Founding Principles
In envisioning and designing River Bluffs, we develop five core principles that served and still serve as guidelines for the creation and implementation of our community. Let’s take a look at them before we continue:
The Five Principles of River Bluffs
- Minimal paved roads and driveways
- Preserved trees and natural green spaces
- Energy-efficient homes and amenity buildings
- Construction debris recycling program
- Zero retention ponds and cleared drainage
The underlying idea behind these core principles is simple: tremendous respect for and dedication to the natural environment both in our community and globally. Put simply, we love our community, its neighborhoods, and its setting, and we want both our residents and folks throughout the region to enjoy the joys and beauties of Low Country living for generations to come. So with that in mind, what have we done to make River Bluffs a low impact sustainable community?
It sounds obvious, but a neighborhood is comprised physically of homes and buildings, and at River Bluffs, we went above and beyond the call of duty in ensuring that our construction was as low impact as possible. This starts with our builders; we committed to using high-quality artisans to construct our homes and amenity buildings. This ensures that our construction was held to the highest possible standard, making use of green building techniques, sustainable materials, and energy-efficient designs. This helps keep costs down, make our homes more efficient for their eventual residents, and preserve both our natural setting and the environment as a whole. We’re blessed with wonderful builders who understand our vision and work to bring it and our residents’ dreams to life. Our Low Country style homes capture the laid back Southern coastal lifestyle we love so much and work to share with all of you. We want River Bluffs to stand the test of time, and sustainable building is the first step.
As an extension of this, we put a great deal of thought into our relationship with the water. River Bluffs is both a riverfront community and a coastal community, and water is in many ways our defining feature—it’s right there in the name. We wanted our community to have a sustainable and cooperative interaction with water in all its forms. Toward that end, we committed to a community that would minimize paved surfaces—roads, driveways, parking lots. This helps preserve natural drainage for rainwater and runoff, sustain green spaces, and make our community more hospitable to wildlife. Our natural design leaves our community free of cleared drainage spaces or unnatural retaining ponds; instead, we work with the landscape to get the water where it wants to go. Natural, clean, environmentally friendly—the way we do things at River Bluffs.
There are some other wonderful benefits to our approach. Minimizing cleared land and pavement means maximizing habitat preservation for many of the plants and animals that live around us. River Bluffs is located on a series of rolling hills on the banks of the Northeast Cape Fear River. As a result, our community is home to a fairly large amount of biodiversity, with a number of different micro-climates offering homes to various mini-ecosystems of plants and animals native to the region. At least five different and distinct plant communities form our natural landscape, with dozens of different plant and animal species resident within them. A walk through our community’s many trails will lead you through stands of longleaf pine and cypress, palmettos and pawpaw trees. Native blueberries and huckleberries abound in the undergrowth, and occasional stands of black walnut pop up here and there. It’s an amazing setting, with so much natural wonder to explore. Our approach to community design preserves that wonder for our residents and neighbors, hopefully for generation after generation to come.
Finally, we should talk about the centerpiece of our community: our award-winning riverfront. 2,700 feet long, our riverfront is our pride and joy, embracing the natural landscape via careful design while giving our residents and their guest access to the river and all of its various recreational opportunities. The bluffs define us, both in name and in the shape of our community. Our developer, Burrows Smith, took great care in designing our riverfront, working to minimize erosion and environmental impact while designing a river walk and marina that would make the most of the natural setting. Detailed steps were implemented to minimize runoff and erosion both during and after the construction process, preserving our riverfront and its trees and marshes and ensuring the lasting beauty and biodiversity of the setting. We’ve created a riverfront that is perfect for boating, fishing, kayak, hiking, or just enjoying the sunset and the sounds of nature. Not only are we proud of it, but Burrows’ work on the River Bluffs project saw him inducted into the Wilmington Cape Fear Home Builders Association (WCFHBA) Hall of Fame in 2019. Burrows has been an active member of WCFHBA for forty years, working innumerable developments and projects around the area. His commitment to the Cape Fear region, its natural beauty, and its people shows in everything he does and we’re proud of his role in making River Bluffs what it is today.
Discover River Bluffs
In every sense, we’re building a community meant to last. Our buildings are sustainable, efficient, and high-quality construction. Our natural setting is preserved in every aspect of our design and development. Our riverfront works with the water to keep things beautiful, accessible, and enduring. More than the physical attributes of the place, the community of people who live here is also a long-term investment. Our residents come from all walks of life, all backgrounds, across the nation and around the world. We’re home to young people getting started, families looking for a wonderful place to raise their kids, and retirees embarking on their next adventure. Much like our structures and setting, our community of residents and friends will endure for years to come. River Bluffs is more than a collection of homes: it’s a neighborhood and a lifestyle and maybe even a legacy.
If you’re looking for a great setting for the next chapter in your life, River Bluffs may hold the right magic for you. Get in touch today, make an appointment to come see us and begin your exploration of all we have to offer. A meeting with our staff, a tour of the community, and maybe lunch at Porches Cafe will give you a taste of River Bluffs and maybe, just maybe, convince you that you’ve found your new home.