To start off my Local’s Corner series, I wanted to recommend a local businessman that gets rave reviews from everyone who has used him. On multiple occasions, I have called on Paul from Mountain Fresh Cleaning Services to look after my floors, and every time, they delivered impeccable services.
Most recently, when our dog was sick on our new ‘white’ carpet (I can’t make this stuff up), he came around and made our carpet just like new again. My daughter Minnie and I were getting ready for work & school respectively, and I was just making sure Griffin Elizabeth had water, food and a quick walk. That’s when I noticed her dog bed was soiled on one corner and that the mess had spilled over onto our bedroom carpet.
Obviously, the beads of sweat started to pour from my forehead. I rushed to the kitchen to get paper towels to soak up as much as I could. I knew right away that I needed a professional and that I was going to be late for Minnie’s school. I had a plan though! Before I started to drive, I rang Paul and shared with him my emergency. He told me not to worry and that he would handle it. With that, I wiped my brow, relaxed, and started my day. Within the hour Paul had called me and told me the carpet was back to rights and that all was right with the world. Can you get better service than that?
Paul Smith from Mountain Fresh Cleaning Services is one top fella. He’s a local, well, like me, a transplant, but originally from New jersey (a much different accent than my own). He’s a great person and I have the utmost respect for him as someone who has grown his business in the local area through local recommendations. He has performed miracles on our carpets, tile, wood and even on our outdoor screened porch flooring! Paul has no limits, thankfully. He works tremendously hard and if you ever needed someone to clean your floors in a pinch, I certainly vouch for him and his services.
Think local. Buy local. Be local.
Local’s Corner is a series where Adam Pettengell recommends a local or independent business.
Phase 5, our most recent phase of homesites at Coastal Club, is called North Tisbury. The community’s amazing design allows each “village” maximum privacy around the perimeter and provides homeowners with exactly what they ask for.
When any village initially opens up we release it bit by bit rather than opening up the whole village at once. Now we’re at that point where we’re opening the remaining home sites in North Tisbury. All available homesites you can see in yellow! That’s right we still have amazing wooded home sites, pond home sites, and tree lined home sites.
People are asking, “why are these homesites the ones left? What’s wrong with them?” You need to consider that these homesites are an opportunity that previous buyers didn’t have before. This is one of the many reasons we open phases bit by bit, it allows us to have amazing homesites available throughout the entire phase release.
Don’t believe me? I’ll take you out on one of our Jeep tours and show you the homesites and our Eagle View Trail. There’s nothing better than going off-roading and parking the jeep on a homesite exactly where the house will fit, to show the amazing privacy or pond views you’re going to have.
Okay, maybe now you’re thinking about a very common home purchasing fear. Who are going to be my neighbors in this amazing North Tisbury village? No problem, I’ve got you covered there as well. Check out the footage from the most amazing event we’ve ever had at Coastal Club. Our Sold Sign Event allowed our homeowners to finally put up their sold signs on their homesites. We added some champagne and it was quite the event. As our homeowners get together every month and friendships are made, this fear of the unknown is relinquished. Before you’ve even moved into your home, you know your neighbors and have formed friendships.
It may seem unique to most other builders butthis is something we pride ourselves on. We build communities from the inside as well as from the outside. Our mission in building happiness is bigger than just constructing your awesome brand new beach home. It’s much bigger than that.
Before I came to the beach the word ‘local’ didn’t mean too much to me. It held no value to me, my family, or more importantly, the community. Here, in Southern Delaware, the growth and well-being of the community is shared with everyone. Local businesses are at the very core of our beach life, and I strive to be a local, albeit with an accent!
There is something about supporting our local businesses which grabs ahold of me because I see how local businesses support each other, support local schools, events and charities. I work for a local company and I’m proud of it. I’m proud of how we give back to the community. I’ll be at a supermarket, restaurant, or on the beach and I’ll see neighbors and families whose businesses have grown here in Coastal Delaware. They’re members of the community and not an unknown ‘big’ business.
Sustainable Connections has a great article that outlines perfectly why to buy, hire, and use locally-owned businesses. I hope you find it a good read, and gives you food for thought next time you need a service or product.
That’s why I’ve decided to write what I’m calling ‘Local’s Corner’. In a series of blog posts, I’m going to give a shout out, a recommendation, of my own support to a local or independent business. This isn’t about me ‘talking up’ Schell Brother’s contractors or associated businesses. It’s about businesses that I have personally used.
My family has been very lucky to have just built our house at the end of last year and throughout that build we have established many relationships with local businesses. So, I’m sharing with you these experiences, and, maybe they will help you become a local and part of our community here at the beach.
Now that we’re into the New Year, I wanted to reflect on the fantastic start we’ve had here at Coastal Club, Schell Brothers’ newest resort community in Lewes. So much has happened in such a short period of time, and we have even more planned for this year!
A Big First Year for Coastal Club
We SOLD out of Phase 1, our Provincetown neighborhood, as well as our amazing Whimbrel model. In fact, the model sold before we could even hold our Grand Opening! By the end of 2015, Phase 1 had settled all but three homes (which are currently under construction) with all of the homeowners moved in to their brand new Schell homes.
Phase 5, which is our North Tisbury neighborhood, opened in July and simply exploded with activity. With the addition of wooded and pond homesites, we ended the month of July with 17 sales, which is amazing! We have continued to release home sites and they are quickly turning from available to sold.
Site work has been progressing in this phase and we’re starting home construction very soon. This is going to be a stand out phase for the community with homesites that include basements, courtyards and some truly awesome homes. With the easy access to the trail and the ponds, homeowners are very much looking forward to enjoying the trail and catching the amazing Lewes sunsets.
In total, we finished the year with 52 sales, and remember we only started selling in February! This puts Coastal Club as the BEST SELLING COMMUNITY AT THE BEACH, COUNTY AND STATE! This is truly remarkable and very humbling.
Coastal Club Going Forward
This year wasn’t all about sales though. In October, we began construction of the new clubhouse and amenities, which are scheduled to be completed by the Summer of 2016 for the outdoor pools and Fall/Winter 2016 for the Clubhouse. I can’t wait to enjoy a drink at our poolside bar or a game of billiards in the game room with our awesome homeowners.
On top of all this, 2016 will bring a new Schell Brothers model to Coastal Club. We are already planning parties and celebrations throughout the year, so we hope you can attend.
With 2015 behind us and big plans set for 2016, we’re excited to continue our adventure at Coastal Club and welcome more homeowners into The Club and to our Schell Brothers family.
Cheers,
Adam, Jordan and Lucy
Sussex County may be the Amsterdam of America, flat as a pancake, but not at Coastal Club.
WE HAVE TERRAIN! WE HAVE INCLINES AND DECLINES! WE HAVE MOUNTAINS! Well, maybe hills to be more accurate. Our amazing 3.1-mile Eagle View Trail going around the perimeter of Coastal Club has all of these things and is surrounded by woods and Gosling Creek.
Our private trail is similar to those found in Cape Henlopen State Park, but it’s right in your backyard.
To show off the beauty of the trail, we have been taking people out in our golf cart and our jeeps. We’re usually out five to seven times a day showing off this gem of an amenity, which you will not find in any other community. I’m out driving so much I call it my first office. And why wouldn’t I!
Wildlife is abundant out on the trail as you’ll notice in the video. I’ve actually become a turtle, beaver, deer, and blue heron expert. You name it (other than bear and boar), we have it. I always say to people lucky enough to join Coastal Club that you have no excuse to walk the dog or yourself.
The mountain bike will not gather dust and neither should your camera! The trail is a great place to improve your camera skills, around every corner is another picture waiting to be framed and hung in your home.
Check out the video of the trail, and then come on out and see it for yourself. I’ll take you for a ride along the trail that’s better than any ride you’ll find at Funland!
We’re having a big event Saturday, October 17th to kick off the construction of Coastal Club’s amazing amenities. After the groundbreaking, the fun and entertainment will continue over at the model, in true Schell style.
Coastal Club has come a long way in just a short period of time. Our first phase of homesites, named “Provincetown”, is already sold out and homes are settling every week. In fact, we’ve had to release additional homesites in our newest phase, named “North Tisbury” (which sounds so eloquent in my British accent), in order to keep up with demand.
All this, and we haven’t even broken ground on the amenities yet. Can you imagine this community when our amenities are completed? Well, we’re going to find out soon enough. People often worry about communities that don’t have their amenities built yet. I get it, and get why people get nervous, but Coastal Club isn’t waiting for a set number of homes to be built. It’s ready now!
Check out the amenities below. What’s your favorite? The swim-up bar wins in my book! Just think, you can enjoy these amenities all day every day, including our already amazing Eagle View Trail, available exclusively to Coastal Club residents. Then it’s just a five minute ride to downtown Lewes for a meal with the family and a stroll along the canal.
Hope to see you on Saturday for the amenity ground breaking event. It’s going to be epic!
During the building process, a Schell Brothers home goes through an incredible transformation, from an empty homesite to a beautifully finished residence. Watching that remarkable change happen every day is especially satisfying for Chris Yurisic and me.
Chris is our construction manager, and when he started, we decided to place a time-lapse camera across the street from our new model home to capture the process as it was being built. Check out the transformation for yourself in our video below and be sure to count how many times you see my red jeep outside the model:
Chris and his team did a phenomenal job building this beautiful Kingfisher model, and now that we’ve officially moved in, you can visit us seven days a week, from 10am-5pm Monday through Saturday and 11am-6pm on Sunday.
Don’t forget to be on the look out for upcoming Schell Locals Night events, when we open the model in the evenings and partner with local businesses for fun and festivities. Check out the schedule below and visit our model to enjoy Schell Local Night events ranging from wine tastings to trunk shows:
Sunday, February 1st from 2-5pm – Pre-Superbowl Party with chili cook-off and prizes!
Friday, February 20th from 5-8pm – Olive Orchard will host an olive tasting event with additional food. I’ll be putting together the liquor menu.
Sunday, March 20th from 2-5pm – The Spice and Tea Exchange will host a Sunday tea event. Sounds very proper, and I’ll be providing the cucumber sandwiches to make it even more quintessentially English! Tea tasting at it’s very best.
TBD Sunday, May 24th 2-5pm – The Spice and Tea Exchange will again be hosting a Summer Spice event. They’ll be showing us some new dishes to try out in the Summer months. New dips and spices to be used this season for all your events and parties.
Keep an eye out for even more events to come throughout the year at Sawgrass North.
By the way, just how many times did you see my jeep in that video?
Cheers, Adam
Now that we’re into the new year, I wanted to reflect on the fantastic start we’ve had at Sawgrass North, Schell Brothers’ only Rehoboth Beach community. So many things have happened in such a short period of time, and where do we even start to tell you about all the great events we have planned for the coming year?
Here’s a quick glimpse into what happened at Sawgrass in 2014, and what we have planned this year:
Our first week of sales at Sawgrass North kicked off on May 10, and we’ve reached so many milestones since then. We sold 8 homes that first weekend alone, and after working out of the main office for a few months while our model home was being built, we grand opened the Kingfisher in style on October 18th. Among the flurry of grand opening activities that weekend, we added another happy homeowner to our family. By year’s end, 33 families had chosen to make Sawgrass their home, and another 4 had committed to contingent contracts.
This year wasn’t all about sales though. In November, we began building the new clubhouse which is scheduled to be completed by the Summer of 2015. I can’t wait to enjoy a drink poolside with our homeowners. Last year, two families already moved in, and another 20 homes are currently under construction. That’s a lot of activity.
When our model was completed, we couldn’t wait to start a new series of Sawgrass events that we like to call Schell Locals Night. We opened our model in the evening for three nights last month, inviting local businesses to share trunk shows and wine and cheese tastings. We look forward to partnering with more Rehoboth businesses this year.
The future of Sawgrass North looks bright with Schell opening a new phase in 2015. This phase will lead us into the remaining homesites to the south of the current section. There will be both wooded and pond homesites, which all look amazing. If the current homes being built with wooded and pond views are any indication, these new homesites will be breathtaking.
With 2014 behind us and big plans for 2015, we’re excited to continue our sales in Sawgrass North and welcome more homeowners into the Schell Brothers family.
Cheers, Adam
When I first stumbled upon it, the Locals Only List went by a different name, but whether you’re a local, soon-to-be local, or weekend warrior, you should visit the new localsonlyrehoboth.com website. Why? ‘The List’ gives you a full breakdown of every restaurant’s drink and food special for every day of the week during the off season.
During the off season, the local businesses put on some amazing deals for us ‘locals’ to enjoy. It shows we’re not just a resort area; we’re a year-round community in an area that has more than enough high quality restaurants from which to choose. The list has been up and running since 2006 and is an invaluable source of information for the off season. It’s more than just getting a good deal on a great meal; it’s about supporting the local businesses in our area. I personally am using it as a great excuse to try new restaurants and check off other restaurants I haven’t tried from my bucket list.
My top 3 bucket list restaurants to check of this off-season:
Eden (Downtown Rehoboth Beach) – Bold American food and a phenomenal fine dining atmosphere. Wine-O Wednesdays: 3 course prix fixe for $35 and half price bottles of wine.
Papa Grande (Rehoboth Beach and Fenwick) – Wednesday you get 25% off your entire check, and on Sundays you can get a 3 course meal for $19!
Nage (Rehoboth Beach) – On Sunday nights you can get a 2 course meal for $25.
The Locals Only List has a lot of Happy Hours with great food and drink specials. Everybody should have ‘the list’ with them at all times. I’ll see you in Rehoboth really soon.
Cheers, Adam
We’re super excited to announce that the Sawgrass clubhouse and swimming pool will start construction this month and should be ready by next Summer. Looking at the floor plan and elevation renderings, I know it’s going to be very special.
Clubhouses, from our research and from feedback from our homeowners, need to be functional spaces for all different occasions. The Sawgrass clubhouse is very much like our Schell Brothers floor plans. Have a read and let me know if you agree. Similarities between the clubhouse and our floor plans:
With an open plan, the space will be dictated by furniture, not walls, meaning the community can enjoy the clubhouse as a whole.
Just like my Kingfisher model, where we added a wet bar, Sawgrass will have a ‘proper’ bar! I foresee many Happy Hours where I’ll be bartending for our homeowners.
Our Mayberry and Whimbrel floor plans, to name a few, ensure that every space goes un-wasted. The same is true for the clubhouse. No meeting rooms that will never get used.
The clubhouse also will feature an amazing courtyard with an outdoor fireplace, seating areas, and a grill area. The courtyard will connect both the indoors and the outdoors, very much like our own courtyards, which we have available in our Kingfisher and Henlopen floor plans. More importantly, it’s right next to the swimming pool, and if you don’t want to spend time in the water, you can still hang out and relax.
Differences between the clubhouse and our floor plans:
Tiki bar. Need I say more? Our courtyard area will have a space so I can bartend both indoors or outdoors. I’m thinking Hawaiian shirts, grass skirts, and coconuts. Although we don’t have a tiki bar option available in our floor plans, maybe Chris Schell will read this blog post and decide to add them as an option.
Our lighted swimming pool is going to be the crowning jewel of the finished clubhouse, with plenty of space to relax or swim. Swimming is not your thing? Pull up a lounge chair and spend your day laying poolside with a cold drink.
For all you fitness enthusiasts, the clubhouse is going to have a fitness area with exercise machines and free weights. Everything you need to stay in tip-top shape, and it’s right on your door step.
Differences or similarities, one thing is for sure; the indoor and outdoor spaces being created for our homeowners at Sawgrass are going to be both awesome and fitting for the exclusiveness of this community. How do we know this? Bringing happiness to our homeowners is our mission, and the clubhouse is a true reflection of this.
I hope you can visit us soon to see the developments in our clubhouse and to experience the difference.
Cheers, Adam
*Rendering and floor plan is artist conception and is subject to change without notice.
