11/24/2008 - A Capitol Development

The Villas at Berry Hill offer great views, maintenance-free living

High on a bluff overlooking downtown Frankfort and the Capitol rotunda, The Villas at Berry Hill is a private, maintenance-free patio-home community being built and marketed by Hinton McGraw Builders Developers.

It is located next door to the historic Berry Hill Mansion, built in 1900 for distillery executive George Franklin Berry. And like the mansion, The Villas at Berry Hill combine style, elegance and sophistication. But the development also incorporates the latest energy-efficient building techniques, materials and construction features.

Two Partners
Mark T. Hinton is president and Scott McGraw is vice president of Hinton McGraw Builders Developers. Both previously worked for Faulkner Hinton, a company owned by Hinton’s father, Bill.

When his father retired, Hinton and McGraw decided to go into business for themselves. Patio-home communities were their most productive niche. “It’s something we do very well and take a lot of pride in,” Hinton said.

The homes they built in Shelbyville and Louisville were so popular customers started asking them to build something similar in Frankfort. The partners found the property for The Villas at Berry Hill almost serendipitously.

“We were driving down Old Louisville Road and saw a sign saying, ‘Auction in two weeks,’” Hinton said. “We came up and toured the land during the preview and just fell in love with it. It was gorgeous. We came to the auction and put in the winning bid.”

“It was just a rare find,” McGraw said. “If you drive around the site, the view are just breathtaking. You’ve got all of downtown south Frankfort, the Kentucky River, Singing Bridge and views of the Capitol rotunda. It’s a beautiful development.”

“The prime location is The Ridge,” said sales executive Judy Gerdis. “The farther out you go, the more fantastic the view.”

Amenities in the immediate vicinity include Juniper Hills Golf Course, to which some of ht homes back up, and a community park with tennis courts and a swimming pool. Medical facilities are near the entrance, and shopping and dining are close by. The site is convenient to I-64, offering easy access to Lexington, Shelbyville and Louisville.

Four Floor Plans
Floor plans include the Oak Tree, a three-bedroom ranch with a lower level and 1,865 square feet; the Red Oak, a two-bedroom, 1,865 square-foot ranch with a lower level; the Juniper, a two-bedroom ranch with 1,885 square feet. “If you have a basement that’s finished, you can have as many as four to five bedrooms,” Gerdis said.

All the homes have a maintenance-free brick exterior and a two-car garage. Exterior maintenance, including roofing repair, mowing and snow removal, is managed by the homeowners association. Prices range from $249,000 to $289,900.

Luxury features are customized to individual tastes. Buyers can upgrade to a finished lower level and/or add a sunroom. “People have different requirements and we have the capability to go in and make a change and do what people need to do,” McGraw said. Although the buildings are duplexes, noise poses no problem.

“Between you and your neighbor, there is about a 2- to 4-inch air gap,” McGraw said. “The air gap acts as a sound deadening (device). Sound travels through space, and the more barriers you give it actually lowers that sound traveling. That sound-deadening quality is on both sides.”

Listing Program

If you need help selling your current home before moving on to The Villas at Berry Hill, Hinton McGraw Realty has a 5-Step Listing Program (provide, preview, prepare, plan and promote) that offers free market and home analyses, reduced commissions and moving incentives. “We rolled out (the program) about two months ago,” Hinton said. “A lot of people have been coming in saying, ‘I really want to live here and I will live here, but I have a house to sell, and I can’t make a commitment until my house sells.’ Not only will we sell your home, we’re going to build your new home.”

“It’s just another way to help that whole process become as smooth at possible,” McGraw said. The company will store your furniture and possessions for free and help you move into your new home when it’s ready.

“We’ve seen a lot of benefits from the 5-Step Listing Program,” Hinton said. “It builds our relationship from the foundation upward with the potential buyer.”

A Positive Experience
Last May, Phil and Dena Plant moved to The Villas at Berry Hill from a two-story home they h ad lived in for 21 years. They visited the Hinton McGraw development in Shelbyville and fell in love with the easy-living floor plan. They were glad to learn the company had plans to build 111 homes in Frankfort.

“We were already familiar with this piece of property,” Dena Plant said. “We knew it would be a good location.”

“It’s very centrally located,” Phil Plant said. “We were on the far west end of Frankfort, which had all the growth over the last 10 or 15 years. This brought us more into the middle of Frankfort, so it makes things a little bit more accessible. It’s close to the park and medical facilities, and it’s almost within walking distance of downtown.”

The Plants have a basement and a sunroom option. “We like the deck and the patio,” Dena said. “We look out on the wooded area. It’s very private.”

Another positive point was the promise of maintenance-free living. “We enjoy traveling, so when we leave we don’t have to worry about anything,” Dena said.

“We lock the door and go,” Phil said.

The Plants’ experience with Hinton McGraw and Gerdis was very positive.

“From the day we met Judy to the day we went into the house, everybody we met was very easy to work with, very accommodating, really helpful,” Phil said. “We picked a lot and then picked the upgrades we wanted.”

“Judy helped tremendously with the selection process,” Dena said. “We had build a house years ago where we sort of did it all by ourselves and we were running here, there and everywhere. But here it was much, much easier.”

Directions: From Lexington, take I-64 west to exit 53-B. Take U.S. 127 north toward Frankfort (2.1 miles). Turn right onto U.S. 60/Louisville Road. Go 0.6 miles to Leawood Drive. Turn left, then go 0.1 miles to The Villas at Berry Hill.

The model is open from noon to 5 p.m. daily. For more information, call (502) 223-7883 or visit www.hintonmcgraw.com.

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