Besides its large lots, lakes with fountains and wooded perimeter, Chesapeake’s Edinburgh Meadows offers another highly sought after amenity -- convenience.

The community, developed by Precon Development Corp. Inc of Chesapeake, and host to Tidewater Builders Association’s 26th annual Homearama showcase of homes Sept. 29-Oct. 14, is the picture of convenience.

“It’s ideally located right off the 168 Bypass, allowing homeowners to be in downtown Norfolk in just 15 minutes without a single stoplight,” bragged Doug Fuller, vice president of Precon. “Plus, it’s only 50 minutes to the Outer Banks.”

“The community is self-contained. There’s everything you need around the corner,” said Fuller of Edinburgh’s own shopping areas – Edinburgh Commons.

Edinburgh Commons is a 200-acre, potential 850,000 square foot commercial retail development that features a mix of national and specialty retailers, restaurants and services. It is the largest retail center between the Greenbrier area of Chesapeake and the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Fuller continues, “We’ve got a Target, Home Depot, Wawa, and Wendy’s all right here. There are banks, salons, and restaurants all moving in. Plus, more businesses are coming soon – companies like Wal-Mart, Chick-Fil-A, Kramer Tire, Cracker Barrel and others.”

Phase two of the overall Edinburgh development, Edinburgh Meadows, is also located in the coveted Hickory area of the Chesapeake school system.

The vision for the Edinburgh Community was first conceived back in 1986 by developers Preston Fussell and Doug Fuller. After years of politics, work and construction, the first phase of Edinburgh opened in 2004 complete with waterfalls, walking and biking trails, footbridges, park and 81 half-acre custom home lots.

Phase two offers 84 even larger custom home lots, conservation areas and bronze wildlife statues constructed by Eastern Shore artist David Turner. The statues include bear, geese, blue herons and an eagle – all native inhabitants to this area.

“We preserved more than 100 acres of woods as open space and created three lakes that will help preserve a habitat for existing wildlife,” said Fuller.

Wildlife isn’t the only thing attracted to Edinburgh. The second phase won a Stanley Award of Excellence for Conservation and Preservation in 2007. Such a development is also bound to attract many home buyers too.

“It’s a family community with nice spacious lots and homes,” noted Fuller. “The luxury within the homes is well above average. Plus, it offers a unique and different product than people are finding elsewhere.”

Including the largest Homearama home ever built, the 17 showcase homes range from 3,500 square feet to more than 9,500 and are priced from $850,000 to over $2 million.

“We currently have the top-notch builders of Tidewater,” said Fuller “Edinburgh is worthy of such an event.”

When asked one thing he wanted potential home buyers and Homearama visitors to know about Edinburgh Meadows, Fuller replied, “It lends itself to a certain lifestyle. It’s convenient to commerce, it’s luxurious and it’s a beautiful conservation community.”