Community & Real Estate
Three Russell Lands On Lake Martin families
highlighted in B-Metro magazine

People and families from all over discover Lake Martin, are enchanted by its beauty and quality of life, and choose to make homes and lifelong memories here. Recently, B-Metro magazine in Birmingham spoke with three of these families to get their own personal views of life at Russell Lands On Lake Martin. View the full eight-page feature here.

The Dyes
Atlanta, GA
The son of a former professional football player and College Football Hall of Fame coach, Pat Dye, Jr. has been coming to Lake Martin since 1982, so nearly 30 years. “My parents owned property there from 1982 to 1994 and I have personally owned property at Lake Martin since 1994,” he says. Pat, his wife Barbara, son Patrick III, 8, and daughter Taylor, 6, love going to Lake Martin and treasure the memories they are making there.

“The perfect Lake Martin day for me is playing golf at Willow Point in the morning, taking my family and friends out on the lake in the afternoon, and going to The SpringHouse for dinner at night. Dating back to my college days, I still love going to Chimney Rock, especially when I have first timers in the boat. Prime time at Chimney Rock is an absolute slice of Americana and you know you’re always going to see something different. As for my family’s enjoyment of the lake, my wife enjoys relaxing on our screen porch and my kids really enjoy being in the water swimming, boating, Sea Dooing and tubing.”

The Barnetts
Marietta, GA
Nashville native, Lee Barnett is an investment consultant who loves golf, boating and travel. His wife, Betty Barnett, is a high school teacher, Kentucky native and tremendous UK basketball fan. She loves reading, cooking, and travel. They are the parents of two married sons, Hagan Barnett of Ashburn, Virginia and Taylor Barnett of Atlanta. Both are frequent visitors to Lake Martin.

“Previously, we owned a home on Lake Oconee in Georgia. But lake living is all about the water! Every time we came to Martin we noticed how much larger, deeper, and cleaner it was. So when we decided to permanently relocate we chose Lake Martin. We are thrilled with the growing amenities and access to nearby quality education and health care." Betty says.

“It was our first Christmas at the lake in our newly finished dream home but we were increasingly nostalgic for remembered holidays in Atlanta. Being acutely aware that holiday time is also family time, we were feeling a bit blue because our family was elsewhere and we were searching for ways to create new memories here.

“Additionally, both of us had undergone major surgery earlier in the year and our heart simply wasn’t into celebrating. Returning from an errand, my husband happened upon a pick up football game on the lawn at the entrance to our development. The green was crowded with wannabe athletes, barking dogs, cheering fans, self-appointed referees, current girlfriends, ex-boyfriends, visitors, neighbors, random joggers, and amused bystanders all in a very festive mood. He was immediately recruited for additional refreshments by the growing crowd. Scooping up anything edible within reach, we returned to watch the conclusion of what has become another Lake Martin tradition: the annual holiday football championship on the green where it’s really not about who wins, how you play the game, or even how many questionable calls were made. It’s all about inclusion, camaraderie, and Christmas, Lake Martin-style,“ Betty says.

The Hirns
South Padre Island, TX
Ron and Dawn Hirn, both 49, were married June 22, 1990 on Saint Simon’s Island,GA. Ron is an optometrist. Their children are Tyler, 11, Trenton, 6, and Colton,4, and oldest son, Ryan, would have been 16 this year.

“When you own a house on Lake Martin you are never short on visitors, and that is the way we like it,” Ron says. My family’s lake story begins a few years ago. We had been living in Texas, near South Padre Island, but had decided that we preferred the setting of an inland lake to the sand and saltwater. We had recently lost our oldest son and felt the time was right to relocate while our remaining three boys could enjoy growing up on a lake. The problem was which lake to choose. Since my wife’s family was from Georgia, she was drawn to the southeast and with that in mind, we spent our vacations investigating lakes from Austin, Texas to Orlando, Florida. We found many charming settings, even came close to buying homes in Austin and Chattanooga but the day we found Lake Martin we knew our search was over. Unlike the lakes of Orlando, ringed with houses and taxed to the sky, Lake Martin had miles of undeveloped shoreline, acres of trees, wide open lake views and uncrowded waters. The community we decided upon had its own work out facilities, pool and club house and clay courts to allow Dawn to indulge her passion for tennis.

“When we first arrived here we bought a used pontoon boat and the whole family would pile in after dinner. Or sometimes we would take a pizza with us and have dinner on the water. The boys liked to run aground on one of the many undeveloped islands and pretend to dig for buried treasure, or be explorers. On the way home the sun would be setting over the lake and the orange of the sunset, the green of the shoreline, the fading blue sky, and exhausted children make for a most peaceful ride home,” Ron says.