Meet Knoxville’s Newest Subdivision. Wait, Subdivision?
From admin on March 5th, 2010 in Knoxville
Anyone can say “there’s no place like home,” and be speaking the truth. But nobody can say, “there’s no place like home,” and come home to this place. Maybe it’s because this home is more than just a home. It’s a clubhouse. And, with a price tag of $3mil, this isn’t typical of your average middle-class neighborhood. It’s a clubhouse for a community, the Bridgemore neighborhood (at the highest point of Farragut), which is transforming the ideal of what “subdivision” is all about.
We’ll start with the situation of Bridgemore, which is half the story. Usually, subdivision entrances are sharp turn-offs from busy boulevards, and a larger-than-life sign with a suggestion that the subdivision is some repository of nature. Once in the gate, you realize that the only repository of nature is a petunia growing in each window box, since the houses are so close together that hardly a lawnmower can pass between them.
OK, so it’s a bit of an exaggeration, but that’s precisely the stereotype that the designers, landscapers, and dreamers of Bridgemore were reacting against. They yearned for that good ol’ days feel with the real “no place like home” mood attendant to it. So, the space that they created was just that—space. Lots of it. The area is sprawling, boasting over 130 acres of park-like walkways and pastures. The homes are spread out, giving residents more elbowroom, but also offering enough proximity to be called a community.
Thankfully, not all the homes are as resplendently priced as the 3-million-dollar clubhouse. Most come in at right under the million-dollar mark. With spacious 4,000+ square-foot living spaces, they’re perfect for families and other people who need some room to stretch out. Each home is characterized by wide-open floor plans. Architectural teams collaborated on how to make the homes appear larger than what their footprint would seem to allow. 
So, they raised the first-floor ceilings to ten feet or higher, creating a far more spacious atmosphere. Big windows and vast verandas take the spacious outdoors and bring it right inside.
Each home is decked out with a new material, not yet mass-produced, but on the verge of becoming wildly popular. It’s called Boral, and is moldable enough to look like crown molding, sturdy enough to use as siding, and realistic enough to look just like wood.
Although it’s a subdivision, none of the homes are reminiscent of the cookie-cutter look. Each one is unique. With the community offering a complimentary decorating service, each homeowner is able to create a just-them house, with a just-them look. What Bridgemore has done is put the home feel back in subdivision living. But then, we can’t exactly call it a subdivision, can we?
