Focus on Fredericksburg:Fredericksburg culture, activities thrive

The Fredericksburg area, straddling Stafford and Spotsylvania counties in Northern Virginia, has experienced rapid residential growth in recent years.

Residents are attracted to the area’s historic downtown Fredericksburg, along with the variety of shops and restaurants in the region. Mary Washington University provides a focal point for academic and cultural activities in Fredericksburg.

Recreational amenities can be found in abundance, too, including golf courses and boating on the Rappahannock River and nearby lakes. The region is convenient to both Richmond and Washington, which can be appealing to residents of the many active adult communities in the area who want to be near family and friends.

Many such communities, designed for households with members age 55 and older, are under development near Fredericksburg.

While each active adult community has its own style, all of them provide either a condominium, town home or villa or single-family home designed on one level or with a first-floor master suite.

These communities offer a low-maintenance lifestyle that allows residents to leave behind caring for a home and to fill their leisure time with recreational activities such as swimming, walking, golf or learning new skills through classes and group activities.

Active adult community residents are not always retired, with many commuting to work daily or part-time and participating in other community activities through volunteer work.

While some active adult communities are self-contained developments, others are separate neighborhoods within a larger planned community.

At Belle Air Village at Leeland Station, Ridan Builders is creating an active adult neighborhood within a planned community. The active adult neighborhood of single-family homes has its own clubhouse and recreational amenities, including an outdoor swimming pool, a patio and veranda, a clubroom, a fitness room, an arts and crafts room, tennis courts, a horseshoe pit, a volleyball court, a basketball court and hiking trails.

The development is within walking distance of a Virginia Railway Express station. Each of the homes has a first-floor master suite and a maintenance-free exterior, and all yardwork is covered by the homeowner association.

Three models are available, each with two to four bedrooms, two or three baths and a two-car garage. The homes are priced from the mid- to upper $300,000s, with a monthly homeowner association fee of $142.

The Balestier model has a front porch, an office with two walls of windows off the foyer, an open living and dining room with a wall of windows and a center-island kitchen with a bay window in the breakfast area and a built-in desk. The first floor master suite has a walk-in closet and a private full bath. A second bedroom has an adjacent full bath. This level also has a laundry room. Upstairs is an open loft with dormer windows. The basement can be finished with a bedroom, media room, office and bath.

Call 540/372-4555 or visit www.ridanbuilders.com.

Del Webb Corp. and Pulte Homes Inc. are developing Celebrate in Stafford County, which will eventually have,1,200 homes. Celebrate, within walking distance of the Rappahannock River, redeveloped its site plan to protect conservation areas and to incorporate “low-impact development” into the community design, a system of rain gardens of native Virginia plants and low-lying trees. The development will include a 30,000-square-foot clubhouse, an indoor walking/running track, a ballroom, arts and crafts rooms, a fitness center, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, boccie ball courts, tennis courts and a putting green.

A full-time “lifestyle director” will be on staff to facilitate activities.

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