Smiles in Schuyler: Quarries community gets national air

Schuyler can't seem to stay out of the news these days. Controversy recently rocked the Museum dedicated to the 1970s television show The Waltons. But this weekend, the tiny town about 30 minutes south of Charlottesville is getting a dose of good publicity.

The Quarries, a new eco-friendly housing development on 750 acres of a former soapstone quarry, will be featured on Home and Garden Television, known as HGTV. The first segment, part of the network's "Dream Builders" series, airs at 9am Saturday, July 13.

"It's pretty exciting to finally see it," says developer Linda Lloyd. "They taped it the week before Christmas and the week after New Year's, so I've just been waiting and waiting."

The community includes about 100 acres of common land– including about 14 water-filled quarries for swimming and fishing.

This fall, Lloyd, who lives in the first and only house built at the Quarries, plans to unveil a demonstration home which she hopes will convince nay-sayers that it's possible to build efficiently, elegantly, and affordably in Albemarle County. (The complex straddles the Nelson-Albemarle line with about 85 percent lying in Albemarle.) Two-acre lots start at $22,000 while 21-acre lots start at $59,000.