She's Number One- Literally

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Seven Falls would like to extend its congratulations to Kayla Sciupider, who last week won the 3-A/2-A/1-A state championship tournament at Longleaf Golf Club. She also led her West Henderson Lady Falcons to the team championship.

Kayla, a junior, shot 74-75 to win the state individual title by three strokes.

Dave Sciupider, the West Henderson ladies golf team coach, his wife Mary and their three children are Members at Seven Falls.

The Sciupider clan are regulars at the Arnold Palmer Golf Academy. If you see Kayla, be sure to congratulate her. But one suggestion- don't choose a hitting station by her or any other member of the family; the comparison won't be flattering.

It Takes A Village

One of the most unique things about Seven Falls is our Village concept- a walkable social center comprised of a mixture of homes and amenities- including the wellness and aquatic centers, river outfitter, tennis club, cafe and shops, and the Arnold Palmer Golf Academy.

We recently released preliminary plans for two additional residential offerings that will soon be available for purchase in the heart of the Seven Falls Village- Club Cottages and Village Townhomes. Our Golf Villas have also been modified and repriced.

We created a website that has additional information about these conveniently-located and sensibly-priced homes. We are also running magazine ads related to these Village Homes.

Stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks...

Appearing on the Small Screen

In case you missed it, here is the television commercial that we have been running to promote the newly updated Villas at Palmer Place-

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Asheville Tops For Retirees

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Asheville has done it again! U.S. News ranks the mountain town as one of the 10 Best Affordable Places to Retire in the US.

Brevard College Invitational

This week was Brevard College's First Invitational at Glen Cannon where twelve teams competed. The ladies' team placed second, with Lucy McNulty taking ladies' individual medalist honors. The mens' team placed first. Josh Davis was runner-up individual medalist with a two round score of level par. Congratulations to both teams. Looks like all the work they have been putting in at the Arnold Palmer Golf Academy is paying off.

Tornado Sighting

Last week a tornado was spotted on the campus of the golf academy. No, not a whirling mass of air consuming everything in its path. This particular tornado, or rather Tornados, hail from Brevard College and are the fine representatives of that school's golf team.

Seven Falls has reached an agreement, complying with NCAA regulations, that will allow the team to utilize the academy for a specified number of days. PGA Professional Matt Adamski talked with head coach Michael Bayne about the benefits of the facilities at Seven Falls to his team.

I Love the Smell Of Asphalt in the Morning

This morning the fine folks at Taylor Murphy treated us to the sights, sounds, and smells of progress- in the form of new pavement, black and steamy in the cool mountain air.

Bill Newman, a Founding Member and VP of Taylor Murphy, gave a brief summary of the current work. His company is building the roads at both Seven Falls and Queens Gap.

In The News

Some recent items of interest:

A release detailing the progress made by our developer, Keith Vinson, at Seven Falls and Queens Gap was picked up by PRWeb and is now appearing on a number of online news outlets. PRWeb also reported on the opening of the new Welcome Center on I-40.

Recent national and regional reports are increasingly optimistic. With the Federal Reserve signaling that economic conditions are leveling and the state of North Carolina picked as a Top State for Real Estate Recovery, indications of a change in conditions and attitudes are increasing in frequency and positivity.

Construction Update

Over the last couple of weeks the activity levels on property have dramatically increased. We are seeing work move forward all over the property and are expecting even more in the coming weeks. General Manager Bill Griffon gives a sixty second overview of the current work being done:

The GM Always Rings Thrice (Part 1)

Recently, our owner acquired Queens Gap, a beautiful Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course and community currently being developed about 45 minutes east of Asheville. This acquisition will offer our Members playing privileges at the mountain course.

Queens Gap Members also enjoy reciprocal privileges at our golf facilities and recently their GM, Burt Baine, visited Seven Falls. We filmed a series of videos offering his take on the golf academy and providing a guided tour for his Members.

It is always great to get outside perspective, and I thought you might be interested to see what he had to say...

The GM Always Rings Thrice (Part 2)

Our guru of golf technology, PGA Professional Matt Adamski, explains how Seven Falls leverages technology to enhance the learning experience at the Arnold Palmer Premier Golf Academy.

The GM Always Rings Thrice (Part 3)

Matt Adamski and Burt Baine discuss the many opportunites afforded by the Practice Campus at the Arnold Palmer Premier Golf Academy.

Seven Falls Welcomes Nicklaus Design

With the recent acquisition of Queen's Gap by Seven Falls developer Keith Vinson, the two communities are now in a position to push forward construction on both our Arnold Palmer Premier course and the Nicklaus Signature course at Queen's Gap.

Present at the meeting with Mr. Vinson were: Tim Kenny, Executive VP of Nicklaus Design, Jim Lipe, Senior Design Associate Nicklaus Design, Jon Scott, Nicklaus Design VP of Agronomic Services, Tom Schiene, Nicklaus Design site manager at Queens Gap, and Burt Baine, PGA General Manager at Queens Gap.

Firehouse Groundbreaking

Last week we held a groundbreaking ceremony on the site of the new Seven Falls Fire Station being built this summer by DooleyMack Constructors.


Mr. Vinson (third from right) was joined by Tom Bleick of DooleyMack (second from left) and members of the Etowah Volunteer Fire Department- Tyler Mickelson, Mike Byrd, Roger Freeman and Kristen Seelig (left to right).

The new facility will provide the following benefits for our residents and their neighbors in Etowah and Horseshoe:

• Helps maintain lower insurance rates for all area residents.
• Provides a helicopter landing pad for the Mission / St. Joseph’s Mountain Area Medical Airlift (MAMA) emergency flight services.
• Significantly decreases fire department response time to Seven Falls and the surrounding communities.
• The addition of the Seven Falls station will free up space at the main fire station, allowing the Etowah Volunteer Fire Department to add ambulance service to its capabilities.

How About Some Good News?

When I look back at 2008, from a Seven Falls' perspective, it’s impossible to not be excited at how far we’ve come in less than perfect times. We have a lot to be thankful for (major roadwork completed, golf course construction well along, opening of the golf academy campus, and of course, 125 members since inception).

As we ready ourselves for another season, I feel it’s helpful to look forward with a long-term perspective. My dad often told me that “the cream always rises to the top.” And the Asheville and greater Western North Carolina region is definitely the cream of the nation’s real estate market. Just recently, MSNBC named Asheville one of the 10 Hottest Housing Markets; and in the past year, property values here saw a 9.4% increase, when the rest of the country saw an average decline of 14%.

We have been blessed to witness some of that success here—and the reasons why people flocked to this community initially are the same timeless reasons why we will be sought after always. Terrific location, exceptional masterplan, great property, and superior service and staff…for these and other reasons, Seven Falls continues to stand apart from the crowd.

OK, enough rhetoric. My projection for the remainder of the year is that as we continue to be one of the only communities moving forward with development, the buzz will grow. Townhomes and villas will come out of the ground and the golf course will open. People will continue to be blown away when they discover that the golf academy really is the best in the country (not just b/c our ads say so) and our momentum will accelerate.

Dancing in the Rain

As the air begins to warm and winter melts into spring, the showers begin. During construction, heavy rains can be an obstacle, but our Superintendent, Joe Baidy, knows how to keep dancing despite the rain.

Let The Thawing Begin

The last week has been a cold one. I actually had to scrape my windshield before coming to work this morning. And although I am starting to find myself longing for the comfortable warmth of May, this morning I saw something that reminded me of the wonder of four distinct seasons.

And then, of course, I digressed...