Subdivisions in North Raleigh are neighborhoods, most of them fairly new, with Ellis Island histories. Neighbors come from every part of the country: Wyoming, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New York, Virginia, Texas, or Florida but all share a family-based lifestyle and philosophy.
Laurinda Elliot unexpectedly yearns to participate in a family lifestyle. At first, she is open to house-hunting, but as she explores North Raleigh, she lets her feelings pull her into a location where her dreams can be custom-crafted, and where the land welcomes her and her heart’s desire.
Thoughtful, Laurinda uses her exploration as a reward from the stresses of a fast-paced workplace and researches the various subdivisions under development close by Falls Lake. She recognizes a pattern of English sounding names, names honoring the historical influence of southern Virginia and that spoke to the area’s English, Irish, and Scots heritage. Farmers sold land held in their families for generations and subdivisions carved from their land with names that rang with heritage brought comfort and pride.
She studied and compared subdivision entrances. How accurately did they represent the feeling of the homes inside. Some entrances presented tasteful, field stone stanchions with paddock-type fencing. Others displayed a generous assortment of evergreen landscape plantings and well designed, low intensity lighting on automatic timers. Laurinda noticed which entrances were crisply maintained with cut green grass and well-trimmed bushes. And which ones weren’t. She collected facts. Her due diligence was coming together.
And then Laurinda explored one where the land felt good, the early evening air sweetened with the smell of fresh earth and the whine of lumber-cutting saws and pneumatic nail guns punctuated the progress of each permanent project under construction. That subdivision? Nardi Point.
Another interesting post, thank you Nancy. It is facsinating how much research goes into a novel.
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The Research is fascinating, even more so as this story is regionally set in my “backyard” and eveyone’s who lives in Raleigh!
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