“Camp Out”
The Camp at The Ridge provides tranquility
on Lake Martin

By Lori Chandler Pruitt
(Reprinted with permission from Birmingham House & Garden Magazine, January/February 2005)

Many People go to Lake Martin to get away from their busy lives, but Montgomery architect Bobby McAlpine wants to make sure those seeking such tranquility truly can escape.

The internationally-known residential architect, whose home designs are focused on the “inheritable house” concept, is building a 10-site hideaway called The Camp at The Ridge. It will feature uniquely designed, antique wood homes with the ageless, peaceful look and feel of a camp but with every luxurious convenience.

“People forget what makes them fall in love with the lake in the first place,” says McAlpine, who has made Lake Martin part of his life for at least 15 years. “They get a lake home, but they bring everything with them that they have in the suburbs. It becomes just another suburban lifestyle. What we’re doing is really revisiting an old idea — creating a retreat setting with privacy, and beautiful views... The homes are similar — to the point where you can leave your ego at the door.”

The Camp homes will be located on two private peninsulas and are a part of a larger development, The Ridge at Lake Martin, which will have 500 homes and, when completed, will be the largest development on the picturesque lake. “The Ridge, a gated community, will offer a full service, private marina, security, protective covenants, a tennis center and a pool/sports complex,” says Steve Arnberg, managing broker for Russell Lands Real Estate. “He’s (McAlpine) chosen a nice, quiet spot for The Camp, and it’s only a few moments from very popular sites on Lake Martin, such as Chimney Rock Island and Kowaliga Marina,” Arnberg says.

Each Camp home will have its own waterfront dock, such features as 50 contiguous windows to take advantage of spectacular lake views and enormous overhang roofs to allow for windows to be left open and roomy floor plans. Each home will have about 3,750 square feet of living space. “You could almost imagine that these are like big bunkhouses built long ago for the dam workers,” McAlpine says. “These homes are not clamoring for attention — they’re actually meant to hide, and they’ll be only slightly different from each other, like camp.”

They will appeal to many people, but also those who have resisted leaving the older cabins they have rented for years and years to getting something new. They want what they grew up having, and these homes recreate that filling. It is something they can pass along to their family for generations.”

“The Camp homes also will be built in such a way where their age cannot be tracked,” McAlpine says. “We will avoid telltale modern products or trends.” In fact, the homes will have no drywall, but will be built completely from antique, old growth Canadian cedar.

The homes will have three to four stories. The main floor will be one large living area, with a kitchen equipped with every modern convenience — poured concrete countertops, lots of pantry space and professional stainless steel appliances. Most homes will have a total of five bedrooms and four bathrooms. Long screened porches and decks, much like the sleeping porches enjoyed by many in years gone by, will be the norm.

“The homes are marketed by Russell Lands Real Estate and will range in price from the low $900,000s to $1.5 million,” Arnberg says.

Arnberg says McAlpine’s efforts are getting plenty of notice from other developers. “People are watching this with a great deal of interest — it’s a very clever idea,” Arnberg says. “And when professionals are admiring what you do, it’s a very a good thing.”

“It will truly feel like being a Boy Scout in a tree house,” says McAlpine, who with fellow architect Greg Tankersley has owned McAlpine Tankersley Architecture in Montgomery for 20 years.

The first home is under construction by McAlpine Pinsky Building Company and should be finished by winter, McAlpine says.

For more information, call 1-866-329-0835, visit theridgeonlakemartin.com or www.russelllands.com.

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