National Realty & Dev.'s Windermere on the Lake achieves LEED cert.

Windermere on the Lake, the new eco-village featuring the one of northeast's first luxury LEED certified homes, has won six HOBI Awards from the Home Builders Association of Conn. for its architectural design and innovative use of green technologies. Windermere on the Lake won in the following six categories: best energy-efficient green home; best energy-efficient green community; best detached home over 3,000 s/f; best option (for its custom English gardens); best green product or feature (for its geothermal heating and cooling system) and best website/sales brochure. The prestigious HOBI Awards is a highly competitive program that recognizes builders and members of the housing industry for excellence in home design and construction, home technology and sales and marketing. The HOBI Awards will be presented at this year's awards ceremony to be held November 4th in Southington. "We are delighted to have received these important awards from Connecticut's leading home building organization. I commend our entire development team including our LEED consultant, Steven Winter of Steven Winter Associates, and architect Roger Bartels of Bartels-Pagliaro Architects. Together, we are creating a truly unique eco-village that will serve as a prototype for innovative environmentally sensitive sustainable residential development," said Mark Hallett Robbins, president of National Realty & Development Corp.'s residential division which is developing Windermere on the Lake. Windermere on the Lake is a conservation development with extensive and ongoing Habitat Management and Restoration Protection Plans designed to ensure lifelong preservation of the property. A total of 25 acres of the site has been donated to the Stamford Land Conservation Trust, which is one of the largest gift in the Trust's history. An additional 25 acres is retained as permanent open space. The 74-acre property features a lake with a gazebo and a floating dock as well as several ponds. There are extensive walking trails for residents to explore. The 24 semi-custom homes at Windermere on the Lake are designed in a style inspired by the 19th Century English Arts and Crafts movement. The homes, which range from four to six bedrooms each with three-car garages, are priced from $2.985 million. Each home is carefully sited to maximize views of the lake and ponds as well as take advantage of passive solar with southern exposures. Every home at Windermere on the Lake includes a custom English country garden designed by renowned British landscape architect Simon Johnson in consultation with the homeowners. Mr. Johnson, who has created country gardens for Britain's royal family, is also responsible for developing the master site plan for the heavily wooded property.   Residents of Windermere on the Lake will also enjoy a wealth of lifestyle amenities including a clubhouse facility with a pool and tennis. Windermere on the Lake is the flagship green residential community of National Realty & Development Corp.'s residential division, which develops environmentally sustainable, architecturally superior planned communities.