Tessa Carla Blog's: Must Love Trees: $2.5M Raleigh Compound Has Japanese Maple Tree Farm

Tuesday 18 February 2020

Must Love Trees: $2.5M Raleigh Compound Has Japanese Maple Tree Farm

A large lakefront property is for sale in Raleigh, NC, and comes with a single caveat: The buyer must love trees.

In addition to a large estate house and a caretaker’s house, there are almost 21 acres of Japanese maple trees on the roughly 25-acre property on Durham Road. The asking price for the compound is $2.5 million.

The land is near Falls Lake, a 12,410-acre reservoir that sits in parts of three North Carolina counties, Durham, Wake, and Granville.

“From just about every point on this property, you have views of Falls Lake,” says Millard Kirk, the agent representing the seller. “The ideal buyer would be someone that wanted privacy.”

Developers have shown an interest in the property, Kirk says.

“That’s not the family’s first option,” he adds. “They would prefer to see it undeveloped, as they have enjoyed the peace and tranquility there for years.”

Two generations of the same family have lived on the property for 52 years, farming Japanese maple trees.

“The son is thinking about retirement from the tree business,” Kirk explains. “They serve clients from all over North Carolina with various sizes of Japanese maples. They grow them from seedlings all the way up. You can get about any size you want. So, with retirement from the business in mind, they decided just to sell and scale back.”

Japanese maples typically grow one to two feet each year, and can live more than 100 years. They are known for their heartiness and color. The farm’s website has several varieties listed, ranging in price from $60 to more than $1,000.

Although the buyer will inherit all the trees already in the ground and could stay in the tree-farming business, Kirk says the real value here is in the land and the homes on it.

The main home is a two-story custom brick home that was built in 2001. It is 4,048 square feet and sits on almost 2 acres.

“It is four bedrooms, three baths, two half baths,” Kirk says. “Then you have a media room, a bonus room, first-floor master, and three-car garage.”

The other, smaller home, of 1,740 square feet, was built in the 1940s and recently remodeled. It is also on about 2 acres of land, with three bedrooms, two baths, and two fireplaces. There are also several greenhouses around the property.

“There’s nothing quite like this, as you can imagine. The Japanese maples planted all along the farm have almost a mystical kind of appeal,” Kirk says. “The privacy along Falls Lake is kind of unique, too.”

While the location seems remote, it is near major highways, with easy access to Raleigh, Durham, and the Research Triangle Park.

“To have close to 25 acres with two homes in the middle of Raleigh is quite unique,” Kirk says. “You do have homes in the million range with 10 acres, but nothing quite like this. The views all across the property are incredible.”