Real Estate
New lake homes taking shape

Chris Hastings joins design team
Russell Lands has added two new members to the design team for their newest ideal lake homes being built in The Ridge.  Chris Hastings, owner and chef of The Hot ‘n Hot Fish Club in Birmingham and nominee for the James Beard Award, is lending his culinary expertise to the all important kitchen components of these homes.  With Chris Hastings, Viking Appliances, long known for their top end appliances is lending their expertise as well.

These new additions blend with a talented team of designers, decorators and craftsmen already working on these new homes.  Chris, when asked about joining the team said, “I am excited to help Russell Lands On Lake Martin with these homes.  Everything that they do is exceptional and being able to lend my knowledge related to the entire experience of preparing meals for friends has been both rewarding and fun.  These new lake homes embody everything lake life should be.”

When designing and creating a new lake home for The Ridge, especially in a market like this, we wanted to be sure that everything was considered.  Building a lake home is not just a matter of picking a plan out of a book and building it.  The lifestyle and natural surroundings have a profound impact on the finished product.

So it made sense to us that we put together the most qualified team of designers, craftsmen and artisans available to create the ideal lake home.  This process actually began several years ago as we were completing the first buildings at Russell Crossroads. The farmhouse style was so well received and so fitting to our location that it made sense to keep our architectural team at Dungan Nequette at work.  We shifted from designing stores and restaurants at Crossroads, to lake fronthomes at The Ridge.

Seeking input from lake residents, real estate professionals, and construction pros, the home designs began to take shape.  Everything was considered — views, floor plan needs, bedroom count, window sizes, materials and a dizzying number of details.  What emerged was a beautiful selection of lake homes with the emphasis on lake. 

Understanding this emphasis on lake starts first with the view.  While many people think the front of the house is that view first seen by car, we think the front view of the house is first seen by boat.  Everything else flows from that view.  The lake is so important that every room must be oriented to the lake.

Being oriented to the lake makes perfectly good sense and many people realize that.  But we have gone beyond that.  How can we improve on every aspect of a lake home?  Every step of the way we asked the most knowledgeable people in the field and added them to our team.  We chose the most knowledgeable folks about seawalls and piers.  Well-known lake decorator Nan Jackson, working with Dungan Nequette, has crafted the ideal décor.  With the new additions of Chris Hastings and Viking, we believe these lake homes will be the ideal of what a lake home could be.

These new “Crossroads” style lake homes are quickly taking shape and will be finished in early July.  They are sure to change the way people look at lake homes in the foreseeable future.  If you are interested in seeing these homes now, they can be found in the newest neighborhood of The Ridge — Ridge Run.  This neighborhood will eventually have 16 of these thoughtfully designed and carefully crafted lake homes.  For more details, contact us at 256.215.7011.