I am often asked what brought me to Lake Anna. In 1990, when my husband and I lived in No VA with a new baby, we both lost our jobs in the major economic downturn. Sound familiar? He took the only job he could find in a place we had never been- Toledo, OH. I won’t bore you with everything we went through there. Anyway, 4 years (and 2 more children) later, a friend of Terry’s called to ask if he would be interested in a job in Fredericksburg- back in VA! Would he?! We couldn’t pack fast enough despite having to leave our beautiful turn-of-the-century town home we had been renovating and some very good friends and neighbors. Having only visited “the Berg” briefly as tourists when we lived in northern VA, we had no idea where to live.
The same friend started sending us rental house listings all over the place- Fredericksburg, Lake Caroline, Lake Anna, Lake L’Andor and more. We called a rental in Windwood Coves and rented it sight unseen. We arrived in the dark to our rental with 2 cars, 3 kids and a puking cat. Imagine our surprise the next morning when we got up and saw Lake Anna from our living room for the very first time! We loved the outdoor lifestyle with our kids but continued to look for houses to buy closer to Terry’s work in Fredericksburg. Back and forth we went- subdivisions with 1/4 AC lots (or smaller), barking dogs, loud music and a kinda “in your face” feel. In contrast, most of the houses at Lake Anna were on at least an acre, nestled in the woods with neighbors (mostly part-time) with interests similar to ours.
Long story short- guess where we bought? Yup, not only Lake Anna but in Windwood Coves. Great beach, 3 park areas, kid friendly, boat slip, nature and all for about the same price (or less at the time) than a split-level on a tiny lot. We christened our 1350 sq. ft. cottage- The Gingerbread House and lived there for several years until we moved onto the lake. But that’s another story.
Lake Anna has changed a lot since then but so have we. One of my pet peeves is folks that move down here and love Lake Anna but don’t want to see any more growth or anyone else come here. It doesn’t work like that. Funnel that energy into making sure that the inevitable growth is handled responsibly without changing the nature of Lake Anna living. Then we can all continue to enjoy it!
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