"Discover Balsam" This Summer

Balsam Mountain Preserve is truly like no other private community you will ever experience. In just a few short years, over 230 of the 354 homesites that will be offered here have been purchased, and 61 homes are already either completed or under construction. This very special place, just 35 minutes from Asheville, is resonating with families craving an authentic, low density mountain retreat with completed amenities and an existing sense of community. The only way to truly know if Balsam Mountain Preserve is the right place for your family is to experience it for yourself.

From now until September 4th, we invite your family to enjoy the wonders of Balsam with our special "Discovery Package". For $199 per night, you will enjoy accommodations in a private mountaintop cabin with the opportunity to explore Balsam and the surrounding area. The beautifully decorated cabins are part of our Private Residence Club offering, and come complete with indoor and outdoor fireplaces. Breakfast is included in your stay.

Discovering the real estate opportunities here is just one part of the agenda. You will also have the opportunity to visit the Equestrian Center for a guided horseback ride on one of our community trails, meet with a staff naturalist to explore the more than 30 miles of hiking trails on property, enjoy the company of our residents at the Boarding House lodge, explore the nearby "main street" mountain towns of Waynesville and Sylva, or just kick back in front of a roaring fire on the porch of your cabin, and feel the stresses of the outside world melt away. This offer ends on September 4th, and is based on availability with a two night maximum stay. Call us at 866-452-3456 for more details or visit http://www.balsammountain.com/.

Fran Luker, our stable manager, sent this photo to me today with the caption, "Who is that masked mule and his faithful companion"?

Science Camp

Balsam Mountain Preserve proudly offered its very first science camp June 9-12 for children ages 5-11. We had nine campers who enjoyed a wide variety of arts and crafts, activities and experiments during this explosive week of fun! We built a volcano that erupted when we added vinegar and baking soda, we made paper out of water, glue and newspaper and we tested many different rocks with lemon juice. Campers also made pocket sundials and light bulb picture frames.
Naturalist Blair Ogburn led campers through a microscope study of slides from nature as well as a stomp in the stream where they caught water spiders, frogs and butterflies. They also enjoyed many yummy treats including milkshakes made from xanthan gum, homemade lemon, lime and orange soda and apples with lemon juice that kept them from turning brown.
Homeowner Jim Stratigos offered a session of astronomy and handed out solar glasses to view the sun. During his night program, attendees were able to view Saturn from the golf course. This was a great addition to our camp. We look forward to next year!

Family Style Dinners

Some of my fondest memories of growing up revolve around Sunday dinners with the entire family. Coming home from listening to a long sermon, relaxing on the back porch, and enjoying the aromas of dinner cooking. I soon realized that if I harassed my mother enough, she would let me help out a little. This lasted until the day I was mixing mashed potatoes with a hand mixer and with the mixer still running on high, I pulled them out of the bowl!!! We found dried potatoes all over that kitchen for years to come.

Anyway, I digress...after listening to ideas and suggestions concerning things that we could do to improve the dining experience for our members, we have made a couple of changes. In the spirit of the simpler times of our childhood, we are now serving dinner "family style" on Wednesdays and Sundays, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Hors d'oeuvres are served at 6:30, and dinner follows at 7:00.

On another note...Saturday barbeques are back and better than ever. We have three different menus that we plan to rotate through: Burgers and Dogs, Taco Taco Taco bar, and finally the pulled pork and barbeque chicken menu. Hope you can join us for a relaxing day by the pool. Cost is $8 for adults and $4 for children ages 5-12. Hope to see you there

Ciao,

Jonathon

Balsam Mountain Preserve Charity Tournament

We are very excited to announce that Balsam Mountain Preserve will be hosting and conducting the 1st Annual Balsam Mountain Preserve Charity Tournament this August! Every year Balsam Mountain Preserve is inundated with requests
for all types of donations to various organizations and charities. Surprisingly, a very small number of these requests come from organizations in our own Jackson County.
The date of the Balsam Mountain Preserve Charity Golf Tournament has been set for Tuesday, August 18th. The purpose of holding this event is two-fold: 1) It provides Balsam an opportunity to raise funds for charities that impact families in the local community and 2) It provides local golfers an opportunity to play and experience Balsam for one day. Our goal is to raise between $10,000-$13,000 to assist the following charities: 1. The Community Table which provides meals for Jackson County residents
who are homeless, indigent or otherwise would not have access to a warm meal, 2. Save The Warmth/Jackson Neighbors in Need which provides fuel oil, assistance with food, water bills and other needs to Jackson County residents in 3. The Hawthorne House which provides a safe haven for troubled youths in western North Carolina; 4. The Jackson County Library; this is a one time donation to help in the construction of a new local library. The tournament field is open to all golfers, men and women, with a limited field of 22 four-person teams. The format will be Captain’s choice and entry fee per player will be $175.
There are numerous opportunities to get engaged including sponsorships, donation of prizes or silent auction items, participation through playing and volunteering. We encourage anyone interested in getting involved in the event contact the Pro Shop at 828-631-1009. We look forward to this great event and the impact it will make in the local community!

Now Is The Time!!

In the first five months of 2009, families from North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Louisiana, and Minnesota have chosen to move their dreams to the "front burner" by becoming part of the ever-growing family of Balsam Mountain Preserve owners. 14 total contracts have been written so far this year, firmly establishing Balsam as the top selling fully amenitized community in the North Carolina mountains.

Many folks we've talked with over the past two years have truly fallen in love with the community, and have said that "when things turn around, we'll be back to see you". Well, there are certainly a lot of indicators out there that many experts are interpreting to be very positive signs. The stock market has bounced back from its lows earlier in the year, there have been some good reports lately about the state of the housing market, interest rates remain low, and many economists are even predicting economic growth for the last half of this year. Overall, the sentiment seems to be moving in the direction that the worst may be over and the economy may be heading out of the recession as we move into 2010.

So, what exactly are you waiting for?

The families buying into Balsam this year are mainly doing so because it offers everything they are looking for in a high-elevation mountain community. Balsam is authentic and unpretentious; the families who live here are successful and down-to-earth. The low density master-plan offers a level of privacy that residents in other Club communities can only imagine. And the comprehensive suite of amenities are unrivaled by any community in the Asheville area.

But just as important, families who are buying today are looking for value, and they're looking for a reason to buy now. Our real estate offers a compelling value story on its own, but right now, at this moment in time, we are offering individually customized purchase incentives that will most likely not be available when all the news is good and families that have been sitting on the sidelines decide to enter the market for mountain real estate (and they will, it's just a matter of time). The families that are purchasing today realize this very simple fact. They are smart, savvy, and are taking advantage of opportunites right now that are real, tangible, and meaningful.

Call us at 866-452-3456 to schedule your family's visit. If Balsam turns out to be the place you've always dreamed about, we can help you live your dream in ways you never thought possible.