Article Transcribed from Ohio Magazine July 2001


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Hide-A-Way Hills
Best Place to live on "Walden Pond"

Had writer Henry David Thoreau spent two years at this private resort community-snuggled away on the borders of Hocking and Fairfield counties in southeast Ohio-instead of the rustic pond in Massachusetts, he probably would have been more successful at his experiment in self reliance. He probably would have stayed longer, too.

You would if your house sat among 1,600 acres of rugged hills, and skirted five manmade, spring-fed lakes or if you had unlimited access to a 9-hole golf course, pool, tennis courts, and airstrip, horse stables, a lodge with a full service restaurant and microbrewery, a beach, a trap shooting range, and 24 hour security.

After two different developers went bankrupt trying to create a weekend getaway resort in this spot of the forested Hocking Hills region in the 1960's, the residents here, fearing demise of their lakeside community, took over and formed a membership association. The place has been member owned and operated ever since. Residents, who include retirees, empty nesters, yuppies, and young families, have managed to sustain this miniature model of self-sufficiency and democracy for the last three decades.

"It's not just a place live; it's a way of living," says Nick Paniccia, a real estate agent, who seems the epitome of the laid-back lifestyle found in "the hills." Even the speed limit-19 mph-forces you to slow down (that and a few hairpin curves and 45-degree slopes.) Paniccia, a travelling-salesman-turned-real-estate-agent, left Detroit 13 years ago to escape the hustle and bustle of urban life. He's a far cry from any of those farmers in Thoreau's Walden, but he'd be more than happy to make a deal with Mr. HDT or anyone else in the market for some secluded waterfront property.

Home Sweet Home
Definitely eclectic and non-cookie-cutter. The homes are a mix of log cabins, A-frames, geodesic dome- and even colonial style. They run the gamut of two-room weekend retreats that can cost $45,000 to a 3,700 square footer with four bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a master loft that overlooks that water for $500,000 and up.

Nine to Five
If you're one of the lucky retirees, you can while away the days fishing or enjoying the view and watching the seasons go by. Columbus or work from home. The wildlife spends its days scurrying, swimming, chirping, and doing whatever else nature intended.

Down Time
Two Words: water sports
When you build that dream home, be sure to put aside an extra 20 grand (give or take) for a pontoon or deck boat, which is standard in "the hills." If you emptied your wallet, a canoe will suffice (although it is much harder to water ski behind one of those.)

Bragging Rights
Members have umlimted access to all the resort's perks, but the
24-hour security tops their lists. You figure you'd need an SUV
to navigate these winding hilly roads in the winter, but
Paniccia says that in 13 years he's never been snowed in.

Deal Breakers
You may not always have celluar coverage; you have to pick up
and drop off your mail at the post office; you can't get curbside garbage pick up. The power has been known to go out (although not as often as it used to), but when that happens, folks around here light some candles and drink more wine.

~Nicole Gabriel

Typed by Belinda Augustus