About Hawthorne Villages
Hawthorne Villages is a planned development community located in the Haw Creek area of East Asheville, North Carolina. This quiet residential neighborhood is a 10-minute drive from downtown Asheville. There is easy access to area amenities, employment opportunities, colleges, medical services and outdoor recreation because of the close proximity to Tunnel Road, I-240, I-40 and the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Our community occupies some 12 acres of wooded and landscaped property. The community of 80 units offers a mix of detached and villa-style homes, as well as a few townhomes. Sizes range from 1000-4000 sq. feet and from 1-3 bedrooms, although the most common model is 2 bedroom/2 bath. Most of our homes have a garage.
Hawthorne Villages is an intergenerational community. We have some families, but our community especially appeals to active retirees. It offers many opportunities for connecting with other residents, enjoying a variety of social activities and a chance for volunteer service work. The swimming pool and clubhouse provide a congenial environment for meeting neighbors, and the grounds are enjoyed by many walkers. There are social events throughout the year – book club gatherings, community get togethers and celebrations to name a few. Residents can reserve the clubhouse for private events, too.
All owners are members of the Hawthorne Villages Homeowners Association, which is governed by a Board of Directors. Owners abide by the Declarations, Rules & Regulations and other guidelines that are found in the HOA Documents section of this website.
In order to maintain reasonable HOA fees, we are primarily self-managed, and the Board and volunteer committees manage all duties associated with running the Association; i.e., budgeting and planning, maintenance, landscaping, communications, pool and clubhouse, social gatherings, etc. With direction of the board, we use a property management company to handle much of the financial side of the HOA.
A vibrant and active community, the Board and residents work together to ensure a fiscally solvent and successful future for our Hawthorne Villages community.
A Bit of History
Just a little over a century ago the Haw Creek Valley consisted of family farms isolated from Asheville until the tunnel was finished in 1927. Children from the community attended 12 years of school in a building that was located about where the Peaks Center shopping area is now. The fourth-grade teacher at the school was Virginia Robinson, the daughter of Walter and Lillian Robinson who owned the farm where Hawthorne Villages stands today. The Robinsons lived in a two-story, white house just north of the Dillingham intersection on Old Haw Creek Road. There were several other buildings – barns and storage – on the dairy farm where many of the neighbors would come to get their milk, butter and eggs.
When she was a teen, one of the former long-time residents of Hawthorne Villages lived in the yellow house still standing just east of the farm. She recalled playing in this area and swimming and fishing in “Richmond pond” which then belonged to the Carters who owned land around Cisco Road. This land is now owned by Mr. Siler. Another former resident, Charlie Bullman, told memorable tales of his family growing up further out New Haw Creek Road, too. There was a landing strip on Plateau Road in the 1920’s, long before any of our residents were born.
Perhaps because there was no one to take over the Robinson farm or because Biltmore Dairy Farms became the biggest dairy business in this area, the property was eventually sold to Charleston Financial Properties. They hired a young Asheville woman named Sandra Chapin to develop this “community of townhouses.” A few of the original owners also remember Gerald Candler who sold them their homes during the next ten years of building, changing the attached units to separate homes with garages and adding whatever the buyer requested, which made each unit different from the next.
The Declaration of Covenants for Hawthorne Villages Association was filed on July 29, 1984. The following year there were model units and an office on Elderberry Lane. At the time of construction, many of the units were then selling for around $67,000. The all-volunteer Board of Directors handled all the work of the Association from inception until 2013. After that a property management company was contracted to help. In recent years, we have been primarily self-managed with a property management company handling many of our financial matters.