Free Republic

It may seem a bit of harmless fun, but not for the owner, who claims the 10-bedroom home set in almost 3 hectares (7.4 acres) of land near the village of Partridge Green is unsaleable in its current state. The planning statement says the Grade II-listed house is surrounded by grounds with “roaming deer, mature oak, cedar, Scots pine and lime trees” and views towards the South Downs. It was built at the start of the 20th century and a ballroom was added in 1940. In the 1970s it was converted into the “convent of the visitation” and the ballroom...

JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP — A bear walking upright around a township development that has become an Internet sensation is injured and needs to be left alone, according to wildlife officials monitoring the situation. The black bear has an injury to both front legs, including its paws and possibly an elbow, said Tracy Leaver, the executive director of the Woodlands Wildlife Refuge. There's no official cause of how the bear got injured. Kelcey Burguess, a black bear biologist with the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, said he most likely "got hit by a car." Burguess said the bear is expected...

Volume of 'subdivision' vacant lots overwhelms banks Some fire-sale prices on have dipped to 20 to 30 cents on the dollar By Paul Donsky The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 12:00 p.m. Saturday, August 8, 2009 You think it’s hard selling a house these days? Try unloading a subdivision. And not just any subdivision, but one with few if any completed homes and a weedy patch where the swim-and-tennis center was planned. That’s the reality many Georgia banks find themselves in amid a foreclosure crisis that has claimed not only individual homes but also entire failed developments. These idled, “zombie” subdivisions can be...

Modern subdivision is home to ancient villageDavid Davis Managing Editor Thursday, May 08, 2008 Upon entering Princeton Hills subdivision off Freewill Road, visitor's see a wide expanse of green space bordered by a circular drive. Large, expensive homes surround the green, grassy mound in an arrangement akin to a prehistoric village. In a sense, that is exactly what the mound represents. It is the five-acre site of the Candies Creek Village Archaeological Preserve owned by the Archaeological Conservancy. It contains the remains of houses, human burials and pit features. Developer Jim Sharp sold the site to the Conservancy in 2001...

NOVI - After a massive show of support for a Novi family that was threatened with fines unless it removed a nativity scene, the subdivision's homeowners group late Tuesday "retracted the notice sent concerning a lawn ornament display. Frank and Betty Samona were threatened with up to a $100-a-week fine if they didn't remove statues of the baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph and other Christmas items. The Samonas planned to hire an attorney to challenge the order from the homeowner's association in the posh Tollgate Woods Subdivision, where homes are priced from the mid-$400,000s and up. Kramer-Triad Management Group, L.L.C....