Month: October 2018

Forget the golf course; enter the organic kale. At luxury home developments around the world, gardens are popping up next to (or replacing) fairways.

 

It’s a sea change rippling throughout real estate communities both domestic and beyond as organic crops upstage the clubhouse for residential bragging rights. According to the Urban Land Institute, there are now more than 150 agrihoods (communities that integrate agriculture into residential neighborhoods) in the United States. And while the notion may harken to off-the-grid communal homesteading, the concept is also being adopted by luxury developers as a new way to deliver that most elusive real estate asset of all: a sense of community.

 

At the $1 billion luxury residential and hotel resort One&Only Mandarina, children are factored into the agrihood equation as well. Situated on the Riviera Nayarit an hour north of Puerto Vallarta, the 600-acre community will feature 55 Rick Joy-designed, earth-hugging villas scattered along the coast and within the jungle. The four-, five- and eight-bedroom homes (priced between $4.65 million and $10.5 million) will have access to a certified organic farm as well as an outdoor dining room for farm-to-fork dinners.

 

A dedicated children’s farm will include chickens, pigs, goats, and cows in addition to an herb garden, nursery, and organic farm. Kids’ cooking classes are available, as are opportunities for them to learn how to care for animals. “Most people live in densely populated urban areas making it difficult for them to commune with nature,” says Ricardo Santa Cruz, developer partner of Mandarina. “Being able to have a home with all of the most demanding comforts while still being completely immersed in nature is truly the ultimate luxury.”

 

*Originally posted on RobbReport