of wells for its water, but according to Morris, the water became contaminated from a by-product of gasoline. Now the entire community uses water from the county.

As a mother of two and the neighborhood newsletter’s author, Claire Chantell said she thinks many residents are worried about plans for an Eastern Connector, which would divert traffic from the 29N corridor to Route 20 on the way to Pantops. This promises increased traffic outside her neighborhood’s entrances, but Chantell says she is not concerned with a growth in traffic within Key West because of its self-contained layout.

Morris is less concerned with issues of development. As a member of the Planning Commission he was informed about traffic proposals and new housing development projects such as Franklin Farms and Riverside.
 
“You know, you just hate to see all the growth,” he says, “but that’s right in containment with the development plans. You can’t just say, ‘O.K., I just moved here. Let’s just shut and lock the doors.’ We know [growth is] going to come and as long as it’s planned, we can put up with it,” Morris says.

The pool and tennis courts are a key amenity here, shared with residents of other nearby developments. In fact, growth may bolster club membership.

Some residents say they are almost excited about new neighborhoods in the area. President of the Key West Club, Dennis Roethlisberger, says he looks to new developments as potential sources of new members for the neighborhood’s club facilities. Resources and profits from an increased membership base would allow for more funding to fix cracks in the community’s two tennis courts, maintain the pool, and install more appealing features to the club, like this year’s addition of a basketball court. Roethlisberger says only 47 percent of the neighborhood is active within the club and many of its members come from other residencies along Route 20 or from Ruckersville.

Whether because of the neighborhood’s aging pattern or as a result of proposed developments, homes in the area have been relatively available and cheap for the past 18 months. During this time nine homes have been sold, most of which were built in the 1960s and ’70s; the most expensive was priced at $490,000 and the cheapest sold for $285,000, according to Real Estate III agent Len Mailloux. Recently the original manor home, built in 1852, was purchased for $1,190,000, Mailloux said. Two homes are on the market now, asking $349,900 and $525,000.

A family feel

Change and development doesn’t seem to faze Kaki Pearson, a resident and mother of two. She has fond memories of neighbors getting together on snow days to find the biggest hill they could sled, and of her children heading to the pool to hang out with their friends almost every day of the summer.

“There are great people and great neighbors,” Pearson says, “and we have three or four gatherings a year. We have a great Fourth of July with fire engines, and Uncle Sam, and floats, and kids riding bikes they’ve decorated. I’ve even seen kids with dogs all dressed up,” Pearson says.

In a safe community with a quiet setting and friendly neighbors, it’s hard for any residents to be unhappy with their neighborhood. Big soccer goals take up yards, sunflowers fill sloping gardens, and a red golf cart sits parked in a neat driveway.

“When you are at your home you are in quiet surroundings, no one bothers you, but if you ever need help you have swarms of people coming to help you,” says Morris.

Change and development does look like it is on the way for the rolling hills surrounding Route 20, but residents say they care about preserving the friendly, welcoming, and quiet character of the neighborhood. Indeed, the values of the Key West community have survived growth before.

After William O’Shaughnessy’s eight-and-a half-hour shift in the MRI section of Martha Jefferson Hospital, it is 11:30 at night, and O’Shaughnessy is happy that home—the quieter portion of Ridge Street south of Cherry Avenue— is less than two miles away. “Convenience is critical, I have to admit,” he says. “Being home from work in less than 10 minutes…and riding my bike is great. I haven’t ridden a bike since I was 13 and I’m 43 now.”

At a glance Distance to Martha Jefferson Hospital: about 1.68 miles Distance to UVA: about 1.5 miles Elementary Schools: Jackson-Via, Clark Middle Schools: Walker, Buford High School: Charlottesville High School Home sales since 2007: 7

A sharp left off the busy Fifth Street Extended divided highway, and up a short hill, the less-traveled Ridge Street hosts a private, residential area that approaches a dead end in less than nine blocks. Lined with paved driveways and thirsty lawns, the older street overlooks the busy highway below. It feels removed up here: Even in the sweltering heat of a mid-August afternoon a teenage couple, holding hands, walks along the sidewalk past a garden of zinnias and a collection of plastic animals.

While O’Shaughnessy says he has complaints about the neighborhood, proximity to the hospital is very important to him, and it makes the neighborhood a great place for him to live. O’Shaughnessy moved onto Ridge Street in 2005 and since then, he says, he has had no issues with snow removal, electricity, or any other utility managed by the City of Charlottesville. It’s easy to meet neighbors and make new friends; people like to gather under the shade on hot afternoons.

But, he adds, there are a couple of problems with living in an older house in the heart of Charlottesville. O’Shaughnessy’s house was built in 1973 and is a bit of a fixer-upper. When asked his opinion of new developments in the area he said, “I’m jealous, I guess, that I can’t afford to buy one. They’re nice and new.”

For O’Shaughnessy, traffic through the neighborhood is a more unexpected downside. While he doesn’t have any children or pets of his own, O’Shaughnessy said if he did he would be worried for their safety.

Time travel

Even though many of the homes in this neighborhood are not new, there have been a total of seven sales in the neighborhood since 2007, the homes ranging in size from 750 square feet to a little over 2,000 square feet, according to Real Estate III agent David Cooke and a report from the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors. CAAR’s website reports the cheapest home selling for $111,000 and the most expensive home, with refurbished hardwood floors and a deck, selling for $253,500.

Along the quieter section of Ridge Street, older homes have seen a succession of changes as the neighborhood’s hosted both white and black residents.

Cooke says he thinks one of the major draws to the neighborhood is its location, but the age of the homes makes homebuyers wary of buying in the area, since constant maintenance would be almost guaranteed. “They like the city location, but a lot of people really like the new construction,” Cooke says.

Developers have, of course, been quick to respond to that preference for new homes. Building company Southern Development recently constructed Brookwood, a neighborhood with around 75 new single-family homes with three to four bedrooms and up to 3,300 square feet. It connects to both the original Ridge Street and Fifth Street Extended. Southern Development has also proposed a development, called William Taylor Plaza, at the busy intersection of Ridge Street and Cherry Avenue. Some residents worry it would encroach upon the historical feeling of the Ridge Street community and destroy some of the area’s natural charm.

New development, like this Brookwood block, is changing the dynamics along Ridge Street, bringing more traffic and drawing protest from some neighbors.

“In most historical districts all the buildings are not the same age, but the point of a district is to conjure a time, conjure a feeling, conjure a look,” said Oak Street resident Antoinette Roades. She said she worries that William Taylor Plaza “will break that mood radically. It’s a project, it’s a complex.” The plaza would sit at the border between the Ridge Street neighborhood and Fifeville.

Historical fabric

When the first homes were being built on Ridge Street in the late 19th century, the area was very different. The street is home to the first African-American Girl Scout troop in Charlottesville and is still the location of Oak Hill Estate, the residency of Thomas Jefferson’s friend and associate Alexander Garrett. Over the shifts and changes of the past 175 years, the street has served as one of the most coveted neighborhoods for both white and black residents, says Roades, and many of its buildings have been designated historic by the City of Charlottesville.

Roades says she is worried not only that people won’t want to maintain the older homes on the street, but that residents are forgetting about the impact the construction phase for the William Taylor Plaza will have on the neighborhood.

“Old houses are quirky. It doesn’t matter how beautiful they are, they always need something. They [residents] have to enjoy living in it,” Roades says. She tells the story of one family that bought a refurbished historic home, originally built around 1844. Although the family seemed extremely satisfied with their purchase, they are looking to sell the home after less than five years of ownership. Roades speculates that their move can be attributed to new developments and the noise and disruption that comes with beeping machines and jackhammers.

Indeed, residents say that new developments have increased through-traffic in the old neighborhood. The same central location that makes O’Shaughnessy’s commute so easy means that development, occuring along the borders of dense city neighborhoods, impacts diverse swaths of residents.

Even so, William O’Shaughnessy says the neighborhood is affordable and he wouldn’t want to live anywhere else right now. It’s still a place where, he says, people bring by a couple of peaches for their neighbors.

At 8:30 on a Sunday morning, the road is quiet. Bunnies hop across gravel driveways as a flock of geese waits to cross the street into an open meadow that’s already hot from the strong summer sun. A woman in a sunhat completes her morning stroll down the tree-lined road, and a little boy holding a kitten inside of his pajama shirt waves as he stands in front of his yard. Oak trees do their best to hide stately brick homes and provide shade for pools and patios. Wooden fences border fields leading to a large horse stable.

And it’s all less than five miles from Barracks Road Shopping Center.

Open space is a big draw in Ivy Farm. Neighbors are protective of their unbroken views.

“I could never give away my neighborhood. It’s just so convenient. It’s three and a half miles from 250,” says Kathy Morris, a resident of Ivy Farm and mother of three. “Driving on Garth Road, it’s like you enter a new realm. It’s just the most beautiful view in Albemarle County.”

After renting a home for nine months, the Morris family was ready to move into their new home in Ivy Farm. The neighborhood was so popular the Morrises had to buy their home off the market through word of mouth. After about six years and a few changes, the Morris family still enjoys the neighborhood’s character and layout.
 
Lots in the Ivy Farm subdivision are a minimum of two acres, which allows for privacy but also keeps the neighborhood feeling intact, says Morris. Although some lots claim 16 or even 21 acres, she recalled recently lending a neighbor sour cream, and twice a year the whole neighborhood gets together to enjoy a potluck meal. Morris says she thinks the potluck is a great way to meet all the neighbors and is especially important for new families.

Ongoing additions

While the Morrises live in the original parcel of Ivy Farm, developed beginning in the 1960s by Dr. Charles Hurt’s Virginia Land Company, the neighborhood is now going through many changes. Along streets branching off the neighborhood’s main road the beginnings of gravel driveways stick out into the woods and heaps of red clay line the new roads. Hurt and the Virginia Land Company plan to build 27 new homes in the area and already have a couple of homes for sale.

Hurt said he is proud of the development now and in the 1960s but could not comment on any special character or personality of the land—the development, from his perspective, simply fills housing needs within the financial limitations of home buyers.

Development seems to scare residents of the original Ivy Farm homes, especially since the neighboring Oakencroft Vineyards has been sold. “All of us that live out that way hope they won’t make a neighborhood out of it,” Morris says. “We hope they can make it a nature conservancy or just some kind of open space. I just don’t want to see it turning out like what 29 North is looking like.” (Indeed, Oakencroft owner Felicia Rogan told C-VILLE that the land is not to be developed.)

Practical matters

Demand is high for homes in Ivy Farm and the surrounding land, but according to C.J. Hall, whose husband is Secretary-Treasurer of the Neighborhood Association, the area does have a few problems. Before Hurricane Isabelle, the neighborhood suffered extended power outages, creating further issues since residents get their water from wells.
Although the neighborhood now has fewer problems with power, Hall says she thinks the neighborhood uses too many different trash services and that the roads can be dangerous. The neighborhood’s rural setting hosts many different types of wildlife, which tend to make driving slightly dangerous in the mornings and evenings. Hall also says she thinks snow removal companies take too long to plow the neighborhood’s roads.
 

“It’s almost never plowed out in 24 hours. It’s plowed whenever VDOT can get here,” Hall says. “People who work generally have four-wheel drives and those of us that are retired just stay home.”

Regardless of these issues, Morris says she thinks many people in the neighborhood are happy. The neighborhood has very few issues with crime and offers families the opportunity to send their children to some of Albemarle County’s best public schools. From fixing up bathrooms, to redoing kitchens and large-scale additions, Morris says she knows of many residents fixing up their 1970s-vintage homes rather than leaving the neighborhood. They’re accommodating changed expectations, Morris says. “The family of now is not the family of 25 years ago. You know, everybody gets their own bedroom now,” Morris says.

The bottom line

Unfortunately for people looking for homes in Ivy Farm, low turnover means limited choices and high prices. In the past 18 months, only six houses have sold there, the cheapest home going for almost $600,000, according to Real Estate III agent Len Mailloux and the Charlottesville Albemarle Association of Realtors. Including the new development, there are now only four homes for sale, according to Mailloux.

Morris admits that homes in the neighborhood are extremely expensive and while she would prefer a bigger, newer home, she could never afford one now in Ivy Farm. Even so, Morris says she has been noticing ownership changes that she says she thinks will have a positive effect on the neighborhood’s character. Over the past six years, she says, “original home owners [have been] moving out and newer, younger families are moving in,” bringing with them a new excitement and personality.

“I think it’s fantastic. I would love to see the neighborhood young again…I’ve noticed over the last couple of years more people are staying and trick or treating around Ivy Farm,” and not going to other neighborhoods like Holkham, Morris says.

Some of the original homes may be small and slightly outdated, but Morris thinks the location is unbeatable. It’s that factor, and the relative peace and quiet here, that keep price tags hovering around $1,350,000.