Black Mtn properties question again.. (Black Mountain: homes, to buy, contractors)

[andybuildz]

We just got home from another trip to the A'ville area and we've for sure narrowed it down to Black Mountain.
We found two properties we're real interested in that I have a couple of questions about.

My wife really likes the Creston Community off Rt.9 about 15-20 minutes South of the Village of BM. It's not exactly what "I" was looking for but I do have to say it's nothing to turn ones nose up at. Seems like the developers that built that place really care about the environment and it shows, unlike a few of the other communities we drove through where..to me..it looked like they just stripped the land and hadn't given much thought to the community.
Anyone familiar with The Creston Community..and if so what do you know about it?

The second property we're interested in is really where "I" want to be and my wife likes it as well...whewwww. A beautiful few acres on the tippy top of a mountain off North Fork Rd just a few miles North of the village of BM.
All utilities and well are in place and the gravel road that climbs the mountain seems very well maintained by the land owners on it. The views from the top are incredable : )) The price is another story but we shall see.

Question is...there's a rock quarry just accross from it. We went back to the property three times. One time we heard a little rumbling. Not sure if it was blasting or just trucks up there but I'm sure blasting does go on being it IS a rock quarry. We were told when the economy was good the blasting was more frequent but not bad. We were also told that there hadn't been much going on there in quite a long time. We just don't know what to believe. Sure would hate to buy some land up there and find out it's non stop blasting/noise.

We'll be coming back in January when all the leaves are gone and the weather is about as bad as it gets in the area. We want to see it in the good and not so good seasons before we make a final offer.
At that time we will look a lot deeper into the rock quarry issue.
We did go to town hall to find out about building and getting my contractors license but hadn't asked about that quarry..this time.

If we don't buy that land than The Creston Community will probably see us again in January in a serious way unless something else comes up.

The one thing that will make it some-what affordable for us is the fact that I can personally build most of the home myself being that's what I do.

My preference is the property off North Fork Rd. overlooking the Burnett Reservoir. Anyone know the area and whats going on up there?..and any info on Creston Community...good/bad??
Thanks
andy

[EvanstonGirl]

Andy,

We also looked at the Creston Community. For me, it was a little remote, but so beautiful. We eventually bought elsewhere but have hired an architect who designed a few of the homes at Creston. He took us around to some of them and we met the owners. They seem to love living there, though it was a tough winter last year and they were stranded at Christmas. But as I remember, many people were, even those living at lower altitudes.

I agree that the owners do seem to care about the environment, as do the people who live there. If you don't mind a little bit of a drive up those winding roads, it could be a great place to live.

[GuyFriendly]

Our major issue with that far down 9 is the roads in winter. Yes, last winter was supposedly unusual, but there is no way we want to negotiate the S curves before the plows and salt get there.

We have friends at the top of a mountain down 9 and they were "locked in" for more than a week twice last winter. Partly their own drive and road, partly Rte. 9.

Just remember when you look in summer how it might be in winter. Some of those drives were too much even for my FWD Camry.

[andybuildz]

Thanks for the two responses
One of the reasons we're going back in January is so we can get a better idea of what it's like in the winter months.
I know it's still a shot in the dark unless we get hit with real foul weather when we're there so we can see what it's really like under those conditions.

Being from NY we're not unaware of what some bad weather can be like as we've gotten some severe weather ourselves over the years although we never have to drive all that far to get supplies or whatever it is that we might need.
For me...even if it's a few days to a week "on occasion" it really wouldn't bother me all that much to sit it out until the snow and ice melts. If it were months on end that'd be a whole other thing but I can't imagine eleven hours south of us it gets that bad for too long??

Far as that S turn? On one of our trips up Rt 9 to Creston there was in fact a motorcycle down and half under the steel road divider. The bike was pretty smashed up and I don't even want to know what happened to the driver...and the weather that week was clear and sunny.

I also noticed that the agent that drove us around was driving noticeably slow. Now I know why.

With that said...I think as long as we're aware of all these things we can exercise caution. Driving in NY traffic is pretty good practice...lol.

I'd love if someone knows anything about the North Fork Rd "quarry" area b/c that property is what I'd prefer especially with it being so close to town.

Thanks for the responses!!
andy