Search for Value Led to Severn

Two years ago, when Lorraine Emond walked into the red brick Colonial house in Fourwinds, a then-new subdivision in Severn in Anne Arundel County, her first thought was that the place was perfect -- the windows were huge, flooding the living room with sun, the floor plan was open and the rooms were the right size.

Her second thought was that she couldn't possibly afford to move into the neighborhood. And then she wondered how a community like this, filled with large, luxury homes, could exist in a place like Severn.

Severn, a mostly rural unincorporated part of Anne Arundel County about 20 miles west of Annapolis, adjoining Fort Meade, is a mix of mostly working-class neighborhoods, with areas of mobile homes, post-World War II clapboard houses and 20-year-old subdivisions with ranchers. Fourwinds, with its big houses, is a dramatic contrast with the small and mid-size homes that surround it.

Emond, 51, who was looking for a nice community in which to raise her two daughters, jumped at the chance to move up. Fourwinds, she said, has given her the chance to live in an upscale community, at a decent price, in a town she loves.

"I thought Columbia was just too expensive for the same kind of house," said Emond, an accounting director for a retirement community. "When I walked in, I said, 'This is it. This is the home I want to buy.' "

Koch Homes, the developers of Fourwinds, is one of several builders changing the face of Severn, an area once known for its rural living and small-town feel. Builders such as Koch and Engle Homes are adding another dimension to the town's character -- affluent developments with Columbia and Bethesda-style houses, but significantly more affordable price tags.

When Emond bought her house two years ago, the starting price was in the upper $300,000s, she said. Homes in a second Koch subdivision, Westbrooke, on the other side of Quarterfield Road, are now selling in the $700,000s.

Comparably sized homes in Severna Park and Annapolis sell for more than $1 million.

Even though Severn-area prices are lower than those in other places, houses in the newer communities are selling for thousands of dollars more than in other parts of Severn -- sometimes, hundreds of thousands more.

For example, a house in Youngs Farm Estates, which was built in the mid-1990s and is located off of Route 170, was recently listed for $455,000.

Until the Fourwinds community opened, Youngs Farm was one of the newest in Severn.

According to Pam Jordan, a public information officer with Anne Arundel County's Land Use office, another new subdivision is in the works near Reece Road, in the part of Severn that is close to Fort Meade. That development would include 28 single-family houses on 17.2 acres of land.