By Rosalind Warfield-Brown

All over Albemarle County, subdivisions spring up seemingly overnight. They cover fields where cows used to munch, and they frustrate drivers searching for views of the Blue Ridge.

Of the three we toured in the Crozet area, Cory Farm-- developed by Barry Meade and Haden Homes-- appears most affordable. In fact, for folks who move here from Southern California, where 2,000 square feet with mountain views means almost a million dollars, it's downright cheap.

Cory Farm's treeless location directly on Route 250 makes the subdivision highly visible-- some might even say "exposed." But when finished, it will comprise 60 dwellings on streets with names like Filly Run and Little Fox Lane, reminders of creatures that may never again tread this acreage.

Here we found The Radford, a red house with a green door and a different-shade-of-green porch. With no basement or crawlspace, "The Radford" sits directly on a concrete slab. While such construction saves money, it's hard on the legs and back of anyone having to stand very long.

The kitchen is the largest room on the main level, which it shares with a family room, dining room, and separate breakfast area with a view of the backyard. Three smallish bedrooms, a master suite, and two fair sized bathrooms complete the second floor.

The Radford has a homey feel and nice touches. For instance, its propane heating (most houses in new subdivisions have heat pumps) allows for a gas stove, and the dining room wainscoting continues up to an attractive stair landing under a huge double window with a fanlight.

The houses at Cory Farm have been lived in longer than those at newer subdivisions, and the inhabitants have attempted to personalize their standard models with such things as solid wood front doors, brass door knockers, and landscaping. These upgrades somewhat mitigate its being smack on Route 250.

In another nearby subdivision called Parkside Village we found a much larger and more expensive house: the "Edgehill" comes in at 3,568 finished and 560 unfinished square feet of space, divided up into four very large bedrooms and three and a half baths, a kitchen, dining room, living room, a mysterious space directly at the top of the stairs (which the builder calls a playroom), and a basement.

The unfurnished model next door has a gorgeous view of the mountains (which will disappear when a house across the way goes up) and an upstairs laundry room. Most baffling in this house is an exterior window in an upstairs bedroom looking out onto the living room.

Why are people moving out this way? Maybe it isn't the houses after all. One realtor suggested it's the "community"-- people who buy the 47 houses at Parkside will share a community building, a garden, and a "park." Cory Farm has a couple of common areas; another Crozet-area subdivision, Wayland's Grant, offers a "centerpiece park," according to a brochure.

But what will this "community" look like? Certainly not like a community in the traditional sense, one with stores, schools, churches, and ethnic diversity. But at least this "community" has colorful doors and decks and cute street names.

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