Community
Sticks and stones can make a "lake home"

The common purpose for our team involved in new construction at Russell Lands On Lake Martin is the preservation of our natural surroundings.  Building near our beautiful Lake Martin certainly does not mean it is time to clear and mass grade.  Instead, we exercise great care to preserve our natural surroundings so that future generations will be able to enjoy what we build today.  Many of us have wonderful memories of a simpler time on the lake and we want to preserve and share that with future generations.

This careful approach also applies to the design of homes within our community. Our lake design looks back to architectural styles of the 18th and early 19th centuries.  In The Ridge and Willow Glynn, you will find Arts & Crafts, Bungalow, Adirondack, Cottage, Chimney Style and Cabin style homes. These are appropriate for lake life as they naturally blend in with the trees, rocks and waterfront.  More importantly, one can imagine that they might have been here when the lake was first filled in 1926.  The homes have an understated beauty that enhances enjoyment and value.

This beauty is more than just “skin deep”, it actually drives interior finishes as well. Many people familiar with Lake Martin prefer the small, but rustically elegant Russell cabins that dot our shoreline.  When asked, people speak of the wood walls and wood floors, stone fireplaces and cozy bedroom spaces with expansive interior and exterior family spaces.

These comments were heard loud and clear and now we have taken them to the next level.  On our 25,000 acres — a significant portion of which will be excluded from development when designated as part of Russell Forest — we manage the forest for long term use and enjoyment. Through selective thinning of timber, re-establishment of longleaf pine plantings, prescribed burning and other active forest management practices, we see our property supporting a broad variety of native flora and fauna. Trees that are removed through selective thinning may live on as part of our other projects. In order to follow through on rustic design, we need rustic materials.  What better way to use our mature trees than to use them in our own construction?

A quick tour of the Discovery Center, SpringHouse restaurant or one of our newer homes will show massive exposed beams that are first harvested from our forest, then measured and milled at our sawmill prior to careful installation.  Call it forestry with a purpose.  In addition to heavy structural timber, carpenters have built decorative brackets, window trim material and even furniture.  It has been a labor of love.

Farmers around here have wryly observed for nearly two centuries that you can grow rocks here if you can’t grow anything else.  In pioneer times, the rocks were used for building fence rows, or sometimes the boulders were simply piled on the edge of the fields.  We have reclaimed this gorgeous building material and used it for exterior walls and rustic stone fireplaces.  This material is both classic and permanent. 

As you might imagine, all of this takes a large and talented team of designers, contractors and craftsmen to create these beautiful lake structures.  This attention to detail and desire to build timeless homes has gained attention of many national publications.  Frequently, these homes are featured in national publications, such as the home Bobby McAlpine designed for Ted and Donna Giles in The Ridge currently being featured in the April issue of House Beautiful.

Each month this spring and summer season, we will feature unique examples of significant architectural styles in Russell Lands On Lake Martin neighborhoods.  This month’s featured home located on Cypress Island is a one of a kind farm, cottage-style home that features an extensive use of cypress and cedar veneer as well as thoughtful use of rustic materials indoors.  Look for other properties in the coming months if you need ideas on how to use natural materials in your lake home.

See this month's featured home on Cypress Island >