When Family Follows: Welcoming the Family to Your Town

Local Triangle Connections

By Kelly McCall Branson

In today’s very mobile society, families often find themselves scattered across the country, separated by thousands of miles. The days of Grandma and Grandpa down the street and cousins just around the corner are only a nostalgic memory — or are they? A growing number of folks who call the Triangle home are reinventing that old small-town tradition of families growing, and growing up, together in the same community. And Triangle developers are responding with neighborhoods designed to appeal across multiple generations, in their variety of housing choices, as well as their roster of amenities.

Greg and Marianne Horne are just such a family. Greg, a successful executive in Tennessee, was ready for a change, about five years ago, when Marianne’s brother, Eddie Gontram and Eddie’s wife Pam, suggested Greg come visit them at their home in Heritage Wake Forest. “Pam and Eddie really bragged about their neighborhood,” says Greg. “They just couldn’t say enough about all there was to do and the tight sense of community they shared.”

So Greg came to check out the area and fell in love. He found a house in one day and Pam emailed pictures to Marianne back in Tennessee. And just like that, Marianne and Greg, along with their two young boys, Tucker and Gregor, relocated just around the corner from Pam and Eddie and their three children, Ashley, Jordan and Ryan. And Greg became a small-business entrepreneur, with Triangle Dry Cleaners – Heritage.

Turns out, the enthusiasm for Heritage Wake Forest was infectious in the Horne/Gontram family; it would be just a few years before Marianne’s parents, Ed and Marie Gontram, also relocated to the neighborhood. Now it’s one big happy family, living practically within shouting distance of each other.
Andy Ammons, developer of Heritage Wake Forest, loves this story. “We planned this community with a comprehensive mix of options to appeal to all phases of life,” says Ammons, “from townhomes and duplexes all the way to million-dollar estate homes.”

And beyond this wide array of housing options, Ammons points to the master plan of Heritage Wake Forest as integral to creating the strong sense of community there. “We looked closely at the way neighborhoods in small towns grew.” He comments, “and very intentionally placed townhomes near larger, more expensive homes. Borders fall apart — that’s what makes a successful community, in the truest sense of the word.”

Heritage Wake Forest offers a wide variety of housing options, from townhomes to large single family homes, which allows the community to accommodate all the generations of families and their individual needs.

Across the Triangle, developers are responding to homebuyers’ growing desire for more than just a great house. They’re looking at the many components that go into making a neighborhood a community and coming up with lots of innovative solutions — just the kind of solutions that make a neighborhood appeal across generations.
Sherry Clayton, sales and marketing manager for The Challenge Golf Club and Hideaway Communities in Graham, thinks this community offers the ideal package for extended families, whatever their stage of life. “Our mix of townhomes and single-family homes, the central location, with so much to do and close to Duke Hospital,” says Clayton, “along with the golf course and fitness facilities and restaurant — it’s an all-inclusive lifestyle for all ages.” Clayton knows of at least one couple who relocated here from Connecticut to be closer to their daughter.

The benefits of having extended family close by go far beyond the obvious conveniences like not having to travel to get together over the holidays. “We are such a strong support system for each other,” says Greg Horne. “Even little things like, we’re all dog lovers, so whenever one family goes out of town, another looks after the pets — and waters the plants and picks up the mail.”

From babysitting to attending all of the kids’ baseball games and hockey matches to carrying over chicken soup when one family member is under the weather, this tight family connection touches all of their lives, every day.

The Horne/Gontram family are all small-business owners — Greg with Triangle Dry Cleaners, Eddie the owner of Gontram Architecture and Ed and Marie running Wind Designs, a flag shop. “We get together for Sunday dinners, and we always talk about business,” laughs Greg. “We have a lot to talk about!” It’s hard to place a value on the peace of mind that comes from having parents close by as they age. And there simply is no substitute for the kind of life lessons that are shared when grandparents and grandchildren have the luxury of easy, uncomplicated time together.

With 900 acres of open space, 24 miles for hiking and biking, a residents club, village square and town center, there is literally something to do for everyone at Briar Chapel, all the time.

Briar Chapel, in Chapel Hill, is a master planned community carefully designed to appeal to a broad array of lifestyles. “We have something for everyone,” says developer of Briar Chapel, Newland Communities’ marketing manager, Shannon McSwiney. “There are homes suited for young singles, families with children and retirees. And amenities and activities for everyone, too.”

There are single-level villas to appeal empty nesters, perhaps concerned with managing stairs, townhomes with all-inclusive exterior maintenance for lock-and-leave convenience and single family homes as large as 4800 square feet. With 900 acres of open space, 24 miles for hiking and biking, a residents club, village square and town center, there is literally something to do for everyone at Briar Chapel, all the time. Organized activities include craft days, where parents or grandparents can come spend quality time exploring their creative side with the little ones in their lives. A community garden project has been especially popular with retirees, and the wine exchange and supper club appeal to all ages.

“It’s not uncommon for families to love it so much here, that, not only do they convince extended family to join them, but also, as their family grows, they just move up within the community,” says McSwiney. So, despite jobs that carry us far away, the pull for some families to stick close together persists, and the developers of the Triangle’s most innovative new communities are falling back on this age-old tradition — but reinventing it for the 21st century!

KELLY McCALL BRANSON IS A FREELANCE WRITER