Reynolds Plantation
At Reynolds Plantation, their past is leading the way to a greener future
Back in the 1920s, the Reynolds family built a lodge at Linger Longer, their hunting and fishing retreat on the property that is now Reynolds Plantation. To power the lodge (pictured above), Mercer Reynolds took advantage of a renewable energy source by constructing a small hydroelectric generator.

“This is a family-owned company,” says Reynolds Plantation’s President Rabun Neal. “Everything we do is long-term. Architectural review ensures the natural look of the community; all of our golf courses are Audubon certified. Preservation of land is something we do as a matter of course. So, the concept of a LINKS Green House is very consistent with the Reynolds family legacy.”

In fact, one of Reynolds Plantation’s core values is the responsible stewardship of the environment. This commitment shows clearly in the cornerstone of its parent company, Linger Longer Communities. The company is dedicated to leaving each property (and there are currently two others, Reynolds Landing and Achasta, in addition to Reynolds Plantation) better than they found it. One of the ways they achieve this is by practicing “minimal disturbance.” According to Linger Longer Communities Vice-Chairman Jamie Reynolds, a big strength for the company has been “our respect for nature which has actually translated into increased demand for our product—a textbook case of doing well by doing good by being concerned about the environment.”

This master-planned community was also the first choice of a number of national golf magazines to build golf dream houses. All of which makes Reynolds Plantation a natural choice for the site of the first LINKS Green House. Reynolds is still working on the final design of the home, which will be built by Linger Longer Homes as part of Reynolds’ 2009 Signature Home Model program.

“Reynolds has a long tradition of taking the environmental approach,” says Tom Allhoff, vice president of Linger Longer Homes. “The homes we construct now meet or exceed the National Association of Home Builders green building guidelines. We were doing it long before it became fashionable.”

As a builder, Allhoff says building green is not easy to do because the standards are demanding. “But Linger Longer and the Reynolds family, as industry leaders, feel it’s their responsibility to take on the tough job,” says Allhoff.  “They understand the need to be out in front. If we go out and build something, we can educate buyers, fellow builders and the trades.” That knowledge is precisely what LINKS Green Houses are meant to stimulate—and communities like Reynolds Plantation have the experience to make it a reality.

“We have found that when we’ve done our first-ever showcase homes, elements of those houses get adopted by people down the line,” says Neal. “At any given time there are 200 homes under construction here. A lot of those people are coming here to build their dream homes. We expect that now those dream homes will adopt the green technology that LINKS Magazine’s first-ever Green House will showcase.”

As we cover the progress of the Reynolds Plantation Green House in the months ahead, the hope is that many more people will find green elements to incorporate into their houses and their lives.

Reynolds Plantation