The attractive homes along Kingsmill's River Course do not encroach on the fairways.

    This weekend, the Ladies Professional Golf Association makes its tour stop at the Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, VA.  If you watch any of the coverage on television, you might catch a glimpse of some of the attractive homes adjacent to the course.  I visited the resort in 2007, played the River Course, the best of the three on site, and held discussions with real estate agents and residents about the lifestyle at Kingsmill.  My observations about the community follow; tomorrow I will review the River Course, site of this weekend's LPGA event.

    The young at heart certainly could stay that way at the Kingsmill Resort.  Adjacent to Busch Gardens and an Anheuser-Busch brewery - they run tours with free beer afterwards - and encompassing three golf courses that range from leisurely to professional-tour worthy, the Kingsmill Resort pretty much offers its residents a permanent vacation.
    The entire Kingsmill property spans 4,500 acres, of which 3,000 are given over to residences and the rest to commercial interests, including the brewery, which is well hidden from the neighborhoods.  All but 100 acres of the residential area is for the non-resort neighborhoods; the 100-acre area comprises 400 condo units, a conference center, golf and tennis clubhouses, and a marina.  The condo units, priced anywhere from the $200s to $700s depending on views, are generally owned by investors and rented to Kingsmill's resort guests.  Those guests have access to most of the community's amenities, and Kingsmill takes a 55 percent management fee for housekeeping and maintenance.
    Despite the resort traffic, the community does what it can to neutralize any feelings of transience.  Community regulations, for example, require that leases of single-family homes be for a minimum of one year.  On average, no more than 5 percent of homes in the residential neighborhoods are leased at any one time.  And Kingsmill's site plan ensures that neighborhoods remain "enclaves," with each ending in a cul de sac and well away from any main roads.  A traffic circle at the community's heart is effective at dispersing traffic in four directions.
    The assortment of real estate options is so diverse in Kingsmill that up to 45 percent of those who purchase a home on the property are already Kingsmill residents.  They move between single-family homes, patio homes and town houses depending on their circumstances.  Shortly before my visit, according to an on-site agent, one couple moved from their 4,000 square foot home to a 1,700 square foot patio home in the same neighborhood.  In other cases, residents go upscale as their needs, and incomes, change.  
    Of Kingsmill's 1,500 single-family homes, 10 percent are of the small, "patio" variety, and another 900 are town home units.  The "sweet spot" in the community are the three- and four-bedroom single-family houses that include a bonus room and are sized from 2,500 to 3,500 square feet.  Most of these are in the $350,000

    At the time of my visit, the community was planning to open a 50-acre tract to accommodate 45 new single-family homes.  An additional eight one-acre lots were available on the river for up to $1.5 million and were recently joined in the view by a group of luxury town homes priced between $1.3 million and $2 million per unit.
    Kingsmill shines in the number and quality of the amenities it offers its residents, as well as its resort guests.  The list is long, and includes not only 63 holes of excellent golf, but also 15 tennis courts; a modern fitness facility with indoor and outdoor swimming pools; racquetball courts; aerobic studio; and a full-service spa and salon.  Five dining facilities are also available, including one for special "elegant" dining.
    Of Kingsmill's 4,200 residents, about two-thirds either work at a local business or as consultants from their homes.  The rest are retired.  Those restless few who can't find enough to occupy them on site can be at a big shopping mall in Newport News in 15 minutes, Virginia Beach in 90 minutes and the Blue Ridge Mountains in two hours.  Grocery stores are within five minutes and a hospital within 15.  Oh, yes, and a brewery is within two minutes.
    Make no mistake about it, "resort" is in Kingsmill's name and nature.  But Anheuser-Busch has done a good job of segregating the residents from the tourists, and where they must overlap, mostly on the golf courses, the twain meet harmoniously.  Kingsmill's most obvious appeal is in the range of activities it offers its residents, but don't underestimate the variety of the real estate.  In short, you can act like a neighbor or a guest as you see fit.
    COMING TOMORROW:  SOME THOUGHTS ON GOLF AT KINGSMILL.

    I decided some months ago that I would never again waste any thought or electronic ink on David Lareah, the former chief economist for the National Association of Realtors.  Mr. Lareah retired to Florida more than a year ago,

The soon-to-be-completed Scottish style clubhouse at The Thistle Golf Club caused one of our readers to be blown away during a visit.  The clubhouse, which will include a display of golfing memorabilia, opens in June. (Photos courtesy of Thistle Club)

    The Scottish thistle is a beautiful but painful flowering plant.  Legend has it that a Viking marauder stepped on a thistle as he and his fellows were about to lay siege to a Scottish castle.  His cry of pain at the prickly plant warned the castle's occupants.  The element of surprise gone, the Scots repelled the assault. 
    A few centuries later, following the lead of Scottish football clubs and the original Thistle Club, a Scottish golfing society founded in 1815, a small

Time is on your side at The Thistle   

    Perhaps the most impressive feature of The Thistle Golf Club has nothing to do with the physical and everything to do with the signals it sends to golfers and future homeowner/members.  The Thistle is the only course on the Grand Strand - indeed the only one I know of - that spaces its tee times 12 minutes apart, not the customary eight or the less frequent but judicious 10 minutes.  According to the reports of Thistle golf veterans, the club scrupulously adheres to the 12 minute spacing and doesn't let anyone go to the first tee until the golfers in front have played their approach shots to green number one.  Rounds almost always take less than 4 ½ hours, quite a feat for any course on the tourist-infested Strand.  It shows that the owners of Thistle prize quality over lucre (compare the revenue lost when you send 20 people out to play per hour as opposed to 28 or more).   

Thanks for the memorabilia

    Not content with the reputation of the course solely, new owner Rusty Mackey commissioned construction of a dramatic new $10 million clubhouse that mimics the bold and majestic style of a Scottish castle.  Mr. Mackey even imported wood-framed windows, wooden doors and a carved wooden bar from overseas to ensure an air of authenticity permeates the dramatic structure.

    Club "captain" and PGA professional Gene Weldon took me on a tour of the clubhouse one recent Friday morning after I was shut out of golf on the course (my bad; I didn't reserve a tee time during the busiest week of the golf season).  Mr. Weldon, the former longtime pro at a club in Myrtle Beach, proudly showed off the new building, which will open for business in June.  Because The Thistle still accepts public play, and will for at least the next few years, the clubhouse will be divided into a member section and

Unobstructed views of golf course, not the neighbors
    The club also promises its members the opportunity to travel the globe with ESPN golf analyst Charlie Rymer; Scotland, Ireland and Bandon Dunes are on the schedule.  One final touch:  When Mr. Mackey purchased the club, he also bought the previous owner's vast collection of golfing memorabilia.  Woodworkers have been busy building the museum-quality display cases that will show off the artifacts.
    The gated Thistle Estates, formerly called Thistle Downs (which made the place sound like a racetrack), follows the same formula as the golf course - quality first, with no apparent corners cut.  Just 145 home sites are available in the first phase, and with only a handful of exceptions, no one house will have a view of another.  Virtually all will be adjacent to the course, with views of fairways, greens and tees but not of any houses on the other sides of the holes.  About half the properties had been sold at the time of my visit a few weeks ago, and those remaining to be sold were priced from $245,000 to $525,000.  The inherent quality of the fledgling community has attracted people, like TV host Maury Povich, who can afford the highest home site prices in the Calabash/Sunset Beach area (except for those directly on the oceanfront).

Dropping prices $50,000
    A few days after my visit, Thistle Estates dropped prices by up to $50,000 per lot.  Count on about $150 to $175 per square foot to build the kind of home that will fit nicely onto a Thistle home site.  For land and a 3,000 square foot house, about $700,000 to $800,000 is probably a good estimate to work with.  Membership in the Thistle Golf Club requires a $45,000 deposit, fully refundable after three years and the termination of your membership.  Until such time as the club actually does go fully private, members get priority tee times.  Full family dues run just $325 per month, and $225 for an individual.  To inspire real estate sales and memberships, The Thistle Golf Club is not charging dues until January 2010, a savings of up to $6,000, to anyone who buys in now.
    Owner Mackey promises that once club memberships are fully subscribed - a total of 500 members - he will offer the "exclusive right of first refusal" to purchase the course, clubhouse and supporting facilities to the club members.  That as much as a decade away, but some members must be already dreaming of the day.
    A couple of weeks ago, I sent one of my readers for a short visit to Thistle Estates (as well as the nearby Ocean Ridge Plantation and to St. James Plantation, a half-hour north).  He and his wife are looking for a lot they can build on in three or four years.  Mr. Weldon took him around the Thistle clubhouse, and our gentle reader phoned me afterwards to say that he was "blown away."  He won't be able to persuade his non-golfing wife to live in Thistle Estates, whose amenities other than golf can't match the larger plantations in the area, but if he winds up building a home nearby, he pretty well has his mind made up about where he will become a member.
    The Thistle Club, 8840 Olde Downs Drive, Calabash, NC.  800.571.6710.  www.thistlegolf.com.   If you would like more information or an introduction to an agent at the Thistle Club, or to a qualified agent in the area, please do not hesitate to contact me (use the button at top of page).  There is never a charge or obligation for this service.

The Thistle Golf Club Scorecards